A mother’s advice:

The Mahabharata describes how, when war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas became almost inevitable, Gandhari made one last appeal to her eldest son Duryodhana:

By making peace you honour your father and me, as well as your well-wishers ... it is the wise man in control of his senses who guards his kingdom. Greed and anger drag a man away from his profits; by defeating these two enemies a king conquers the earth ... You will happily enjoy the earth, my son, along with the wise and heroic Pandavas ... There is no good in a war, no law (dharma) and profit (artha), let alone happiness: nor is there (necessarily) victory in the end - don't set your mind on war ...

Duryodhana did not listen to this advice and fought and lost the war.

A. Explain briefly Gandhari’s appeal to Duryodhana.

B. Do you agree with Gandhari’s advice to Duryodhana? Give two arguments in support of your answer.

C. Why did Duryodhana not listen to his mother’s advice? Give two possible reasons.

Compare and contrast the dharma or norms mentioned in the stories of Drona, Hidimba and Matanga.

In what ways was the Buddhist theory of a social contract different from the Brahmanical view of society derived from the Purusha Sukta?

The following is an excerpt from the Mahabharata in which Yudhisthira, the eldest Pandava, speaks to Sanjaya, a messenger:

Sanjaya, convey my respectful greetings to all the Brahmanas and the chief priest of the house of Dhritarashtra. I bow respectfully to teacher Drona .... I hold the feet of our preceptor Kripa .... (and) the chief of the Kurus, the great Bhishma. I bow respectfully to the old king (Dhritarashtra). I greet and ask after the health of his son Dpryodhana and his younger brother ......Also greet all the young Kuru warriors who are our brothers, sons and grandsons......Greet above all him, who is to us like father and mother, the wise Vidura (born of a slave woman)......I bow to the elderly ladies who are known as our mothers. To those who are our wives you say this, 'I hope they are well-protected.'...... Our daughters-in-law born of good families and mothers of children greet on my behalf. Embrace for me those who are our daughters..... The beautiful, fragrant, well-dressed courtesans of ours, you should also greet. Greet the slave women and their children, greet the aged, the maimed (and) the helpless.

Try and identify the criteria use to make this list in terms of age, gender, kinship ties. Are there any other criteria? For each category, explain why they are placed in a particular position in the list.

This is what a famous historian of Indian literature Maurice Winternitz, wrote about the Mahabharata: “just because the Mahabharata represents more of an entire literature.... and contains so much and so many kinds of things....(it) give (s) us an insight into the most profound depths of the soul of the Indian folk.' Discuss.

Discuss whether the Mahabharata could have been the work of a single author.

How important were gender differences in early societies? Give reasons for your answer.

Discuss the evidence that suggests that Brahmanical prescriptions about kinship and marriage were not universally followed.

Compare the map in this chapter with Map 1 in chapter 2. List the mahajanapadas and cities located near the Kuru-Panchala lands.

Find out about retellings of the Mahabharata in other languages. Discuss how they handle any two of the episodes of the text described in this chapter, explaining any similarities or differences that you notice.

Imagine that you are an author and rewrite the story of Ekalavya from a perspective of your choice.