Stories

In the forest country of Naimisha lived a Brahmana who had remained without a child for a long time. The absence of an heir had caused him deep sorrow, and after great difficulty he was finally blessed with a son. The boy became the centre of the household’s affection. To his parents and relatives, he was not simply another member of the family but the child for whom they had waited and prayed, the continuation of their lineage and the source of countless hopes for the future.

The jackal in this story had not always lived as an animal. Bhishma explains that in an earlier birth he had been a cruel king named Paurika. Because of his past actions, he was eventually reborn as a jackal. Unlike the other jackals around him, however, he remembered something of his previous existence and became deeply remorsef

The story is much more than a fable about animals. Bhishma tells it while teaching Yudhishthira about kingship, responsibility and the importance of judging character before granting authority. The tale asks a timeless question: what happens when someone receives great power without developing the wisdom, loyalty and self-control necessary to use it well?

The three fishes lived together in a lake and were close companions, but their temperaments were very different. The first fish was cautious and farsighted. He preferred to recognise danger early and take precautions before circumstances became difficult. The second fish did not always prepare in advance, but he possessed considerable intelligence and believed that he could find a solution whenever a crisis actually appeared. The third fish had neither habit. He constantly delayed decisions and assumed that there would always be enough time to act later.

A strange mongoose with blue eyes and half its body shining like gold entered the sacrificial ground. To the astonishment of everyone present, the animal spoke in a human voice and declared that Yudhishthira’s magnificent Ashvamedha did not equal the merit of a small quantity of powdered barley once given away by a poor Brahmana family at Kurukshetra.

When Indra arrives in a celestial chariot and offers Yudhishthira entry into heaven, the king faces his final test. Indra refuses to allow the dog to accompany him, but Yudhishthira declares that he will not abandon a creature that has remained loyal to him. At that moment, the dog reveals itself as Dharma, Yudhishthira’s divine father, who had taken animal form to test his compassion, loyalty and commitment to righteousness.

The event takes place after the destruction of the Yadava clan at Prabhasa. Krishna had already witnessed the fulfilment of the curse that brought ruin upon his own people, seen Balarama withdraw from the world, and understood that the purpose of his earthly incarnation had reached its completion. He then entered the forest alone and sat beneath a tree in deep meditation.

By the time the war at Kurukshetra reached this stage, Drona had become almost impossible to stop. His mastery of weapons, knowledge of celestial astras and experience in warfare allowed him to cut through the Pandava forces with devastating effect. Krishna understood that defeating him through ordinary combat would be extraordinarily difficult.

What followed became one of the most dramatic episodes of the Drona Parva. It brought together Bhima’s extraordinary encounter beneath Supratika, the destruction of Pandava chariots, Arjuna’s duel with Bhagadatta, the release of the terrible Vaishnavastra and Krishna’s intervention to save Arjuna.

Ekalavya was the son of Hiranyadhanus, a chief of the Nishadas. He had once approached Dronacharya with the desire to learn archery from the renowned teacher who instructed the Kuru princes. Drona did not accept him among his royal pupils. Ekalavya nevertheless refused to abandon his ambition. He withdrew into the forest, fashioned an image of Drona from clay and treated that image as the presence of his guru. Before it, he began teaching himself the art of the bow. The Mahabharata places this episode in the Adi Parva, within the account of Drona’s training of the princes.