Hannah's Indian Epics Blog

Image Credit. Yudhishthira Enters Heaven. Source: VyasaOnline .      The story of Ashwatthaman was a great read for the last part of the Mahabharata. The jewel on his forehead is very mysterious and intriguing. I hate that Draupadi had to lose her five sons and her brother. What a terrible set of tragedies that have befallen her. I want her to get justice but agree with Yudhishthira that even if they killed Ashwatthaman it would not bring her sons or brother back to life. There must be something done to avenge the loss she has gone through. I agree that taking the famed jewel on his head would be a type of revenge but it would not hurt him as much as the loss of six loved ones would I think personally. I think that this would be a good story to retell because it is so interesting. The jewel is mythical and supposedly magical which would make creating a story about it fairly easy.      The story of the Afterlife captured my attention immediately. I f...

Image Credit. Pandavas. Source: Wikipedia .       The first story that caught my eye was the story of the riddles at the lake. I find it really surprising that four of the Pandavas, Bhima, Nakula, Arjuna, and Sahadeva, fell prey to drinking the water even though they were warned. The setting is very interesting and tempting here. I wonder if the yaksha knows that his lake will be tempting for those that pass by and uses that to lure in victims. The riddles are all very confusing and I thought that they were quite long. I wonder how long and complicated the riddles in the longer version are. I like that Yudhishthira is very patient and answers each one diligently. I also really like how he uses his wishes to help himself and the other Pandavas.      The second story that stuck out to me was the one where the Pandavas and Draupadi spent some of their exile in the palace of the Rajah. It was very interesting how they each took on such a diverse role. T...