[world-vedic] Historicity Of Mahabharat

[Guest guest]

Hare Krishna!

Dear KS,

 

Your question raises an elaborate history. However, to give you at least some

clue about this subject matter I shall try to give a consise reply. I once

translated the book 'The Teachings of Queen Kunti' for Iskon.

 

The very chaste Kunti, when she was still a young girl, was benedicted by a

saint that she could invocate any demigod to beget a child from him. The saint

gave her a divine mantra to serve this purpose. Actually this incident already

served the coming events in her life. As usual, Providence shows His

omniscience.

 

Because Kunti was still a young girl she wondered if the saint really had power

to give her this amazing benediction and she accidentally pronounced the

mantra. The moment she uttered the words immediately a baby emerged on her lap,

which was Karna, a son of Lord Surya, the Sun God.

 

Because social conventions in those days were very hard and fast and because an

unmarried girl begetting a child was unthinkable in society she decided to

abandon her child and sacrifice it to Providence. She wrapped it in cloth in a

basket and dropped it in a holy river, however, with great pain in her heart.

 

Later, she was married to King Pandu. However, King Pandu was cursed by a

mystic yogi. Pandu had shot an animal while he was hunting in the forest. The

animal turned out to be a couple in love when the arrow hit them. Since the

couple felt greatly disturbed by the hunter, the yogi cursed the hunter - not

knowing he was the King.

In that way Pandu was sentenced to meet death as soon as he was touched by a

woman. This was a serious fate for the King because it meant he would never be

able to beget any children of his own in this life.

 

When Pandu married Kunti she also could not touch his body unless he would die.

So to beget any children in his royal marriage the only way to conceive them

was by means of the invocation given to Kunti by the former sage. She told

Pandu of her benediction and Pandu agreed to invocate the demigods for the

purpose of begetting children to rule his kingdom in the future.

 

In that way first Yuddhisthira came as the son of Lord Yama (the Lord of Death).

Then Arjuna came as the son of Lord Indra (the King of the Heavenly Planets).

Bima, Nakula and Sahadeva also came to the earth in this way (I forgot from

which planets. I suppose they were Vahyu and Agni, but I'm not sure).

 

And with regard to Gandhari the following. What I know about her is that her

first conception was one in ignorance because she was jealous of Kunti, her

sister in law. Gandhari also desired to have sons in competition with her.

After all, her husband Dhritarastha was a blind king in heart and senses. He

tried to defeat the Pandavas recklessly, who were the rightfull descendants to

the throne.

So the first conception of Gandhari lasted for years. She suffered in great pain

and everyone wondered why no child emerged from her womb.

 

At least she requested her servants to knock her body in such a way that her

pregnancy would come to an end. Her pain was unbearable. What came out of her

body was a big metal bullit, a black ball, heavy as lead. After much

deliberation it was decided to destroy the ball and give it to the sea. The

ball broke into one hundred sharp pieces and these particles transformed into

her one hundred sons.

Can you imagine the qualities of these creatures?

 

These stories sound miraculous, however, you should keep in mind that in those

days such events were accepted as the hand of the Supreme Lord, especially in

this case because the two families were descendants of two great dynasties, the

Kurus and Yadavas, in one of which Lord Krishna Himself appeared to relieve the

earth from its heavy burden of karma resulting in the Mahabharata.

 

What I mean to say is this. In highly religious families and also on higher

planetary systems the couples are able to beget children without sexual

intercourse. They beget divine or spiritual children. Sometimes even their

child is born as an adult as in the case of Bima. He and his lover in the

forest begot Gotchka (I'm not sure if I wirte the name correctly) who was a boy

of about sixteen years old when he was conceived by the couple. After all, Bima

also was a divine son coming from a transcendental plane, himself.

 

I hope I was clear enough to convey the transcendental narrations to you as far

as I am informed on the matter. Hare Krishna!

With love and devotion, you servant, Indira dasi.

 

 

----- Oorspronkelijk bericht -----

Van: Kailash Srivastava

Aan: vediculture

Verzonden: vrijdag 31 maart 2000 7:32

Onderwerp: [world-vedic] Re: Historicity Of Mahabharat

>>There is so much self consistency in all the events and thedescriptions that

it makes one to wonder. Based on these exactinformation Mahabhaarat must be

Five thousand years Old (from today) asper the historical accounting.<<Could

you please explain me how Lord Sun could come down on the earth and impregnate

Kunti? How could Gandhari bear 100 children? There are many more such

confusions but I will take one by one.KS

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