Reading Notes: Mahabharata Part D

• I like how the Pandavas have a lot of regrets and don't want to continue fighting the war.  I wish they would all just stop and make peace but I suppose there are too many grudges.
• It's interesting seeing this book's version of the quote:  "I am become death, destroyer of worlds."  That was my most favorite quote by J. Robert Oppenheimer about the atomic bomb, and I'm really glad that I got to read that part.  In this version Krishna says "I am death.  I am destruction."  I like the impact of the other version better.
• So many sad moments in here with Bhishma on his bed of arrows, Drona getting his head cut off, and Adhimanyu getting caught in the lotus maze formation.  The last one especially got to me when Arjuna began crying about his dead son.
• I was also sad about the death of Karna.  It was kind of interesting how many people tried to convince him to go back and support the Pandavas.  I like how much he stuck to Duryodhana even though he knew he was doomed simply because Duryodhana had been the one who had supported him from the very beginning.  He was loyal to the bitter end.
• I liked how defiant Duryodhana was even at the very end.  He knew he was going to die and had just been humiliated by Bhima, but still he finds it in himself to chastise a god about his situation.  Maybe he did deserve it since he had started everything in the first place, but even so he was still brave and strong.
• Out of her hundred sons, Gandhari only had one left.  That was pretty sad too as well as the fact that she and Dhritarashtra and Kunthi died in a forest fire.
• I liked how Narayan set up the epilogue by saying that all epics writers have a hard time not continuing on to the narrative.
• Overall, I was very surprised with how deep and philosophical some parts were.  In the PDE Ramayana I read, not a lot of the parts were philosophical.  It was mostly very action oriented it seemed, but in the Mahabharata, many parts had deep questions and quotes.  I especially liked the quote about the greatest wonder in the world.

Bhima and Duryodhana.  Web Source.

Bibliography:  R.K. Narayan.  Mahabharata.  Reading Guide.