Reading Notes: Kunti and Her Son & The Sons of Pandu, Part A

I particularly enjoyed reading these chapters because these are the stories I grew up hearing from my mom. She knows the Mahabharata by heart basically so she would always tell me bits and snips, and there used to be a show called the Mahabharat on Indian TV once that I would watch with her.

Kunti and Her Son

from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie 

• Plot: Starts off with talking about King Pandu and his two wives: Kunti and Madri. Kunti's brother Vasudeva, was the father of Krishna. Kunti one day had a vision of the god of the un, Surya. She ends up becoming the mother of his son, Karna. She was ashamed of this so she wrapped him up and floated him off down the river in a basket. She prayed that he be protected by all. The basket drifts down to the rivers one by one. First to the River Aswa, then to Yamuna, to Ganges, and then finally to Anga. At Anga there was a woman named Radha who found Karna and was overjoyed because she herself couldn't bear a son. 
• I particularly liked this chapter because it introduces so many pivotal characters in the Mahabharata. 
• Strong points about this chapter:
• It was mainly focused on the females of this chapter, and the motherly love could be shown through their words of despair.
• For my story, I could maybe expand of the part of the chapter where Kunti leaves Karna, and Anga finds him.

The Pandavas. Source: India Times. 

The Sons of Pandu

from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

• Plot: The five sons of Pandu are introduced. Kunti is the mother of Yudhishthira, Arjuna, and Bhima. Madri is the mother of Nakula and Sahadeva. They are known as the Pandavas. They are all believed to be the sons of actual gods and not Pandu. One day King Pandu dies by merely touching Madri like some brahmin had told him. The wives, Kunti and Madri, argued about who should be burned with him and go with her husband to death. The Pandavas having heard their dispute decided that it should be Madri because she was King Pandu's favorite wife. Therefore, she was laid on the pyre next to her husband and passed away. 
• I like this chapter because it introduces the Pandavas who are the main characters in the Mahabharata. It's going to be a little funny for me reading the rest of this because I've seen the show and I can still remember the actors' faces so I will be imagining them in my head. 
• Strong points in this chapter:
• I like that all of the it tells who's the father, the god, of each individual son. I'm sure the description of what the god is known for also is going to play a big part in how each son's personality turns out.
• For some reason I thought of the game show when I read the paragraphs about the introduction of the sons, so maybe I can incorporate that into a story somehow.