Mahabharat NL NEW SIGN UP SHEET Link pg 46 - Page 34

The inappropriate storyline here easily goes to the track following Yudisthir's coronation, where Arjun goes & gets to meet Krishna.  A fictitious track inserted just to give us some Arjun-Krishna moments, but aside from being way b4 its time, it made a mess of the storyline.

First of all, Arjun takes Subhadra to Dwarka on Kunti's request, and on the way, encounters Kalyavan, who throws Subhadra into a ravine.  Arjun jumps after her, and Krishna, like Moses, parts the water and gets them out.

Krishna then did what's true to the story - fled from Kalyavan, and then lured him into Muchkund's cave, and getting him incinerated.

They then go to Dwarka, but from here, they made a mess of Rukmini's abduction story.  Arjun went there as Brihannala, infiltrated the palace, his cover was blown by a fly near his nose that made him sneeze, and he took Rukmini's hand & ran, fighting & injuring Rukmi, and fighting all the other guards on the way.  Then in the temple, there is a filmy sequence, w/ Rukmini searching for Krishna and finally finding him and leaving w/ him. 🥱

Finally, they did become somewhat true to the story by showing Balarama obstruct the army, but again, no battle was shown b/w Krishna & Rukmi, except for Krishna sending his discus to shave Rukmi.  Following all this, they got to Dwarka, & Krishna-Rukmini's marriage wasn't even shown.  What was the point of this whole track, which is not even a part of the Mahabharata? 🤔  Neither did showing Krishna & the gopis make any sense, when they were near Dwarka.

Summary of the real story, which one can quickly lose sight of: first of all, there was no Arjun anywhere near Kalyavan nor Rukmini.  While the Kalyavan story happened as showed (albeit in the context of Kalyavan attacking Mathura, not Dwarka), Rukmini's abduction was purely a Krishna-Balarama project - Krishna went to the Parvati temple in Vidarbha to get her, while Balarama followed w/ his army.  Rukmini went in to do a puja to Parvati, asking that only Krishna get to marry her.  Following that, when she came out, Krishna just arrived, and took her on his chariot & drove off.  Sishupala raised the alarm, and Jarasandha's army gave chase, but Balarama obstructed them & defeated them.  Rukmi gave chase, had a simple bow-arrow battle w/ Krishna, in which he was defeated, and Krishna shaved half his hair & mustache.  They then got back to Dwarka where they married.

The Pandavas & Krishna first meet @ Draupadi's swayamvara, and following the establishment of Indraprastha, Arjun became a companion of Krishna, and helped him get some of the major 8 princesses that he married, like Kalindi and Satya.

18 dec

19 dec

26 dec

Continuing from his depiction last month in Drona's gurudakshina war, the relentless maligning of Draupadi's father Drupada continues.

If Drupada was then depicted as an unmatched warrior who knew battle formations like the chakravyuha, now he has been depicted as a Brahman hating tyrant - obviously, the show takes his attitude towards Drona, and extrapolates it to cover all Brahmins.  So just b4 the birth of Draupadi, Drupada is exhibiting some really sadistic behavior.

If that weren't irritating enough, Drupada is also depicted as being heavily misogynic as well - almost looks like he's competing w/ Dushashan & Jayadrath for that title.  After his defeat, his love for Shikhandini has overnight become one of pure hatred, while he is livid at the idea that in order to get a son, he'd have to accept a daughter as well.  The rishis also tell him that he's not destined to have a son w/o accepting a daughter.  Incidentally, Dhrishtadyumna appeared before Draupadi, so eventhat doesn't compute.

Here is what really happened, for those not aware of Drupada's story.  For starters, he already had 2 sons - Satyajit & Vrika - and went on to have several more sons even after Dhrishtadyumna.  Also, Shikhandini wasn't involved in that war w/ the Kurus - it was fought by Satyajit & Vrika, and b'cos they were defeated by Arjun, Drupada determined that they couldn't kill Drona, and hence wanted this yagna.  As for Shikhandini, Drupada had been told by Shiva that she'd grow up to become a man, and so accordingly, Drupada raised her as one.  So where did the misogyny come from?  Particularly galling was Drupada's statement that he wanted his daughter to be repeatedly humiliated, and still regarded as pure.

Also, one of Draupadi's most famous statements clearly indicates that her father and his family were only too eager to fight to avenge her humiliation.  When Krishna went on his peace mission to Hastinapur, Draupadi told him that if the Pandavas didn't want to fight, her father, brothers and sons would fight, and avenge what happened to her.  Would Draupadi have said any such thing had Drupada had such an attitude towards women?

The twist in the tale has been the role of Arjun in the Lakshagriha.  In the original, it was Vidura who secretly communicated to Yudisthir the plot against them, and sent miners to dig a tunnel that would get them out safely.  Once it was complete, a night b4 the house was supposed to be burnt, the Pandavas escaped in the tunnel, while Bhima burnt down the house, killing Purochan and everyone else in it.  Arjun's role here was quite  passive.

But in this serial, it's Arjun who discovers that the house is made of lac, then they notice that their mouse has been poisoned, then they try escaping and discover that the house is already set alight.  Then we are subjected to some amazing gymnastics by the Pandavas, including Arjun tossing Kunti to Bhima like a wide receiver in American football, b4 dodging several flames and finally uniting w/ his brothers.  The Pandavas then start digging, and then come out of a mountain.

Whatever!!!

There were few in this heavily distorted track, but one stood out.  Krishna aiming fruits at the hair of the gopis and hitting them, and then running away and making Arjun look like the culprit 😆