Week 9: Storytelling

The First Princes of Elephant City

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful kingdom called Hastinapura. It was ruled by the King Vichitravirya, who was a generous and wise man. A devout follower of the Gods, the king ruled in accordance with their divinations as well as the moral laws of ethics. The tradition was important to the King, especially the long-standing traditions of royalty and familial relations of property. The King had two sons: Dhritarashtra and Pandu. Dhritarashtra was the eldest, and therefore it was by man’s law that he becomes King after Vichitravirya. The oldest prince was born without sight, coming into the mortal realm with unseeing eyes but a wise mouth. Dhritarashtra enjoyed listening to poetry and learning to worship the Gods and Goddesses. The youngest son, Pandu, was a gift and Dhritarashtra loved his brother well.

As Pandu grew older Vichitravirya began to notice that the younger boy had a keen eye for diplomatic situations in ways that Dhritarashtra had an eye for the arts. Dhritarashtra enjoyed spending his time in the study, being read works of art and long ago tales of different times. Vichitravirya came to realize that, despite the law of man, Pandu flourished in the light of the court and often resolved problems with very little fuss. Dhritarashtra was smart but it was an intelligence very different from his brother. However, neither was envious of the other when Vichitravirya announced that Pandu would take the throne so that Dhritarashtra could continue to study and pursue his own passions.

Dhritarashtra was overjoyed with his father’s choice and made sure to always be at reach should his brother need his help on any matters once Pandu took the throne. Unfortunately, the crown weighed heavy on Pandu’s head until Death came into the kingdom and stole the king away. Dhritarashtra solemnly stepped to the throne, and gazed at his own eldest son: he hoped that his own children would never know the burden of the crown.

Source: Wikipedia

Author’s Note: I decided to use the old, typical format of a fairytale to retell the beginning of the Pandavas princes to explore a few questions that were raised for me regarding their father and uncle. I was mainly intrigued by the relationship between Pandu, the father of the Pandavas, and their uncle, Dhritarashtra. Dhritarashtra was overlooked for the throne, despite being the elder brother, and I wonder if it was because he was blind or if Pandu simply showed more ambition and potential as a ruler. But there did not seem to be any sort of bitterness between the brothers, since Dhritarashtra chose his brother’s son (Yudhishthira) over his own son, Duryodhana. Did Dhritarashtra simply love his brother enough to honor the lineage the way his father had not done or did Yudhishthira show a more potential to be a good king? Did Dhritarashtra put too much reliance on his own relationship with his brother and believe that Duryodhana would be happy for his cousin and not poisoned with bitterness? These are the questions that I was really interested in trying to answer.