100 Fun Facts About The Mahabharata

Which archer gave Drona his right thumb as a teacher's fee, though Drona had refused to teach him?

Ekalavya had taught himself before a clay image of Drona; when his skill outshone Arjuna's, Drona demanded the thumb so no archer would surpass his favourite pupil.

In a legend later added to the Mahabharata, which god wrote the epic down as Vyasa dictated?

Ganesha agreed to write only if his pen never stopped, so Vyasa slipped in verses so knotty that Ganesha had to pause to work them out.

What is the other major Sanskrit epic of ancient India, alongside the Mahabharata?

The Ramayana is retold inside the Mahabharata itself: the sage Markandeya tells Rama's story to console Yudhishthira after Draupadi is abducted.

What happened to Karna's chariot in his last duel, as a Brahmin had cursed?

Its wheel sank into the earth, as the Brahmin's curse foretold, and while Karna climbed down to heave it free, Arjuna struck him down.

How does Krishna die, long after the war, in the Mahabharata?

A hunter's arrow in his foot killed Krishna: the hunter Jara mistook him for a deer, then begged forgiveness, and Krishna comforted him before ascending to heaven.

How did the Pandavas get Drona to stop fighting at Kurukshetra?

A false report of his son's death did it: Bhima killed an elephant named Ashwatthama, and the famously truthful Yudhishthira told Drona that Ashwatthama was dead.

By what nickname is the Mahabharata sometimes known within the Indian tradition?

The fifth Veda: Vyasa, named 'arranger' because he arranged the Vedas, is said to have taught his pupils the Mahabharata as a fifth.

To which king, Arjuna's great-grandson, did the sage Vaisampayana first recite the Mahabharata?

Janamejaya asked Vyasa, who had come to his great sacrifice, how the Kuru feud began, and Vyasa had his pupil Vaisampayana narrate the whole story.

For the throne of which kingdom do the Pandavas and Kauravas fight?

Hastinapura's throne passed to the younger Pandu because his elder brother Dhritarashtra was born blind, so both men's sons later claimed it.

Why did Yudhishthira ask the lake spirit to revive Nakula, not Bhima or Arjuna?

So Madri still had a son: Yudhishthira said Kunti lived on through him and both mothers deserved alike; pleased, the yaksha revived all four brothers.

How many sons did Dhritarashtra and Gandhari have?

100 sons grew from a lump of flesh: after two years pregnant, Gandhari struck her womb, and Vyasa divided the mass into jars of ghee to grow.

Which goddess was the mother of Devavrata, later called Bhishma?

Ganga drowned seven newborn sons in the river, and when King Shantanu stopped her from drowning the eighth, Devavrata, she left him.

What vow did Devavrata take so that his father Shantanu could marry the fisherman's daughter Satyavati?

Lifelong celibacy was his second vow: he had already ceded the throne, but the fisherman-chief still feared Devavrata's own sons might claim it.

What was the fallen Bhishma, free to choose his death, waiting for on his bed of arrows?

The sun's northward turn: his father's boon let Bhishma die at will, so he lay on the arrows for weeks, teaching Yudhishthira how to rule, until that auspicious season began.

Why was Dhritarashtra born blind, according to the Mahabharata?

His mother shut her eyes at the sight of the unkempt sage Vyasa; her sister Ambalika turned pale at him instead, so Pandu was born pale.

What did Gandhari do for the rest of her life after marrying Dhritarashtra?

She wore a blindfold for life to share her blind husband's darkness, yet after the war one angry glance from beneath it marked Yudhishthira's toe.

Which sage gave Kunti the mantra that let her summon any god to father a child?

Durvasa granted the mantra after the young Kunti waited on the wrathful sage with great care during his stay at her adoptive father's house.

Which god was the divine father of Bhima?

Vayu's son showed his strength early: when the infant Bhima fell from Kunti's lap onto a rock, the rock shattered and the baby was unhurt.

Which god fathered Karna with the young Kunti before her marriage?

Surya's son was born with armour and earrings, and Karna generously cut them off for Indra, Arjuna's father, who came begging for them disguised as a Brahmin.

Of which kingdom did Duryodhana make Karna the king?

Anga's crown was Duryodhana's instant gift at the princes' tournament, so that Karna, mocked for his non-royal birth, could challenge Arjuna as a king.

What was the house of lac?

A flammable palace built to burn the Pandavas alive, the house of lac burned instead with its builder Purochana inside, while the brothers slipped away through a tunnel.

Whom did Karna have to kill with the one-shot weapon from Indra that he had saved for Arjuna?

Ghatotkacha, Bhima's giant son, wrought such havoc in a night battle that Karna had to spend Indra's weapon on him, which left Arjuna safe from it.

In the popular telling, what was Draupadi's swayamvara task?

Shoot a moving fish's eye via its reflection is the elaborate version; Arjuna, disguised as a Brahmin, hit the target, and princes angry that a Brahmin had won attacked him.

In the best-known account, why did Draupadi marry all five Pandavas?

Kunti told them to share their prize before she saw it was a bride, and her word had to stand; the epic adds that Shiva had once promised Draupadi five husbands.

How was Draupadi born, according to the Mahabharata?

From a fire sacrifice King Drupada held for a son who could slay Drona; her brother Dhrishtadyumna rose from the flames first, and Draupadi followed him.

What capital did the Pandavas build in the wild forest they were given?

Indraprastha's palace, built by the architect Maya, fooled Duryodhana into falling into a pool he took for solid floor, and Bhima's laughter deepened his grudge.

Whom did Arjuna elope with and marry, the sister of Krishna?

Subhadra's abduction was Krishna's own advice: for brave Kshatriyas, he told Arjuna, carrying off a bride by force was an applauded way to marry.

Who played the loaded dice against Yudhishthira on Duryodhana's behalf?

Shakuni, Duryodhana's uncle, won every throw, and Yudhishthira staked and lost his wealth, his kingdom, his brothers, himself and finally Draupadi.

How was Draupadi saved from being disrobed in the Kaurava court?

Her dress became endless as Dushasana dragged at it, and King Dhritarashtra then granted Draupadi boons that freed her husbands from slavery.

What penalty awaited the Pandavas if they were recognised during their final year in hiding?

Another twelve years of exile was the price, so Duryodhana sent spies to hunt for them during their year in hiding, and they failed to find them.

How many days did the Kurukshetra war last?

Eighteen days destroyed both armies, and on the night after the last battle Ashwatthama crept into the sleeping Pandava camp and slaughtered the victors' remaining troops.

What role did Krishna take in the Kurukshetra war?

Krishna became Arjuna's charioteer after offering the rivals a choice: his vast army, or himself unarmed. Arjuna chose Krishna, and Duryodhana went away delighted with the army.

Which of Krishna's kin refused to take part in the Kurukshetra war and went on pilgrimage instead?

Balarama had trained both Bhima and Duryodhana as fighters, so he felt bound to both sides, stayed neutral and spent the war visiting holy sites.

Which physicist said the first atomic bomb test brought to mind the Bhagavad Gita line 'Now I am become Death'?

Robert Oppenheimer recalled that as the fireball rose over New Mexico a few people laughed, a few cried and most stayed silent, while the Gita's line ran through his mind.

Between which two figures is the Bhagavad Gita framed as a dialogue?

Arjuna despairs at fighting his kin, and Krishna reminds him of his duty as a Kshatriya.

Whom did the Pandavas place in front of Bhishma on the tenth day so that he would lay down his weapons?

Shikhandi had been born a woman, and Bhishma himself had told the Pandavas he would never strike such a warrior, so Arjuna shot him down from behind Shikhandi.

What is the name of Arjuna's celestial bow?

Gandiva was procured for Arjuna by the fire god Agni, who reappeared on the brothers' last journey to demand it back, so Arjuna cast the bow into the sea.

Which battle formation did Abhimanyu know how to enter but not how to leave?

The chakravyuha closed behind Abhimanyu when Jayadratha held back the other Pandavas, and a grieving Arjuna swore to kill Jayadratha before the next sunset or walk into a fire.

How did Bhima kill Duryodhana at the end of the Kurukshetra war?

By splitting his thighs with a mace, a foul blow below the waist: Bhima had sworn to do it when Duryodhana bared his thigh to Draupadi at the dice game.

What curse did Gandhari lay on Krishna after the Kurukshetra war?

That his own family would be annihilated: Gandhari held that Krishna could have prevented the war, and he accepted the curse; 36 years later the Yadavas slaughtered one another.

The stray dog that follows Yudhishthira into the Himalayas is revealed as which god, often identified with Dharma?

Yama, as the god Dharma, was testing his son: Indra offered Yudhishthira a place in heaven if he left the dog behind, and he refused to abandon a creature so devoted to him.

How did Arjuna's grandson Parikshit die?

Bitten by a snake: Parikshit had draped a dead snake over a silent, meditating sage, whose son cursed him to die within seven days by the fangs of the serpent king Takshaka.

In Hindu tradition, the Kurukshetra war ushered in which of the world's four ages?

Kali Yuga, the last and most degenerate of the four ages, is traditionally dated from 3102 BCE, and in Hindu belief it is the age we are still living in.

Which British director staged a nine-hour Mahabharata in a quarry outside Avignon in 1985?

Peter Brook's production went on to tour the world, and in 1988 Glasgow turned its empty transport museum into the Tramway arts centre to house it.

Which bard recites the Mahabharata to sages in the Naimisha Forest in the epic's outer frame?

Ugrashrava Sauti has just come from a king's great sacrifice, where he heard Vaisampayana recite the poem, so the Mahabharata reaches us as a tale within a tale.

What name is traditionally given to the core of the Mahabharata attributed to Vyasa himself?

Jaya, 'Victory', is a name the poem gives itself: one passage says it should be heard by those who desire victory, and that a king who hears it may conquer all his foes.

Which wise half-brother of Dhritarashtra and Pandu, born to a palace maid, served the Kuru kingdom as prime minister?

Vidura was the god of justice reborn: a sage had cursed the god to a mortal life for having him impaled over an insect he had hurt as a child.

Which princess, abducted by Bhishma and then spurned, swore to cause his death and was reborn to do it?

Amba had already chosen King Salva, and Bhishma let her go to him, but Salva would not take a bride another man had carried off, leaving her with no one.

Which divine pair fathered the Pandava twins Nakula and Sahadeva?

The Ashwins are twin gods, so Pandu's second wife won two sons from the single use of the mantra Kunti allowed her, and Kunti, feeling tricked, refused to share it again.

In whose court do the Pandavas spend their final year of exile in disguise?

King Virata unknowingly took them all into service: Bhima cooked in his kitchens, while the great archer Arjuna, dressed as a woman, taught dancing to the ladies of the palace.

When the mighty Bhima met Hanuman lying across a forest path, what could he not lift out of the way?

The monkey's tail would not budge, because the frail old ape was the divine Hanuman, out to teach the boastful Bhima some humility. Bhima was only passing through to pick flowers for his wife.

What humiliating mishap befell Duryodhana when he toured the Pandavas' new palace of illusions?

He fell into a pool he had mistaken for a crystal floor, a humiliation that hardened his envy of his cousins. The hall was the work of Maya, architect of the demons.

To hide his birth, what did the unwed Kunti do with her newborn son Karna?

She sent him down a river in a basket, and the wife of a chariot driver who found it raised the future warrior as her own son. Karna learned who his mother was only on the eve of the war.

What did Krishna slip into the blind Dhritarashtra's vengeful embrace after the war, in place of Bhima?

An iron statue took the hug, because Krishna sensed the grieving king meant to kill the man who had slain his sons. Dhritarashtra crushed it to pieces, then wept as his rage left him.

In a popular tradition, where was Abhimanyu when he first heard his father Arjuna explain a battle formation?

In his mother's womb, a later tradition says, he heard only how to break in and never how to get out. The half-learned lesson cost him his life at Kurukshetra.

Offered a choice by Krishna before the Kurukshetra war, what did Duryodhana take instead of the unarmed god himself?

His whole army, the Narayani host, looked the better bargain to Duryodhana. Arjuna was content with Krishna alone, even though the god had sworn not to fight.

During the Pandavas' year in hiding, what job did Arjuna take at the Matsya court under the name Brihannala?

Dance teacher to the Matsya princess suited him: he was living the year as a eunuch, and his own training in music and dance made the disguise convincing.

Vyasa, the sage credited with composing the Mahabharata, is also what relation to the Kaurava princes in the story?

Their grandfather by blood: when a young king died childless, Vyasa was called in to father heirs on the widowed queens, and so sired both Dhritarashtra and Pandu.

In Drona's famous archery test, what did Arjuna say was the one thing he could see as he took aim?

The bird's head was all Arjuna would admit to seeing of the artificial target in the tree, the answer of total focus that Drona had been waiting for from his pupils.

Which city founded by Krishna does the Mahabharata describe being swallowed by the sea?

Dwarka, on the coast of present-day Gujarat, goes under in the epic's closing books as Arjuna looks on, and the Pandavas later pass its drowned site on their last journey.

Which Kaurava prince dragged Draupadi by her hair into the gambling hall and tried to strip her?

Dushasana paid for it on the battlefield, where Bhima kept a vow sworn that day by tearing open his chest and drinking his blood.

Which son of Drona crept into the sleeping Pandava camp after the war's last battle and slaughtered its warriors?

Ashwatthama killed the sons of Draupadi in the raid, and Krishna cursed him to wander the earth for three thousand years in suffering and decay.

Arjuna swore to burn himself alive if he failed to kill which king before the next sunset?

Jayadratha, blamed for the death of Arjuna's son Abhimanyu, sheltered behind the Kaurava ranks all day until Krishna veiled the sun and faked an early dusk.

Which cousin did Krishna kill at Yudhishthira's great sacrifice, having promised to pardon a hundred of his offences?

Shishupala used up his pardons in a single tirade against Krishna and Bhishma, and at the next insult Krishna's discus struck him dead. The promise had been made to his mother.

Which king of Magadha, born as two halves that a demoness joined together, did Bhima kill by tearing him apart?

Jarasandha simply knitted back together the first time. In the popular telling, Krishna then split a blade of grass and tossed the pieces opposite ways to show Bhima the trick.

Which aide, granted divine sight by Vyasa, describes the whole Kurukshetra war to the blind king Dhritarashtra?

Sanjaya could watch the distant battlefield in his mind, and his report to the king was blunt: he predicted that the Kauravas would be destroyed.

Which god, disguised as a mountain hunter, fought Arjuna over a slain boar before granting him a divine weapon?

Shiva fought Arjuna to a standstill, then rewarded his courage with the Pashupatastra. The duel later became the subject of the classical poem Kiratarjuniya.

Which god asked Arjuna and Krishna to help him devour the Khandava forest, a meal Indra kept dousing with rain?

Agni came to the two friends disguised as a Brahmin, and they held off Indra's storms with their arrows while the forest burned.

Which warrior-sage cursed Karna to forget his deadliest weapon after learning his pupil had lied about being a Brahmin?

Parashurama took Karna on after Drona refused to teach him the Brahmastra. The curse was exact: the weapon's secret would desert Karna at the very moment he needed it against his enemy.

What did Karna give away to Indra, who came disguised as a beggar to weaken him before the war?

His armour and earrings had been part of his body since birth and made him unkillable, so Karna cut them off with a knife. Indra praised him and gave him a missile that could be used only once.

Which Mughal emperor had the Mahabharata translated into Persian as the Razmnama, or Book of War?

Akbar set up a House of Translation at Fatehpur Sikri in 1574, where Hindu scholars explained the meaning and court writers turned it into polished Persian.

Which producer brought the Mahabharata to Indian television in a 94-episode Doordarshan serial that began in 1988?

B. R. Chopra produced the serial and his son Ravi directed it. Rerun during India's 2020 lockdown, three decades on, it again drew one of the biggest audiences on television.

In which Southeast Asian country are Mahabharata heroes such as Bhima stock figures of wayang shadow-puppet theatre?

Indonesia's wayang puppeteers, most of all on Java and Bali, perform to a gamelan orchestra, and UNESCO lists the art as intangible cultural heritage.

Which Indian writer recast the Mahabharata as a satire of India's independence struggle in The Great Indian Novel?

Shashi Tharoor turned the epic's heroes into figures from the freedom movement and took an irreverent line on Gandhi and Nehru, who are usually handled with reverence.

Which classical playwright turned the Mahabharata's tale of Shakuntala and King Dushyanta into his most admired drama?

Kalidasa was dramatising the heroes' own family history: Shakuntala's son Bharata is the ancestor of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas.

The Bhagavad Gita, a 700-verse scripture set inside the Mahabharata, has a title usually translated as what?

Song of God is the usual rendering. The poem opens not with a god but with a blind king, asking what his sons are doing on the battlefield.

In which modern Indian state does Kurukshetra, the battlefield of the Mahabharata war, lie?

Haryana's Kurukshetra district still draws pilgrims to Jyotisar, the spot where tradition says the Bhagavad Gita was first spoken.

Panchajanya, which Krishna sounds as the armies face each other at Kurukshetra, is what kind of object?

A conch shell seized from a demon named Panchajana, who had lived inside it. Arjuna answers the blast with a conch of his own, called Devadatta.

What is each of the major books of the Mahabharata called, from the Adi to the Svargarohana?

A parva varies hugely in length: the Shanti Parva, in which Bhishma lectures the newly crowned king on politics and society, is the longest of them.

On the battlefield, Krishna grants Arjuna a divine eye so that he can behold what?

His universal form, the Vishvarupa, holds the whole cosmos in one body. Arjuna cannot bear the sight and, gripped with fear, asks for the god's gentler shape back.

On his peace mission before the war, what was the least Krishna asked Duryodhana to give the Pandavas?

Five villages, one for each brother, would have bought peace after Duryodhana balked at returning their whole kingdom. He refused even that, and both sides marched.

After a two-year pregnancy, Gandhari's sons were finally incubated in what, on the advice of Vyasa?

Jars of ghee received the pieces of a hard lump of flesh that Gandhari had delivered in frustration. One extra jar, added at her request, produced her only daughter.

After Pandu shot a sage who had taken the form of a mating deer, what did the dying man's curse forbid him?

Sex with his wives would kill him, said the sage Kindama, which is why the five Pandavas were fathered by gods. Years later Pandu forgot himself with his second wife and died.

Which forest demoness was sent to lure the sleeping Pandavas to their deaths but fell in love with Bhima instead?

Hidimbi warned Bhima about her cannibal brother, saw him kill the ogre, and married him. In the mountain town of Manali she is worshipped as a goddess.

How did Dhritarashtra, Gandhari and Kunti meet their deaths, years after leaving the palace to live as hermits?

In a wildfire that reached the woods where the three were living out their last years in prayer and austerity. Yudhishthira, by then the king, performed their final rites.

What divine gift let Draupadi feed any number of guests during the Pandavas' forest exile?

A bottomless food pot, the Akshaya Patra, kept serving every day until Draupadi herself had eaten, and then gave nothing more until the next day.

What did Karna promise Kunti when she revealed herself as his mother and begged him to change sides?

To spare four sons, every Pandava but Arjuna, was as far as he would go. Whichever of the two rivals fell, he told her, she would still be a mother of five.

Which Matsya general did Bhima crush to death for harassing Draupadi during the Pandavas' year in hiding?

Kichaka was the queen's own brother, and Draupadi was serving her as a maid under the name Malini, so she turned in secret to Bhima for revenge.

Dhrishtadyumna, the Pandavas' supreme commander who beheaded Drona, was what relation to Draupadi?

Her brother arrived with a prophecy attached: their father, a king with an old grudge against Drona, had performed a ritual to obtain a son who would one day kill him.

Which celestial nymph cursed Arjuna to lose his manhood after he turned down her advances in Indra's heaven?

Urvashi had once been the wife of Arjuna's ancestor Pururavas, so he would not treat her as a lover. Indra later had the curse cut down to a single year.

Which king, whose tale consoles Yudhishthira in exile, also gambled his realm away at dice and won it back?

Nala lost his kingdom to his own brother and wandered in disguise before recovering it, a story a sage tells to show Yudhishthira that a gambler's ruin need not be final.

Where did the Pandavas hide their weapons before entering their year in disguise at the Matsya court?

Up in a tree: a shami, whose branches kept the bundle safe until the brothers came back for it. The shami is still worshipped on the tenth day of the Dasara festival in parts of India.

What fee did Drona demand from the Kuru princes once their training in arms was complete?

Drupada taken captive was the price of an old insult: the king had once promised his boyhood friend half his realm, then scorned him. Arjuna delivered him bound in ropes.

Which king of Madra set out to join the Pandavas but was won over to Duryodhana's side by a lavish welcome?

Shalya was uncle to the twins Nakula and Sahadeva, and he helped them anyway: driving Karna's chariot in the duel with Arjuna, he used the post to sap Karna's confidence.

Which man-eating demon of Ekachakra did Bhima kill after taking a villager's turn to deliver a cartload of food?

Bakasura expected a cartload of food and its driver for dinner. Bhima went in place of the Brahmin host whose turn it was, sent by his own mother, Kunti.

Vyasa's other name, Dvaipayana, records that the Mahabharata's legendary author was born where?

On an island in the Yamuna river, where the fisher-girl Satyavati bore him after her meeting with the sage Parashara, long before she became a queen.

Which royal rite did the grieving Yudhishthira perform after the war, urged on by Vyasa and Krishna?

The Ashvamedha set a consecrated horse loose to roam for a year, with Arjuna's army behind it to challenge any ruler who blocked its path. It names the epic's fourteenth book.

Which son of Dhritarashtra by a palace maid crossed to the Pandava side on the eve of the war?

Yuyutsu was half-brother to the Kaurava princes and, thanks to his defection, the only one of the blind king's sons to come through the war alive.

Which Matsya princess did Arjuna decline to marry himself, proposing her instead as a bride for his son Abhimanyu?

Uttara's son Parikshit, born after the war, was the heir who saved the Kuru line from extinction. Her brother, confusingly, was also called Uttara.

Which supplement to the Mahabharata fills in the life of Krishna that the main books leave out?

The Harivamsa counts as a khila, or appendix, to the epic. It was accepted as part of it early: the Buddhist poet Ashvaghosha, around the first century, quoted verses now found only there.