Vasuki, the head of Snakes (or Snake God) was attracted towards Draupadi, who came to Hastinapura, tied up and hung Arjuna from the peg after defeating him and then raped Draupadi in front of his eyes. One such interpolation is Bhil Mahabharata which has one dedicated chapter on the rape of Draupadi by the snake God Vasuki. However, Mahabharat has different interpolations with each interpolation glorifying a certain Characters of Vyas Mahabharata. On all these occasions she was saved by Lord Krishna and her husbands. The wife of five Pandavas had faced several attempts of disrobing her like after the game of dice, during exile by Jayadarath and by Keechak during her stay in Matsya Kindom. There's always a path that's best for you in a particular circumstance.Draupadi is one of the central characters in the epic Mahabharata written by Ved Vyas. The more I read it, the more it's reiterated that no human is perfect. Mahabharata is truly an epic as it deals with all the aspects of human psychology. He is equally good, bad, heartless, weak, cunning, honest like any other human being. Krishna is portrayed as any other human being. Even the divine intervention surrounding Draupadi's disrobement is presented otherwise. It even offers you a peek a boo into the divine birth mystery of the Pandavas. This book particularly shows Bhimasena in all his shades - his strength, his weaknesses, his choices, his guilt, his lust, etc. The story that on surface looks victory of right over wrong suddenly ceases to have that clear cut line and exhibits different grey areas of human personality.Įven the righteous men starts appearing weak. The story that on the surface seems quite straightforward opens up plethora of shades. But then when you dig deeper rather when you see through the eyes of different characters, the entire dimension changes. The moral is always the same - Victory of good over evil. The best thing about this legendary story is that when you think you know every bit of the story, something new or completely unexpected pops up. Bhima, The Lone Warrior by MT Vasudevan Nair is narrated from Bhima's perspective. On the whole, this version of the epic is more sincere in its interpretation & never tries to show anyone has pure.Įach character is just like any other human, they are either Dumb, Foolish, Stupid or driven by Greed, Lust, Vengeance & Power !Įvery time I read Mahabharata, there's a new perspective that comes out. This book also illustrated how the women in the Epic either played havoc or victim, the men were even worse by treating women with scant regard throughout. None of the characters were pure in any sense, they all had grudges, hidden motives & twisted Dharma to suit their own agendas. He has laid out bare the idiosyncrasies of both the Kauravas & Pandavas. Where the Author has excelled is in portraying the revered characters as realistic as possible, it makes us question their motives & actions. Mahabharata the timeless epic is so vast, diverse, alluring & as with any literary work its words, meanings & actions of its characters can be interpreted in “n” number of ways.Īuthor Vasudevan gives us Bhima’s perspective & justifies doing so, even though I don’t agree with the Author I still found this version of Mahabharata interesting. Bhima: Lone Warrior is the Mahabharata as only MT could tell it.It is a masterpiece of Indian literature. If his mother saw glory only in the skills of Arjuna and the wisdom of Yudhishtira, his beloved Draupadi cared only for the beauteous Arjuna. However, all of Bhima's moments of triumph remain unrecognized and unrewarded. He is adept at disguising his feelings,but has an overwhelmingly intuitive understanding of everyone who crosses his path.A warrior without equal, he takes on the mighty Bakasura and Jarasandha, and ultimately Duryodhana, thus bringing the Great War to a close. Vasudevan Nair's Bhima is a revelation:lonely eager to succeed treated with a mixture of affection and contempt by his Pandava brothers,and with scorn and hatred by his Kaurava cousins.Bhima battlesincessantly with failure and disappointments. This is the story of Bhima, the second son, always second in line - a story never adequately told until one of India's finest writers conjured him up from the silences in Vyasa's narrative.M.T.