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Reading Notes: Mahabharata Part C


  • The Himalayas 
    • Yudhisthira (Arjuna was in Indra's celestial dwelling) and the 3 younger Pandava brothers and their shared wife, Draupadi, lived in the forest called Kamyaka where they met great sages, Yudhisthira learned dice skills, and were shown mystical waters that cleansed their sins
    • after being in Kamyaka for awhile they moved further north into the Himalayas 
      • the location of Kubera's dwelling
        • Kubera is the lord of treasure and king of the yakshas 
    • Dwelling of Kubera
      • palaces of crystal & gold
      • walls studded with jewels
      • beautiful gardens 
    • Kubera told Yudhishthira to be "patient and long-suffering and to wait for the time and the place for displaying kshatriya prowess"
    • the exiles (Pandavas and Draupadi) wandered on from the kingdom of Kubera
      • "sighed for Arjuna"
      • "beheld the bright car of Indra"
      • "worshipped Matali the charioteer"
      • Indra came with Asparas (female spirits of the clouds) and Gandharvas (male nature spirits)
        • promised Yudhishthira that he would "yet reign in splendor over all men"
    • Arjuna appeared 
      • the brothers rejoiced and they all returned to Kamyaka together
      • visited Markandeya the might sage
        • immortal
      • revealed to them the mysteries of the Deluge
        • links to the Wiki about Matsya a fish avatar in the 10 primary avatars of Vishnu and described as having rescued Manu in a great deluge 
  • Storytelling notes
    • I focused on this story because I know of a lot of texts that take place in the Himalayas
    • The Himalayas are always written about as some sort of mystical place full of magic and in this story, it is where Kubera the lord of treasure lives 
    • I want to play around with writing a story set in the Himalayas, possibly in the kingdom of Kubera. I think it would make for a good adventure story. 
  • Bibliography: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913).
(Cover Art for Altai-Himalaya: A Travel Diary by Nicholas Roerich)

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