HARE KRSNA

MAHABARATHA
SVAYAMVARA
AT KASI
THREE DAUGHTERS

Kasiraja, the King of Kashi was

a worried man. He had three
daughters Amba, Ambika and
Ambalika and today was their
swayamvara. [the ceremony
where the girl chooses their own
husband]. The intelligence and
the beauty of this three
daughters had spread throughout
the country and he had also
invited the Kings from all over.
NO. That was not what was worrying him. What was
eating the King's head was that he had deliberately
avoided inviting the King of Hastinapur for the
swayamvara. Kasiraja had his own reasons and the
most important being that Hastinapur was more or
less being ruled by Bhishma. And he had taken the
vow of not marrying. Vichitraviryan, the actual ruler
was nothing more than the paper head. Kashiraja
had no intention of his daughters getting married to
someone like that.....
• His eldest daughter Amba had now come forward
with the garland in her hand walked towards the
King Shalva. As she was about to place her
garland around...there was a loud commotion
outside the palace.

• Everybody turned to see outside. Kasiraja's worst

nightmare came true when he saw a furious
Bhishma thundering inside the palace. However
on seeing Bhishma, the other kings and princes
jeered at him.
AMBA AMBALIKA AMBIGA
V I C I T R AV I R YA
W H AT H A P P E N E D T O C H I T R A N G A D A ?
VICITRAVIRYA
DIES
SATYAVATHI IN DESPAIR
TURNS TO BHESMA
BHEESMA
DEV GIVES
PROPOSAL
 • Once, Kartavirya Arjuna was troubling 
Varuna. He asked, “I am strongest in the
entire world. I have even beaten Indra, the
king of the devas. Is there anyone greater
than me?”

• “Sage Jamadagni’s son Parshuram had

defeated countless Kshatriyas. He is the
UDAHARANA only one who can defeat you,” Varuna
replied.
1
• Arjuna was enraged. He wanted to be the
most powerful in the world. He immediately
went to Jamadagni’s ashram. Arjuna was
greeted kindly. Jamadagni served food to
Arjuna and his entire army from the divine
cow, Kamadhenu. Arjuna wanted the cow
and told his minister Chandragupta to go
ask for it.
 JAMADAGNI
KILLED
“O King, unfortunately, I cannot give you this cow.
I need it for religious ceremonies,” Jamadagni
refused.

Soon, the two started furiously arguing over the cow. After
some time, Kartavirya Arjuna lost his cool. He took out his
sword and chopped off the head of Sage Jamadagni. Arjuna
then seized Kamadhenu and took her back to Mahishmati.

Parshuram had been out at that time. When he returned, he

saw his father’s head lying on the ground. He was shocked.
His mother Renuka told him what happened. Parshuram
decided to take revenge on Kartavirya Arjuna.
 RESOLVED

• It is mentioned in the Puranas

that Lord Parshuram 21 times
fulfilled his resolve by killing the
Kshatriya and filling the five
lakes with blood.

• The widowed wives of Ksatriyas

were married to the Brahmanas
 UDATYAN AND WIFE MAMATA

BROTHER –BRHASPATHI AFFAIR WITH

MAMATA
CHILD IN THE WOMB FORBADE

UDAHARANAM CURES CHILD TO BE BORN

2 BLIND….DIRGA TAMASA
DIRGA TAMASA MARRIES PRATVESI
BLESSED WITH A CHILD
PRATVESI FOUND DIGA TAMAS
USELESS
INSTRUCTS SON(GAUTAMA) TO
THROW HIM IN RIVER
 KING SAVES DIRGA KING HAD NO
TAMAS CHILDREN
KINGS
SAVES
PERSUADES DIRGA
FIVE CHILDREN
VASU TO
WERE BORN
IMPREGNATE WIFE

ANGAN VANGAN
GAVE FIVE
KALINGAN
KINGDOMS TO
PUNDRAN
CHILDREN
SUNGAN
VYASA TO VYASA WAS IN UTTARAKANDHA
THE
SUMMONED TO HASTINAPURA
RESCUE
IMPREGNATED AMBIKA & AMBALIKA

IMPREGNATED MAID SERVANT

BHEESMA TRAINED ALL THREE BOYS

 VIDURA
REMINDED BY
MAITREYA
māṇḍavya-śāpād bhagavān
prajā-saṁyamano yamaḥ
bhrātuḥ kṣetre bhujiṣyāyāṁ
jātaḥ satyavatī-sutāt
Synonyms
māṇḍavya — the great ṛṣi Māṇḍavya Muni; śāpāt — by his
curse; bhagavān — the greatly powerful; prajā — one who is
born; saṁyamanaḥ — controller of death; yamaḥ — known as
Yamarāja; bhrātuḥ — of the brother; kṣetre — in the wife; 
bhujiṣyāyām — kept; jātaḥ — born; satyavatī — Satyavatī (the
mother of both Vicitravīrya and Vyāsadeva); sutāt — by the
son (Vyāsadeva).

Translation
I know that you are now Vidura due to the cursing of
Māṇḍavya Muni and that formerly you were King
Yamarāja, the great controller of living entities after their
death. You were begotten by the son of Satyavatī,
Vyāsadeva, in the kept wife of his brother.
MANDAYVA MUNI

• Māṇḍavya Muni was a great sage (cf. Bhāg.

 1.13.1), and Vidura was formerly the
controller Yamarāja, who takes charge of the
living entities after death. Birth, maintenance
and death are three conditional states of the
living entities who are within the material
world. As the appointed controller after death,
Yamarāja once tried Māṇḍavya Muni for his
childhood profligacy and ordered him to be
pierced with a lance
 MISPLACED JUDGEMENT

Māṇḍavya, being angry at Yamarāja for awarding him undue

punishment, cursed him to become a śūdra (member of the less
intelligent laborer class). Thus Yamarāja took birth in the womb of
the kept wife of Vicitravīrya from the semen of Vicitravīrya’s
brother, Vyāsadeva. Vyāsadeva is the son of Satyavatī by the great
sage Parāśara, and Vicitravīrya is the son of the same Satyavatī by
the great king Śantanu, the father of Bhīṣmadeva.
 NO DISQUALIFICATION

This mysterious history of Vidura was known to Maitreya Muni

because he happened to be a contemporary friend of Vyāsadeva’s. In
spite of Vidura’s birth from the womb of a kept wife, because he had
otherwise high parentage and great connection he inherited the highest
talent of becoming a great devotee of the Lord. To take birth in such a
great family is understood to be an advantage for attaining devotional
life. Vidura was given this chance due to his previous greatness.