The Pandavas' Crib
Announcer: On
this exciting episode of InTV Cribs...(clips of the
brothers and Draupadi in various rooms of the palace and outside of it
play as the announcer speaks) we venture in to the Pandavas' amazing
place in Indraprastha from the Mahabharata. This and more, coming up
NEXT!
(Music of
mostly lutes and drums plays, while "Cribs"
flashes on the screen, and opening credits roll. This episode begins by
showing the outside of the palace from afar. It is white with
gold
columns gleaming in the bright sun, and the sky behind it is a
beautiful blue with very few clouds. The grass and trees
surrounding
the palace contrast with the shining marble, and flowers are blooming
in all directions. A fountain comes into view near the entrance,
and
we see Arjuna standing at the main entry.)
Arjuna: Hello
everyone, and welcome to Indraprastha. It is great to have you
visiting today! I will be showing you around here. Even
though this
palace belongs to my brothers as much as it belongs to me, we decided
having one person give a tour would be easier than all five!
Don't
worry though, we'll run in to plenty of people along the way.
(Arjuna
motions us into the front door of the palace. Inside, the camera
pans
around the grand entry. Walls of gold brighten up everything
inside,
and every window and archway is golden as well. A pond in the
center
of the entryway looks as smooth as glass, and has lotuses and swans
floating on the surface.)
Arjuna: Well,
as you may already know,
the architect of the gods, and also a master of illusion, built this
wonderful place we call home. Maya was very good to us when
he
constructed this palace. You see, I saved him from the burning
Khandava forest and to show his thanks he built us this magnificent
edifice. We couldn't be happier with the incredible work he put
into
this. Follow me, I would like to show you my favorite spot.
(The
camera follows Arjuna through the halls of the palace. Keeping
with
the theme, the walls remain gold, and the white marble floors shine and
reflect everything that passes over them. Fountains and ponds are
abound in the halls, as well as beautiful flowers carved from marble
lining the halls on the floor. Arjuna walks over what appear to
be
many ponds, but as we pass over them the sound of feet hitting glass is
apparent. He walks around others.)
Arjuna:
(Walking, looking
over his shoulder) Some of these are actually water. As I said
before,
Maya is a master of illusion. It took lots of falls into the
ponds to
figure out which ones were real and which were illusions.
(We
arrive at a what appears to be a beautiful garden of lotuses.
There
are grand, white steps leading down to the garden made of marble and
adorned with pearls. The camera begins to move closer to it.)
Arjuna:
Be careful! This is actually a pond made to look like a garden of
lotuses. Many people, including Duryodhana have been tricked by
this illusion and
fallen
in. (He dips his toe into the water and splashes a bit)
See? Things
around here are never as they seem. Come now, let's go back
inside.
(The
camera follows him back through a beautiful golden archway into the
hall, and we are led into a throne room. The room has yet another
reflecting pond and ceilings four stories high. The marble and
gold
shine so brilliantly that it seems as if the sun were shining
inside.
We
see Yudhishthira and Bhima staring into the waters. They appear
to be
extremely deep in thought.)
Arjuna:
Brothers! (They stir.) These are our guests!
Bhima: Welcome,
I hope you're enjoying your day here.
Yudhishthira:
Oh, hello! We are honored by your coming. But now we have
some business to discuss. We hope you'll excuse us.
Arjuna: Yes I'm
afraid the end has come for our day. We will show you out.
(The
scene cuts back to the grand entry, and the three of the five brothers
waving goodbye. The camera begins to pan back out of the house, but
stops abruptly.
Arjuna:
(Laughing) Sorry! I know it looks
like a door, but you'll have to use the smaller one next to it. It's
all part of Maya's illusions.
(The camera
backs away from the
palace and the scene is sped up with effects. A clip of the three
brothers waving goodbye is seen. Music plays again as a
few of the scenes from the palace flash by to the beat of the music.
The credits begin to roll.)
Announcer: Next
time, we'll see another great dwelling from the Mahabharata.
Don't miss the final episode of the season!
Author's
Note:
I found this
story much more difficult to write than the stories from
the Ramayana. I don't feel I was as familiar with any of the
characters in the Mahabharata as I was with Rama and Ravana. I
look
forward to revising this story as I read more of Buck's version of the
Mahabharata because it seems to be a little easier to follow.
That
being said, I decided it would be most fun to start out again with a
palace because they are fun to write about. The Pandavas' palace
at
Indraprastha truly intrigued me because of all of the illusions put in
place by Maya. I did not really change many of the details from
how
they were in the book, but I did use wikipedia as a resource in adding
to my knowledge of what was in the palace.
I chose to have
Arjuna give the tour because he was the one who saved
Maya from the burning forest and Maya's favor of building the palace
was to Arjuna. I focused on the illusions a lot because that is
what
the books focused on. I really enjoyed the story of Duryodhana
falling
into the lotus pond and getting angry, so I made sure that the
cameraman had some trouble with the illusions as well.
I chose the image of a water palace because I saw friend's photos of a
trip to India, and the idea was interesting to me. He told me
wealthy people would live in them during the summer because the water
kept the dwelling cool. This photo represented how I pictured the
structure of the Pandava's palace would have looked, although maybe not
on water.
Bibliography:
Buck, William (1973). Mahabharata.
Indraprastha.
Narayan, R. K.
(1978). The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian
Epic.
Image Information: Water Palace, Camp Victory
