| The Statue of Bhima After all the Kaurava brothers were slain, the Pandavas walked back to Hastinapura. With them came Krishna, avatar of Vishnu. Inside the palace, Krishna greeted King Dhritarashtra. His golden throne sat unpolished, neglected by his servants because of the war. The rubies, sapphires, and emeralds on the throne normally caught the glow of candles and torches and reflected it back like miniature suns. Today they glowed dim like a pair of eyes in a dark forest. “Krishna, where are the Pandavas? I wish to see them.” Krishna could hear the faint hesitation in his voice and understood King Dhritarashtra’s plans. “Nakulu, come greet the King.” At this request, Nakulu came through the beautiful ivory arches of the palace and walked to the foot of the throne. King Dhritarashtra stood and embraced Nakulu with great strength. Nakulu could feel the air being pressed from his lungs, but said nothing until King Dhritarashtra laughed and released him. “Krishna, where are the others?” Krishna called for Sahadeva, who walked through the ivory arches and bowed to King Dhritarashtra. They embraced, and Sahadeva could feel his ribs tremble under the power of King Dhritarashtra’s embrace. When he released him, Sahadeva couldn’t help but cough as his eyes met the glance of Nakulu. “Krishna, bring them all out at once.” At Krishna’s calling, Yudhistira, Arjuna, and Bhima walked through the ivory arches and up to King Dhritarashtra. Yudhistira took the old man’s harsh embrace without flinching, but Arjuna’s eyebrows curled downward, his hand reaching for his sword until he met eyes with Krishna. “Bhima, the one I’ve wanted to embrace the most. Come.” The brothers noticed a difference in Bhima’s walk as he went to the King. It was slower, and his footsteps seemed to echo across the entire hall. As they met for an embrace, King Dhritarashtra’s eyes flared open as his mouth grew wider with a cold smile that made Arjuna place his hand on his sword. At that moment, Krishna leaned to Arjuna and whispered in his ear. “What you see is an illusion I have conjured. Bhima sits on the balcony above.” Arjuna looked up and saw Bhima dressed as a woman, his face veiled and his large body wrapped in fine silk cloth. Arjuna couldn’t help but laugh as Bhima shook his ankle bracelet and smiled coyly at him. King Dhritarashtra gave one more squeeze and the illusion of Bhima broke apart into hundreds of iron pieces. He pretended to weep, but Krishna stopped him. “What you have destroyed is an illusion I have conjured. Let this satisfy your longing for revenge.” The brothers were relieved as Bhima climbed down the balcony. The King wept and begged for forgiveness, which the brothers accepted. From: Narayan, R.K. The Mahabharata. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978. Commentary I thought this story would fit well in my project because it is a very concrete example of maya. Other stories in my project have shown the more vague uses and conceptions of maya, and I think using a more concrete example would be a nice switch to keep things interesting. I decided to change the story from Narayan’s by having the King call all of the Pandava brothers, instead of just Bhima. I did this to add some foreshadowing and increase the tension in the story. By moving to progressively stronger embraces by King Dhritarashtra, I hoped to convey his power and create a little more worry in the reader. At the same time, Narayan’s version makes it seem like they don’t think it is a big deal that King Dhritarashtra tried to kill Bhima, so I tried to add a little lightheartedness to the story by having Bhima dressed as a woman. I hoped this would cut down on the seriousness that came about in the story because of the increased tension. |
