jabdakhata

In the Udyaga Parva of Mahabharata when Sri Krishna had come to meet Kunti, the mother of the five Pandavas, the queen who had not seen her sons for a period of thirteen years, who had kept alive the hope of seeing them becoming king again, Kunti told him to give Yudhisthira, her eldest son, the message - of reclaiming what was rightfully his and behave like a true Kshatriya. In this connection Kunti narrated the tale of Vidula, another outstanding woman who had inspired her son Sanjaya to fight. Vidula was well educated. She chastised her son Sanjaya, who, upon being defeated by the rival king of Sindhu desh, had been lying down forlorn and depressed. Vidula told him in strongest term that Sanjaya did not deserve to become her son. He was not displaying the valour and the courage of the Kshatriya. He should abandon his fear, rise and fight. She asked him to put forth his courage and reclaim his land from the hand of his enemy even at the cost of his life. She told him to make him...

 In the Mahabharata Udyoga Parva, we get an alternate version of the Yayati's curse to his fours sons and his installation of Puru, the youngest son, as his successor. Dhritarashtra was telling this story to Duryadhana in order to persuade the latter to follow Krishna's advice of peace - (excerpt from Kishori Mohan Ganguli's translation of Mahabharata) The lord of creatures, Soma, was the original progenitor of the Kuru race. Sixth in descent from Soma, was Yayati, the son of Nahusha. Yayati had five best of royal sages as his sons. Amongst them, lord Yadu of mighty energy was the eldest-born. Younger to Yadu was Puru, who, as our progenitor, brought forth by Sarmistha the daughter of Vrishaparvan. Yadu, O best of the Bharatas, was born of Devayani and, therefore, O sire, was the daughter's son of Sukra, otherwise called Kavya, of immeasurable energy. Endued with great strength and prowess, that progenitor of the Yadavas, filled with pride and possessed of wicked u...

Adapted from www.netajisubhasbose.org Post independence history has shaped around a cult - the cult of Gandhism, the myth of Ahimsa as a potent force that has shaped the freedom movement of India. Court historians of different hues, Red or Green, have been too hasty to conclude that the founding father of Indian Nation had been Gandhi as his ideal of non violence brought forth the much cherished freedom. However a careful analysis reveals that the assertion is deeply flawed. In the first place, we have already seen, that while Gandhi's movements made important contributions to the freedom movement, they on their own were not enough to force the British to leave India. In fact almost all of the major movements launched by Gandhi failed to achieve their objectives. Gandhiji also could not achieve his primary goal of Hindu Muslim unity. Despite his weak remonstrances, India was mercilessly partitioned into fragments by the British Raj, in connivance with Congress leaders, on the expli...