Episodes
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Episode 100 - Summing up
Episode 100 - I've put together my review of the epic, in its totality. I discuss the strange way in which the epic goes into fine detail on some parts of the story, and breezes over others. Some of the most critical moments in the story, like when Dhrtarastra was skipped and then later made…
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Episode 99 - Epilogue 2: The Snake Sacrifice
Episode 99 - This is the final piece that brings us around, back to the beginning. We covered some of this territory before, back in Episode 2, but at the time, it was hard to explain that Parikshit was Arjun's grandson and that Takshaka had an ancient feud with the dynasty going back to the fire...
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Episode 98 - Epilogue 1: The Beginning
Episode 98 - This is the first of two episodes that take us from the death of the Pandavas down to the Snake Sacrifice, held by Arjun's great-grandson. We skimmed over this back at the beginning of the podcast, because back then we were unfamiliar with who all these people were. But now it makes...
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Episode 97 - The End
Episode 97 - So this is it-- the final installment from the Mahabharata. Book 18, the Svargarohanika Parva, is done, and the 18 parvas of the Mahabharata are now complete. Please be sure to visit my blog and let me know you made it! And then treat yourself to something nice, because you have…
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Episode 96 - The Death of the Pandavas
Episode 96 - Arjun returns home with some bad news and some good news. The bad news is that they have lost their powers and have lost their friends. The good news is that they finally get to retire. Yudhistira doesn't hesitate. He strips off his fine garments and leads his brothers into…
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Episode 95 - Arjuna's Defeat
Episode 95 - Krishna is dead. Balaram is dead. The city of Dwarka sinks beneath the waves, and the refugees of that once-great city are making their way to Indraprastha with only Arjun as their protector. But the influence of the Kali Yuga pervades the earth, and Arjun is not the man he once was....
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Episode 94 - The Kali Yuga
Episode 94 - The Dark Age is now unquestionably upon us. The elder Kurus, living austere lives in the forest, found themselves consumed by a forest fire of their own creation. Let this be a lesson to all you Hindu campers out there to douse your sacred campfires!! 18 years later, things go from…
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Episode 93 - The Ashwamedha Sacrifice
Episode 93 - The white horse returns home, only to be tied to a post, killed, & cut up into little pieces. The priests do their best to follow the old rules, but there's no way Draupadi is going to pretend to copulate with a dead horse! Jump ahead 15 years and Dhrtarastra finally decides to take...
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Episode 92 - The Anugita and the Wayward Stallion
Episode 92 - This is another eventful episode. Krishna & Arjun take a break and go on a leisure trip to Indraprastha, where it appears Arjun is king. Both heroes have forgotten the Gita, so Krishna recalls another dialog along the same lines, which is called the Anugita. Krishna goes home, while...
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Episode 91 - The Death of Bhisma
Episode 91 - We get treated to a last handful of the Final Teachings, and then Bhisma dies. The poor guy set quite an objective for himself. It must have been mid autumn when he was shot through with arrows, yet he clung to life until the Winter Solstice before finally giving up the ghost. He…
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Episode 90 - The Final Teachings, part 2
Episode 90 - A few more stories from Bhisma's final teachings. We learn that Vyasa had a son, named Suka, who really did not seem to be pleased to be born. And Bhisma himself tells us what he really thinks of Buddhist philosophy!
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Episode 89 - The Final Teachings, part 1
Episode 89 - For some reason, the first three full-fledged stories from the Anusasana Parva all center around a Banian tree. They also share the theme of low-caste hunters and their cruelty. Remarkably, in the 2nd story the three characters are all saved, but all three die violently. In the 3rd...
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Episode 88 - The Book of Peace
Episode 88 - This episode begins the voluminous Last Teachings of Bhisma. As Bhisma lies on his bed of arrows, the Pandavas, Krishna & Satyaki gather around to listen. Yuddistira poses the questions, which mostly revolve around Dharma and kingship, and Bhisma answers. These teachings are...
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Episode 87 - Rama's Famous Genocide
Episode 87 - Yuddistira is finally convinced that he should remain king, and he gets down to business. He marches straight to the palace and has himself anointed and consecrated. He appoints his council and gets his kingdom in order. As soon as he has a chance to catch his breath, Krishna…
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Episode 86 - To be (king), or not to be...
Episode 86 - It seems like Yuddistira always had a secret desire to give up the world and live like a sadhu. But now he has a pretty good justification-- after all, he even killed his elder brother. Crimes like this demand extreme penance, and Yuddistira would like nothing better than to embrace...
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Episode 85 - Remembering Karna
Episode 85 - We begin the Book of Peace, the Shanti Parva. After boasting to his uncle about his special clairvoyant powers, Yuddistira is blindsided by the news that he & Karna shared the same mother. Now the Dharma Raja has learned that he killed his own brother-- aside from killing one's...
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Episode 84 - The Book of the Women
Episode 84 - Vidur & Vyasa tell a few parables to help Dhrtarastra pull himself together. When the king is finally pacified, he leads all the bereaved women of Hastinapur in a great procession to deal with their fallen men. They march along the banks of the Ganga to Kurukshetra, where they...
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Episode 83 - Daksha's Sacrifice
Episode 83 - The brothers learn of the massacre of their sons & allies, and summon Draupadi to break the news. As usual, all she wants is revenge. Thus the Pandavas go off on one final mission to avenge the death of their sons. They track down Ashwatthaman and find him hanging out with Vyasa and...
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Episode 82 - Blowback
Episode 82 - Well, it seems there is no end to the tit for tat revenge cycle that Duryodhana forced into motion so long ago. Now that he has been defeated, his survivors seek revenge for his fall. Ashwatthaman is unable to let it go, and since he is vastly outnumbered, he prays to Shiva for the...
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Episode 81 - Downfall
Episode 81 - So this is it; the moment everyone has been waiting for. Ever since Episode 7 when Duryodhana was born, he has finally received his well-deserved defeat. But even as he falls, the finger pointing, hand-wringing and grief at the price that has been paid for this victory has already...
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Episode 80 - Kurukshetra, Day 18: Shalya & the dissolution of the Kauravas
Episode 80 - This episode covers the final day of the great war. If you were expecting things to go out with a bang, you'll be disappointed. Once the Kaurava general Shalya is killed, things just sort of disintegrate. Duryodhana's remaining brothers are all killed. Shakuni is killed. Karna's sons...
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Episode 79 - Kurukshetra, Day 17: Down with Dushasan/Killing Karna
Episode 79 - This is a big day in the war. Bhisma fulfills one of his oaths by killing Dushasan and drinking his blood. Now he will be gunning for Duryodhana. Arjun & Karna finally get busy with their final showdown. The whole universe apparently took sides in this conflict, with everyone…
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Episode 78 - Kurukshetra, Day 17: A Counterfeit Curfuffle
Episode 78 - Karna begins the 17th day of the war by fighting each Pandava except Arjun. He is actually defeated by both Yuddistira and Bhima, but then he defeats Nakul and Sahadev. Both of the elder brothers spare his life, out of consideration for Arjun's oaths. Yuddistira then goes for a…
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Episode 77 - Kurukshetra, Day 16: Karna's in charge
Episode 77 - Drona is dead and a new commander is needed. Ashwatthaman proposes that Karna be given the position and everyone else agrees. Karna leads the army through a rather desultory day of fighting and then complains that what he is missing is a good driver. Shalya is drafted to be his...
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Episode 76 - Some thoughts on the story so far...
Episode 76 - I present my wild theories and hypotheses about the Mahabharata. Among other things, we discuss its relationship to the Precession of the Equinoxes and the Yuga cycle as defined by Markandeya and Sri Yukteshvar. We look into the role of magic in the story and our prospects for...
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Episode 75 - Kurukshetra, Day 15: Ashwatthaman goes Ballistic!
Episode 75 - Earlier in day 15, Drona is killed by Dhrstadyumna. The Kaurava army literally comes unraveled until Ashwatthaman hears the news. The boy is outraged at the way his father was treated and swears revenge on both Dhrstadyumna (for killing him), and Yuddistira (for betraying his trust)....
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Episode 74 - Kurukshetra, Day 15: Drona
Episode 74 - Two significant deaths this episode-- first Gatotkacha basically gets sacrificed by Krishna so that Arjun need not face Karna's special unstoppable Indra Dart. It's a mean trick, but Krishna explained that one of the purposes of this war is to eradicate the race of Rakshasas, so if...
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Episode 73 - Kurukshetra, Day 14: Killing Jayadratha
Episode 73 - We continue with the events of the 14th day of war. You can relax because we find out that both Satyaki and Bhim made it to Arjun's side, and everyone is OK after all. Arjun finally spots Jayadratha, but he is very well protected, and the sun is about to set. It is time for one of...
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Episode 72 - Kurukshetra, Day 14: Killing Alambusha
Episode 72 - We begin the 14th day of the war. The morning starts with many dark omens, but no one is quite sure for which side they portend doom. Arjun sets off immediately to fight his way through the Kaurava army and to find and kill the miserable king Jayadratha. He & Krishna soon disappear...
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Episode 71 - Kurukshetra: A Dramatic Interlude
Episode 71 - Vyasa finishes his comforting storytelling, and then vanishes, leaving it up to Yuddistira to deal with breaking the news to Arjun that his son is dead. Arjun comes home expecting a party, only to find the camp in mourning over the loss of his son. He responds by swearing to kill...
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Episode 70 - The death of Abhimanyu
Episode 70 - Drona has been in charge now for two days, and so far he has failed in his mission to capture Yuddistira. This despite the fact that they have sacrificed a whole nation of warriors just to keep Arjun away long enough for them to grab his brother. The Trigartas are nearly all dead so...
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Episode 69 - Kurukshetra, Days 11 & 12: The Drona Parva
Episode 69 - Bhisma is out of commission, and his book is nearly over. In one last scene, Karna comes to meet his fallen nemesis. Bhisma is quite affectionate toward his prodigal nephew, and he tells him that he was only pretending to be antagonistic. He really didn't mean it, he just wanted to...
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Episode 68 - Kurukshetra, Day 10: The Bed of Arrows
Episode 68 - I know it feels like this war is really dragging on; but I think that is precisely how Vyasa wanted us to feel by this point in the battle. We are all getting tired of the unending violence. Even the main cause of all the violence, Bhisma, is getting tired of this, and he has begun...
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Episode 67 - Kurukshetra, Day 9
Episode 67 - On the previous day, Duryodhana was quickly losing faith with his uncle. He began to suspect that Bhisma was throwing the contest in favor of the Pandavas. Karna didn't help any when he offered to take charge in place of the old man. So Duryodhana asked the old man to either fulfill...
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Episode 66 - Kurukshetra, Days 7 & 8
Episode 66 - The seventh and eighth days of the War. Bhisma kills a few more Dhartarastras, king Virata loses another son, and we meet Arjun's son Iravat, a Naga prince from Arjun's tour of the holy places, long long ago. We meet Iravat only to see him killed by the demon Alambusha. Alambusha is...
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Episode 65 - Kurukshetra, Days 5 & 6
Episode 65 - The fifth and sixth days of the great war. Arjun wipes out an army of 25,000, and we find out Satyaki has 10 fully grown sons. Soon after we learn about these sons, they get decapitated by King Bhurishravas. In return, Satyaki kills off the king's entire army, but the pair are too...
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Episode 64 - Kurukshetra, Days 3 & 4
Episode 64 - The third and fourth days of the great war. It seems like the tide may be turning somewhat, since both days of fighting were dominated by Arjun and Bhimasena. Despite having the honor of receiving Krishna's teaching firsthand, Arjun still seems to be holding back somewhat. His...
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Episode 63 - Kurukshetra, Day 2
Episode 63 - The second day of battle comes and goes. If the first day went to the Kauravas, the 2nd day certainly belonged to the Pandavas. The day ends with Bhimasena and Arjun dominating the field, and the Kaurava soldiers crapping their pants. The cream of Kalinga manhood has been…
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Episode 62 - Kurukshetra, Day 1: Concluded
Episode 62 - Let's admit it, we were all impatient for this war to get started. Like the characters in the story, we concluded many episodes back that there was never going to be a peaceful solution, and it would take nothing less than a massive bloodletting to make sure the bad guys were…
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Episode 61 - Kurukshetra, Day 1: War is Hell
Episode 61 - It is the morning of the first day of battle. Already Krishna has revealed his great song to Arjuna, and now there are some final formalities, as Yuddistira runs to his elders on the enemy side for their blessings. Krishan tags along and tries to tempt Karna over to the Pandava side,...
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Episode 60 - The Gita, part 2: The Godhead
Episode 60 - This concludes Krishna's dialog with Arjun about Dharma, Bhakti, Yoga, and the Gunas. During the course of this, Arjun is granted divine sight, and is able to catch a glimpse of Krishna's true appearance; it nearly blows his mind. Getting back to Arjun's original question-- Does...
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Episode 59 - The Gita, part 1: Arjun's Dejection
Episode 59 - We begin the famous holy book, the Bhagavad Gita. The scene for this revelation is the midst of the fateful battlefield of Kurukshetra. Arjun surveys the field, seeing his relatives, friends, cousins, uncles, elders and gurus, all ready to draw each other's blood and die for the sake...
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Episode 58 - The Bhisma Parva
Episode 58 - The Battle Books, but not the battle, begin here. Since we are at the second most important beginning of the epic, aside from the very beginning, there is a lot of unnecessary material stuffed into the narrative. I tried my best to make sense of it, and to leave out the voluminous...
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Episode 57 - Amba, part 2
Episode 57 - Bhisma finishes bringing us up-to-date on who Sikhandin is, who he used to be, and why Bhisma won't fight him. This also finishes the Udyoga Parva; the Book of the Effort. Next time, we start in on the Bhisma Parva, the first of the eight Battle Books. Don't assume that the war is...
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Episode 56 - Amba, part 1
Episode 56 - Bhisma begins telling the story of Amba/Sikhandin-- the only person, barring the Pandavas, whom he will not fight in the coming battle. The reason for this is that Sikhandin had once been a female. She was not just any female at that-- she was Draupadi's sister, and in her past life,...
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Episode 55 - Cutting the Muster
Episode 55 - As if intending to seal his fate, Duryodhana warms up the Pandavas by sending over an odious gambler Uluka as a messenger to goad them into fighting. Then Bhisma kindly gives us an inventory of the fighters who will take place in the coming battle. There are a bunch of guys who I've...
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Episode 54 - The March on Kurukshetra
Episode 54 - Krishna returns from his mission to Hastinpur with war on his mind. Yuddistira, having spent the last 12-14 years undergoing massive hardship to prevent this war, is reluctant to accept this truth. He begs for more information, trying to find any way out of this situation. So Krishna...
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Episode 53 - The Temptation of Karna
Episode 53 - This episode is devoted to the classic scene of the Mahabharata in which Krishna reveals to Karna his true descent. He never was the Son of a Suta, which everyone called him with scorn. No, he was in fact the eldest of the Pandavas-- the original Partha. Now that the truth was out…
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Episode 52 - Krishna reveals Himself
Episode 52 - The peace talks break down completely. It starts well, when no one can come up with a rebuttal to Krishna's speech. Narada and Kanva tell a couple of parables to help with the decision making, but Duryodhana was not interested. It seems he believed that the terms of the Dice Game…
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Episode 51 - Krishna comes to Town
Episode 51 - Sanjay's mission clearly did not accomplish much, so this time Krishna offers to go to Hastinapur as the Pandavas' chief negotiator. When the Kauravas hear he is coming, Dhrtarastra plans on bribing him, while Duryodhana hopes to imprison him. Krishna senses all the bad vibes and...
About this show
This podcast is for anyone interested in the Epic Literature of India, its spiritual philosophies, the life and background of Krishna, and all the fascinating stories from the great epic The Mahabharata.
Hosted by
Lawrence Manzo