Lesser known facts about Mahabharat

I don't think many people know this:

Abhimanyu was actually the soul of a Daitya named Kalyavana. He was an incarnation of a powerful demon who was capable of killing Lord Krishna at some point. Abhimanyu’s only weakness is his partial knowledge of Chakravyuh.

Hence the Chakravyuh was indeed launched to kill Abhimanyu as this was the only way by which he could attain Moksha. Therefore, Krishna never imparts the knowledge of how to come out of Chakravyuh to him.

You can share facts about Mahabharat that you think very few people know about in this thread.

Originally posted by: Animagus_Shiri

I don't think many people know this:

Abhimanyu was actually the soul of a Daitya named Kalyavana. He was an incarnation of a powerful demon who was capable of killing Lord Krishna at some point. Abhimanyu’s only weakness is his partial knowledge of Chakravyuh.

Hence the Chakravyuh was indeed launched to kill Abhimanyu as this was the only way by which he could attain Moksha. Therefore, Krishna never imparts the knowledge of how to come out of Chakravyuh to him.

You can share facts about Mahabharat that you think very few people know about in this thread.

In which Mahābhārata do you find this story?

I know the Bhīla Bhārata story that Iko Dānava was on his way with a cage to capture Kṛṣṇa, who had killed all of the Dānavas after luring them to marry Yādava girls. Kṛṣṇa disguised himself and said to Iko Dānava, this cage is too small for fat Kṛṣṇa ... well, maybe if it's big enough for you, it will be big enough for him! Iko Dānava got into the cage, Kṛṣṇa shut the door tight, and he kept the cage hidden in the seventh level cellar. One day, Kṛṣṇa told his sister Hodrā, while I am out, don't go into the cellar. Out of curiosity, Hodrā went down all the way to the seventh level, and opened the cage. Iko Dānava had been starving, and he had wasted away until he was only the size of a bee. He flew into Hodrā's mouth, and entered her belly. She became pregnant and was writhing in pain.

Kṛṣṇa noticed that his sister was pregnant, and asked her what had happened. Upon learning that Hodrā had opened the cage and Iko Dānava was reincarnating in her belly, he decided to abort her pregnancy. Kṛṣṇa began to recite the Cakra Veda, the method for breaching seven concentric forts in battle, and he directed this knowledge against the embryo, stripping away six layers of tissue in an effort to kill it. He asked Hodrā to hum at intervals to let him know that her pain was lessening. When Hodrā was relieved of pain and fell asleep, Kṛṣṇa heard a different voice humming from her womb. Iko Dānava was not dying; rather, he was absorbing the knowledge that would make him an invincible warrior! So, Kṛṣṇa stopped his recitation without explaining how to breach the seventh fort made of cow-dung.

Iko Dānava continued to grow in Hodrā's belly, and Kṛṣṇa knew that he would have to get his sister married. He asked Arjuna to marry her, and although Arjuna knew that Hodrā was pregnant, he could not disrespect Kṛṣṇa. So, Hodrā had a baby boy, who was known as Arjuna's son, and his name was Bālo Emmanta. He had forgotten his identity as Iko Dānava, but his Dānava nature and his knowledge of Cakra Veda made him an unequalled warrior.

When Indrāṇī left Indra, she came to Bālo Emmanta and asked him to make her his paramour, and he did so without fearing her divine husband. When the five Pāṇḍavas and their seventy-eight Kaurava cousins declared war, Bālo Emmanta's bride pleaded with him that it's a sin for a warrior to die as a virgin. Bālo Emmanta did not turn around to look at her; he kept marching while crying tears of blood.

On each of the first six days of war, Bālo Emmanta breached one of the Kaurava forts, until only the innermost fort of cow-dung was left. As he did not know how to breach it, but Bhīma did, Bālo Emmanta stood watching him, leaning his head on his bow. Kṛṣṇa turned himself into a mouse and gnawed through the bow-string. The bow snapped through Bālo Emmanta's neck, decapitating him, and that was the end of Iko Dānava.

Did you know that it was Hiḍimbā who told Bhīma that their cohabitation was over? They were never formally married.

Did you know that the word Upapāṇḍava is meaningless and never appears in Mahābhārata? Śūra's grandson Kṛṣṇa was as much Śauri as his father Vasudeva; Śini's grandson Yuyudhāna (Sātyaki) was Śaineya; Pṛṣata's granddaughter Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī) was Pārṣatī; Citraratha's granddaughter Bindumatī was Caitrarathī ... why would Pāṇḍu's grandsons not be simply Pāṇḍava if the bards wanted to call them something other than Draupadeya? Patronymics like Vārṣṇeya, Sātvata, Mādhava, Kaurava, Ājamīḍha, and Bhārata stayed the same for even more generations.

Did you know that the characters didn't call each other by kinship terms ending in "śrī?" Kṛṣṇa calls Pṛthā "Pitṛṣvasaḥ" in Saṃskṛta (not Hindi "Buāśrī") on at least one occasion, but generally, they called their elders by name or by patronymic/matronymic. Women were indicated by their sons' names as Lakṣmaṇamātṛ, Vṛṣasenamātṛ, Suṣeṇamātṛ, Indrasenasya jananī etc.

^You know I was always interested in the actual names the MB people called each other...maybe we could have a separate thread exploring that?

Thanks for this thread Shiri, I'm sure it's going to be exciting delving into the more obscure parts of MB! <3

That's a very interesting fact, Shiri 👍🏼Never knew about this. I am making it a sticky topic so that everyone can share such kind of facts in this thread only.

Note : You all may try to put references along with the facts.

Originally posted by: metacrisis

^You know I was always interested in the actual names the MB people called each other...maybe we could have a separate thread exploring that?

Thanks for this thread Shiri, I'm sure it's going to be exciting delving into the more obscure parts of MB! <3

Did you know that Kīcaka is not a personal name? It was the name of a community, synonymous with Sūta, and their territory near Pañcāla (Ādiparvan 144.2). In Virāṭa's city, there are several Kīcakas (not Upakīcakas). We don't know the personal name of Sudeṣṇā Kaikeyī's brother, the Kīcaka who harasses Kṛṣṇā Draupadī.

Originally posted by: Animagus_Shiri

I don't think many people know this:

Abhimanyu was actually the soul of a Daitya named Kalyavana. He was an incarnation of a powerful demon who was capable of killing Lord Krishna at some point. Abhimanyu’s only weakness is his partial knowledge of Chakravyuh.

Hence the Chakravyuh was indeed launched to kill Abhimanyu as this was the only way by which he could attain Moksha. Therefore, Krishna never imparts the knowledge of how to come out of Chakravyuh to him.

You can share facts about Mahabharat that you think very few people know about in this thread.

That Abhimanyu was actually moon's son whom he didn't wanted to part with but when the time came for Vishnu's birth as krishna on earth at tht timeit was already known to all devi and devtas tht something like Mahabharat yudh will hppen and each nd everyone had to contribute in it. So when Moon was asked for his son's contribution and he denied to make his son take birth on earth... so vishnu saidthat no matter if you want or not he has to take part its his fate... so moon asked for a promise from Vishnu ji that 1st: his son will remin on earth only for 15 years, 2nd tht his life and death both should be memorable... meaning mahan.. that is why his exit was heroic, brutal but heroic

Did you know that the word Āryāvarta appears only once in the entire Mahābhārata, at Śāntiparvan 312.15? When Śuka leaves the Meru-varṣa subcontinent and travels south through Hari-varṣa and Haimavata-varṣa to Bhārata-varṣa, he observes various lands inhabited by Cīnas and Hūṇas before reaching "this Āryāvarta land" of which Videha is a part. Although this story is put into the mouth of Bhīṣma, its mention of Cīnas (Chinese after Qin Shi Huang) and Hūṇas (Huns) occupying land between the Himavat mountain range and Videha suggests a date later than the 3rd century B.C.E., when natives of Bhārata might have felt the need to exclude foreigner-inhabited lands from the term Āryāvarta for the place where noble culture predominated. When the characters in TV versions of Mahābhārata talk about Āryāvarta, it may be an anachronism.

Did you know that Saṃjaya did not narrate the events of the war in real time as shown on TV? Saṃjaya was busy fighting in the war. (For example, he faced Dhṛṣṭadyumna and Yuyudhāna and was taken prisoner at Śalyaparvan 24.46-51.) Ten days of war passed before Saṃjaya came to Hāstinapura by chariot to report to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Bhīṣma had fallen, and at that time, he narrated the events of those ten days. Another five days passed before Saṃjaya returned from the battle-camp at night to report that Droṇa was slain. Two more days passed before Saṃjaya came and reported Karṇa's death. After the eighteenth day and night, Saṃjaya arrived in the forenoon to narrate the deaths of Śalya, Śakuni, and Duryodhana, and the nighttime attack on the Pāṇḍava camp.

Did you know that the ancestral city's name is Hāstinapura, not Hastināpura? Long ā on the first syllable only! Short a on the third and fifth syllables.

Hāstinapura got its name from Hastin, a descendant of Bharata and grandfather of Ajamīḍha. Ajamīḍha was the ancestor of the Pañcālas and Kuśikas as well as the Kurus.

The name Hāstinapura occurs 45 times in the Mahābhārata text, of which 15 occurrences are in Ādiparvan alone. Another 51 times, Hāstinapura is indicated by one of three synonyms - Nāgasāhvaya (21 times), Gajasāhvaya (19 times), or Vāraṇasāhvaya (11 times), meaning "sharing a name with elephant." This is because the name Hastin ("possessor of hand") means "elephant" - the animal that uses its trunk like a human hand.