Curses In Mahabharat

Curses In Mahabharat

 

 

Definition of a curse: To bring great evil upon; to be the cause of serious harm or unhappiness to; to furnish with that which will be a cause of deep trouble; to afflict or injure grievously; to harass or torment. (Dictionary.com)

Most mythological stories and epics from all cultures revel on the power of curses.

In one of the episodes in this current version of Mahabharat, Krishna in fact mentioned that curses are the words spoken from the soul. No wonder, these curses have played a big part in shaping up the story of the Mahabharat. Are curses a result of destiny or do they shape destiny?

Were these curses later interpolations to explain the downfall of some of the heroes? Also, some curses were a blessing in disguise.

Indeed, in a deeper sense, curses in the Indian epics are perceived manifestations of the divine law of cause and effect rather than the cause itself. To put it in a more precise manner, a curse is an articulation of the consequences of someone's errant action, as understood and signaled by the curse-giver.

 Curses in the Indian epics could be viewed as signals of consequences accumulated by acts of commission or omission, rather than original causalities.

 (Basu, Abhijit (2014-01-30). Marvels and Mysteries of the Mahabharata)

Here are a few curses from the MB that play a key role in the way the story shapes up:

1.   Pandu: the one debarring Pandu from sex, that is the precursor to the kshetraja birth of the five Pandavas, as also to his own ultimate death. (Basu, Abhijit (2014-01-30). Marvels and Mysteries of the Mahabharata) 

Was this curse added to hide Pandu's possible impotency?

2.   Karna: There were quite a few curses on this maharathi

n  Parusharama was against the Kshatriya clan and had vowed not to teach his skills to anyone other than a Brahmin. Karna, who was so possessed by the quest to learn, sought Parushurama's tutelage, under the disguise of a Brahmin. One day, when the lie was exposed, Parshurama admonished him, cursing that he would fail to remember the intricacies of the warfare, when it would be most needed. Thus, when the climax of the war with Arjuna, was reached, Karna, could not match Arjuna's mastery and ultimately fell prey

n  Karna had ,unknowingly, killed a cow and calf of a Brahmin during his younger days, This led to another curse on him, by the sufferer, The Brahmin had cursed him-stating that in the battle-field, at a crucial moment, the wheels of his chariot would get stuck, severely impairing his movement. As it turned out, an uncooperative Shalya, his charioteer, had walked out and when Karna himself was trying to retrieve his chariot from the stuck-up position, Arjuna, upon instructions from Lord Krishna, showered arrows, leading to the fall of the great warrior (Sulekha.com)

3.   Ashwatthama: After he tried to kill Abhimanyu's son (Parikshit) with a deadly weapon brahamastra, Krishna cursed him to live forever.

4.    Krishna:  After the end of Mahabharata war Lord Krishna visited Mother Gandhari to offer his condolence. On seeing him she burst into anger and cursed lord Krishna that just as the Kaurava dynasty had ended fighting with each other, similarly the Yaduvansh would end fighting and killing each other. Lord Krishna happily accepted the curse.

5.    Arjun: Was cursed by Urvashi Once Arjuna was invited to the palace of Indra, his father.  Urvashi, one of the heavenly maidens at Indra's palace was strongly attracted to Arjuna. Indra also noted that his son was also bewitched by Urvashi's beauty. Having received Indra's instructions, Urvashi reached Arjuna's room one night. But Arjuna did not have any intentions of making love to Urvashi. Instead he called her the "mother" of the Kuru race. Urvashi felt insulted, now that a mere mortal was able to resist her. She cursed him that Arjuna will be a eunuch for the rest of his life, who could only sing and dance with other women. Later on Indra's request, Urvashi curtailed the curse to a period of one year, which would be the thirteenth year of the Pandavas' exile. During the thirteenth year of exile, Arjuna reached Virata's palace as Brihannala. (Quora.com)

6.   Kunti/All womankind: After finding out the truth about karna's birth, Yudi cursed Kunti/all womankind that they would never be able to hide a secret.

7.    Kaurav Dynasty: She was no ordinary soul. Her humiliation had no precedent. She cursed the entire dynasty of Kurus; she cursed the throne; she poured her venom on Duryodhana and Dushasana and Karna. Gandhari, who felt helpless when the woman in her was appealed to, now suddenly awoke to the magnitude of a holy woman's curse. The curse of a pure woman is a destroying ashtra from heaven. Gandhari came into her own. After Draupadi's curses had rolled out, she pleaded with the King and she pleaded with Draupadi to withdraw her curse. The King came to his senses, revoked the Pandavas' condition of slavery, and returned their kingdom,. It was not the crass injustice to a defenceless woman who was his own daughter-in-law that moved his stony heart, but it was the prospect of a pure woman's curse. Gandhari was at last moved by her own self-interest, not by any sense of righteous anger or wounded dignity (karmayogi.net)

 Please feel free to add more...

 

 

Edited by bheegi - 9 years ago

I know Gandhari is supposed to be a great woman


But I do dislike her


1) she stops Drau from cursing
2) she curses Krishna after what her sons brought upon themselves

Originally posted by: AnuMP

I know Gandhari is supposed to be a great woman


But I do dislike her


1) she stops Drau from cursing
2) she curses Krishna after what her sons brought upon themselves

Great post Bheegi...👏

Arjuna :  Now, Bheeshma is the eighth Vasu, among the EIGHT VASUS (ASHTA VASU)  and was cursed to be born on Earth.  As Arjuna was the cause for the fall of Bheeshma, is own grandfather, the other Vasus cursed Arjuna to be killed  by his own son!  After the battle of Kurukshetra, Pandavas ruled for sometime, and they performed the great Ashwamedha Yaga.  The sacred horse was stopped by the king BAPRUVAHANA, and he was none other than Arjuna's own son , born to Chitrangadha.  In the fight between Arjuna and Bapruvahana, Arjuna, the great great warrior was killed by  Bapruvahana! Later, he was brought back to life by Ulupi, his another wife, daughter of a Naga king! Edited by iturkhahs - 9 years ago

Originally posted by: amritat

Great post Bheegi...👏

 

It is difficult to say, whether the various incidents happened bcoz of the curse, or whether the curses were added later to justify the incidents.

 

However, one thing needs to be pointed out. Curses are simply the effects of one's actions. When people hurt others, that's when the curses are thrown at them. However, there are times, when people get cursed by mistake. Like Karna's curse for killing that cow by mistake, or Pandu's curse.

Those are unfortunate ones.

 

 

And I agree with Anu.

Gandhari would probably have been the greatest woman of the epic, had it not been the way, she stopped Draupadi from cursing her sons.

She didn't stop the Vastraharan, but only when she realized that her own sons' future is at stake, then only she speaks up.

And her inability to bring up her sons, is also one of the reasons, y she falls short of being a "Devi".

No matter wat, mothers do play a very important role, in shaping their children's character, atleast to some extent.

 

Originally posted by: iturkhahs

Arjuna :  Now, Bheeshma is the eighth Vasu, among the EIGHT VASUS (ASHTA VASU)  and was cursed to be born on Earth.  As Arjuna was the cause for the fall of Bheeshma, is own grandfather, the other Vasus cursed Arjuna to be killed  by his own son!  After the battle of Kurukshetra, Pandavas ruled for sometime, and they performed the great Ashwamedha Yaga.  The sacred horse was stopped by the king BAPRUVAHANA, and he was none other than Arjuna's own son , born to Chitrangadha.  In the fight between Arjuna and Bapruvahana, Arjuna, the great great warrior was killed by  Bapruvahana! Later, he was brought back to life by Ulupi, his another wife, daughter of a Naga king!

Bhishma : Once the eight Vasus ("Ashtavasus") visited Vashishta's ashram accompanied by their wives. One of the wives took a fancy to Kamadhenu, Vashishta's wish-bearing cow and asked her husband Prabhasa to steal it from Vashishta. Prabhasa then stole the cow with the help of the others who were all consequently cursed by Vashishta to be born in the world of men. Upon the Vasus appealing to Vashishta's mercy, the seven Vasus who had assisted in stealing Kamadhenu had their curse mitigated such that they would be liberated from their human birth as soon as they were born; however, Prabhasa being protagonist of the theft, was cursed to endure a longer life on the earth. The curse, however is softened to the extent that he would be one of the most illustrious men of his time. It was this Prabhasa who took birth as Devavrata (Bhishma).

Originally posted by: maanluvsgeet

tfsss

Cursing Krishna and the yadava clan was a big mistake of gandhari how dare she curse the person who actually saved the entire kuru dynasty from adharma. Actually Krishna was the person who gave a peace message to the kauravas too but duryodhan did not accept it and gandhari by tying a cloth on her eyes had herself decided to put her sons to death.. Shakuni deserved an actual curse.