Meanwhile Pandu who wants a powerful son asks Kunti to summon Vayu, the God of the Wind. The son born is named Bheema. He is so strong that as a baby he falls down from Kunti’s arms and the rock on which he falls shatters.
Pandu then seeks a third son who would bring glory and asks Kunti to summon Indra, the king of the celestials. The son born is named Arjuna and his birth is celebrated by all the Gods.
Pandu’s second wife Madri is upset that she does not have children. Pandu requests Kunti to give her boon to Madri. She agrees and Madri summons the Ashwini twins and has two twin children by them. They are named Nakula and Sahadeva.
The fact that he had five sons born from the celestials made Pandu happy. On one pleasant day, he saw Madri looking beautiful and decided to have a union with her. Alas! The sage’s curse came true and Pandu fell dead.
A shocked Bheeshma arranged Pandu’s funeral and then brought back Kunti and the five children to Hastinapura. Madri chose to enter the funeral pyre with Pandu.
The sons of Dhritarashtra were disturbed by the arrival of the Pandavas. Duryodhana, the eldest son was worried that Yudhishtira would take away his right to the throne. Clashes between the two cousins erupted frequently. Bheema was rough at play and used his brute strength to dominate the Kauravas, injuring them in the process.
A furious Duryodhana then decided to poison Bheema. Bheema’s strength ensured that he survived. Bheeshma then got the sons of Dhritarashtra and the sons of Pandu trained in warfare and the scriptures. Their teacher was Kripa. The sister of Kripa was married to Drona, the son of the great sage Bharadwaja.
After his father’s death Drona had no money. He deeply loved his son Ashwathama and was distressed that he could not take care of his son well. He reached out to his school friend Drupada, the king of Panchala for help. But Drupada humiliated him saying there can be no friendship between a Brahmana and a king.
Drona then managed to get celestial weapons from the great warrior-sage Parashurama. With this knowledge, he went to Hastinapura and got the job as a teacher to the princes. Drona found Arjuna to be skilled in archery and a dedicated student. He focused on making him the greatest archer in the world. This made Duryodhana furious. Another student was Karna, the son of the charioteer Athiratha.
Karna was also jealous of Arjuna and this brought him close to Duryodhana. One day Drona took his students out for an expedition. A dog that accompanied was barking a lot. It came back suddenly, its mouth full of arrows. The dog was unhurt but could not bark.
The surprised entourage saw a tribal boy named Ekalavya who had performed this feat. He worshipped a statue of Drona since he had not got admitted to Drona’s training school. Drona was stunned seeing his devotion but this made Arjuna wild with envy and anger. Arjuna later protested that Drona had failed him in his promise of making him the greatest archer.
The next day Drona tells Ekalavya that he wants a gurudakshina (fee paid to a teacher) from him. He asks Ekalvya to give him his right thumb. Without a second thought Ekalvaya cuts his thumb off thus ensuring he can never wield a bow effectively.
…. Adi Parva -4