Summary part 1

As I write this at 3:28 am, I realize that much of life is a product of circumstance.

After working on some lab reports and stuff at Moody library till 1:25am, my best friend and I decide it's time to call it quits, maybe go home and get some sleep. Of course as we climb into my car and try to start it, I realize that my brakes were locked, my steering wheel was locked, and my fancy-shmancy Push-to-Start button was also locked. Surprisingly, stereo and lights were still working. Perplexed, I called a few friends over to jump-start my car. Turns out, battery wasn't the problem.

Cliche as it may seem, it was at this point I actually remember a passage from the Mahabharatha that I was reading an hour previous to this fiasco. "Each and everyone has to bear the consequence of his actions. Do not give way to sorrow" (60). It all seemed really hopeless and horrible at 2:08 am when it's 38 degrees Fahrenheit outside. But I listened to the book, I did not give way to the sorrow.

Turns out that there was a circuit problem that was disabling my entire front dash. Eventually after at least an hour of googling, we decided that we were just desperate enough to completely disconnect my car battery and try the classic, "Have you tried turning it off and on again?" trick. Spoiler alert, it worked.

The hopelessness and plight was getting to me and my weak will. But I felt like everything that happened in the first quarter of the book was kind of teaching little moral story or a piece of hope.

Mahabharatha is the story of the Epic war between the two sets of brothers, the 100 Kauravas and the five Pandavas. The epic is set in a time where Gods roamed freely on the human realm and wishes were granted aplenty. Promises become the law because the when words leave the person's  mouth they are bound to it. The  concept of Dharma might be an important part of this explanation; dharma cannot be directly translated to English, but the concept is most similar to duty, goal, responsibility, or way of life.

The book culminates in a huge war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. However, this war is the by-product of years and years and years of rivalries and revenge stories and hatred and promises. The first quarter of the book describes the early life of the Pandavas and the Kauravas. One of the five Pandava brothers, Bhima, mercilessly bullied Duryodhana of the Kauravas. Over the years, Duryodhana succumbed to the hatred he felt for Bhima and just really wanted to get the Pandavas out of the picture, whether that be by death or deceit. Removing the Pandavas would also ensure that Duryodhana of the Kauravas would be the next-in-line for King of their land, Hastinapur.

This war is huge. As such, the author is going to give a synopsis on every single character that is of the slightest importance. We learn about the childless King Santanu who fell in love with the spirit of the Ganges River. The Ganges River spirit was previously cursed to bear right children, seven of which she must kill quickly and put of their misery, and one that will live long. We learn about the backstory of the right children; in a previous birth, the 8 were brothers and they had stolen the cow of one of the great Sages. The sage uttered a curse, (and remember anything that is said aloud, will happen). We learn about Bhishma who goes and wins a wife for his brother, but due to misunderstandings and miscommunication, he has to prove that he would never have a child that would succeed the throne, by taking a vow of chastity.

The beginning of this book is really a bunch of snapshots into the lives of those whose actions directly/indirectly cause the war, or participate in the war. There is no story line yet, none of the stories connect yet, which makes it really confusing and hard to keep track of all the new characters that are introduced every single chapter... just little windows of time looking into the circumstances that were behind this war.

I really hope the story has started to make sense soon!