Hari Om!
Here is the update from last class.
Stotram: We chanted the Devi dhyana shloka and Mahalakshmi ashtakam.
Mahabharata: As promised to Duryodhana, to avenge the actions of Bhima, Aswathama went on a mission to kill Pandavas. He observed owls attacking nests of the crows at night and decided to kill the Pandavas and their allies as they sleep. Kripacharya, and Kritavarma warn him of the indelible infamy of this action but Ashwathama would not be persuaded. They join him and wreak havoc in the Pandava camp. They killed Dristadyumna first and all 5 upa-pandavas, Shikhandi and all the Pandavas' remaining army including their children. Having completed this revenge, Ashwathama informs Duryodhana who dies satisfied.
When the Pandavas and Draupadi discover the devastating news in the morning, Yudhishtra is heartbroken, and Draupadi gets furious as all her innocent children are dead and wants revenge. She asks her husbands to attack Ashwaththaama. Aswathama runs to Sage Vedavyasa and takes refuge after knowing the Pandavas are alive. He wants to fulfill the promise made to his dear friend Duryodhana that he would kill everyone from the pandava family and army. He picks a blade of grass, invokes the most powerful divine weapon and throws on the Pandavas to cause great destruction. Krishna asked Arjuna to counter the weapon and he readily prepared to neutralize it. Seeing this display of divine weaponry, all the sages cautioned against it as the power of divine weapons would be immeasurably harsh for the world. Arjuna was able to withdraw his weapon but Ashwathama could not. He directed it to the womb of Uthara (Abhimanyu's wife). Krishna immediately used his powers to protect the unborn child of Abhimanyu. That child would eventually be named Parikshit and continue the Pandava lineage. To punish Ashwathama for his horrendous deeds, Ashwathama is cursed to live forever in pain, relinquishing the gem on his forehead.
Bhishma waited for the right time to leave his worldly body. Yudhishtra goes with his brothers and Draupadi to learn the art of statecraft and receive as much wisdom from Bhishma. He asks him who is the Lord whose worship will grant one moksha. Bhishma then proceeds to chant the names of Vishnu and this stotra is revered as the Vishnu Sahasranama. Bhishma departs on Uttarayanam day around sankranthi is the auspicious day he picks. He blesses the pandavas as he leaves the world. The Pandavas go to Hastinapura. Gandhari and Dhridarashtra are in extreme grief for losing all their children. Though Gandhari's eyes are covered with the piece of cloth, she could see things through the corner of her eyes and that's how she gets to see Yudhishtra's small toe and the next moment the anger and rage from her vision, from the tiny gap burns a small portion of the toe. That's her rage towards the Pandavas for killing all her children. Dhritarashtra calls for Bhima to give him a hug but Krishna understands that the king is furious with Bhima for killing Duryodhana. Krishna substitutes an iron statue when Bhima was called and Dhritarashtra gives a big crushing hug to the statue thinking it's Bhima and the statue breaks into pieces. Dhritarashtra repents for his anger and then calmly blesses Yudhishtra. Yudhishtra is crowned as the King of Hastinapura. On his way to Dwaraka, Krishna meets his friend Uthanga, who was a brahmin. Uthanga castigates Krishna for letting the war happen and causing the destruction of millions of people. To assuage him, Krishna gives him a boon that he would get water whenever he wished. Once he was walking in dry land and was very thirsty. He called for Krishna and someone shabbily dressed appeared before and offered some water which he chose not to even touch! He again called Krishna and expressed his dissatisfaction. Krishna said, he has chosen to judge the book by its cover. He was offered amrutham by lord Indira who was shabbily dressed and came before him earlier. The moral being- accept when the Lord gives you His blessings in any form. In Hastinapura, King Yudhishtra performs the Ashwamedha yagna. There comes a mongoose into the yagna mandapa and sniffs and rolls around on the floor. It had a golden face and gold parts in the body. The mongoose was blessed with this look when it rolled on the few grains of a poor man with a generous heart who shared his meal with someone who was in hunger. Not only him, his entire family shared their part of the food with the hungry person. They were blessed by Indra who praised their self-control and charity even when they were suffering from the pangs of hunger. The mongoose which was near to this place, sniffed the grain dust and his head became golden! He rolled around in the specs of grain that had fallen on the poor man's floor and part of his body had turned golden. The mongoose said that he had heard great news of Yudhistra's charity at the ashwamedha yagna, but rolling around in that space did not change the rest of his body golden. Yudhishtra was duly humbled. Fifteen years passed and Dhritharashtra, Gandhari and Kunti wanted to retire to the forest for vanaprastha. Kunti before leaving asked Yudhishtra to take care of Sahadeva and remember Karna lovingly - the youngest and the oldest respectively.
Regards
Abhirami Shrinivas
Keerthi Kobla
