The creator of the war was Shakuni.
He looked completely devoted.
But his endeavor was to destroy the Kuru clan
and thus he had made up his mind.
Mahabharata!
The story of good against evil,
that every child still remembers.
By heart!
They say, history is always
written in favor of the victorious side.
In reality, is this story
based on the war between good and evil?
Or is this just a perception
that has been passing for the truth since years?
Because if we look closer,
the lines of good and evil
are just as blurred
as the decisions made by both
the parties in this war.
Were the Kauravas completely evil?
And the Pandavas the guardians of good?
Did only one party
resort to cheating?
Were the Pandavas
completely absolved of sins?
These are some of the questions
that need to be answered
which this show is going to seek.
Mahabharata!
The end or the beginning?
This how Lord Krishna
told Duryodhana
that his big mistake was
not including Vidura in his army.
Vichitravirya, the grandfather of
the Kauravas and Pandavas, was childless.
Because of this, his mother Satyavati
started getting worried about
how their clan would have an heir.
She requested her son
Veda Vyasa
to make the wives
in their clan pregnant
so that their clan could have an heir.
But Veda Vyasa was a celibate.
So, it was decided that he would make
them pregnant via ocular intercourse.
Queen Ambika was the first one to enter Veda Vyasa's chamber.
Veda Vyasa
looked very ugly.
He had a rough skin.
He skin tone was dark.
People would get scared
looking at his ugly features.
When Ved Vyasa started having ocular intercourse
with Queen Ambika, she got
scared and closed her eyes.
After finishing the ocular intercourse,
Veda Vyasa said
that the queen would get pregnant,
but since she had closed her eyes,
her son would be born blind.
Satyavati wondered
if a blind man could ever
become a good king.
And so,
she sent Queen Ambalika net.
She ordered the queen
that she must not close her eyes
while having ocular intercourse.
When Queen Ambalika saw
Veda Vyasa, she got scared.
But she
did not close her eyes.
However, her face
turned pale due to fear.
Veda Vyasa said
that the queen would get pregnant,
but her son would be born very weak.
When he grows up,
he won't be able to become a father.
Satyavati thought
that after one generation,
there will be a similar problem again.
And so,
she sent a slave girl to Ved Vyasa
to get pregnant the third time.
The slave girl neither closed her eyes
nor did she get scared.
Ved Vyasa said
that the slave girl's son would be intelligent and healthy,
and fit to become a king.
The blind son who was born net
was Dhritarashtra,
the father of the Kauravas.
The weak son
was Pandu,
the father of the Pandavas.
The slave girl's son who was fit to be a king was Vidura.
But he could not become the king of Hastinapur
as people would insult him for being a slave girl's son.
Lord Krishna told Duryodhana
that he had insulted his uncle
by calling him a slave girl's son.
Duryodhana did not take advantage of his potential and war strategy.
That was his first mistake.
'If Vidura were with you right now, '
'your warriors wouldn't have died like this.'
'But the curse comes from the vow taken.'
'It was always in the offing.'
'You never respected'
'Vidura's intelligence.'
'You always called him a slave girl's son'
'and insulted him.'
'The Kaurava army grew in numbers.'
'There was a huge array of weapons and men.'
'The soldiers were in a dilemma.'
'There was no co-ordination between them.'
'The commanders of the army'
'were feeling upset.'
'You treated them with disrespect.'
'There was a dirth of faith and steadiness.'
'Bhishma was the first commander of your army.'
'He did his deeds in vain for nine days.'
'How will you kill me?'
'He told Arjuna about how he could end up dead.'
'After that, '
'you brought Drona.'
'He was emotional, impatient'
'and incapable.'
'He renounced everything for the sake of his son.'
'He was not a capable commander.'
The first commander of the Kaurava army,
Bhishma Pitamaha, made a mistake
since he got emotional
and told Arjuna
how he could face his death.
Dronacharya, who was the second commander of the Kaurava army,
also had to die because he got emotional.
What happened was
Arjuna made Shikhandi his shield
and killed Bhishma Pitamaha with a clever trick.
After that, Duryodhana
made Dronacharya the commander of the Kaurava army.
It was not easy to fight Dronacharya.
He was destroying the Pandava army.
The Pandavas came up with the plan
that since Dronacharya loves his
son Ashwathama a lot,
they would kill the latter
and when Dronacharya comes to know about his death,
he will break down and become weak.
They could then
kill Dronacharya easily.
But Ashwathama was a great warrior.
He was blessed with immortality.
That is why, the Pandavas could not kill him.
So, it was decided
that they would spread a rumor
that Ashwathama had died,
thereby emotionally defeating Dronacharya.
But the problem was
that Dronacharya knew
that his son Ashwathama was a great warrior.
And he would not believe the news of his death
without seeing any proof.
So, it was decided
that if the eldest son of the Pandavas,
Yudhishtira, were to tell Dronacharya
that Ashwathama had died,
Dronacharya would believe him.
Since Yudhishthir was the son of Dharma
he didn't lie.
That was a known fact.
Yudhishthir refused to lie outright.
It was decided that he would
use word play
and he would not be accused of lying
and Dronacharya would believe
that his son was killed.
After that, as per the plan
Bhima killed an elephant called Ashwathama.
Then he went to Dronacharya and said.
I have killed Ashwatthama.
Dronacharya refused to believe him.
And he said
my son is much more talented than you are.
You can't defeat him.
Bhima insisted.
If he wanted
he could ask
Yudhisthir about this
since he didn't lie.
Yudhishthir said.
Yes, Ashwatthama was killed.
Dronacharya heard Yudhishthir
and dropped his weapons to the ground.
He sat down with his eyes closed, grieving.
The commander of the Pandava army then
Dhrishthadhyumna
killed the grieving
and weaponless
Dronacharya at that moment.
But Lord Krishna said.
Dronacharya was wrong.
He should not have lost control of his emotions.
After Dronacharya passed on
Duryodhana made his friend Karna
the army commander.
But lord Krishna said that
it wasn't enough either.
Since he had promised his mother
that he would not kill
Yudhishthir, Bhima
Nakul and Sahedeva.
Arjuna lost Abhimanyu.
Bhima gave up his own son.
His son was an immortal.
Why did he trust the enemy?
After that you brought Karna.
As soon as he came, he turned the war around.
The enemy was given the gift of life.
The victor was cast aside.
Defeat is inevitable during war.
There is no room for kindness.
When millions of soldiers chase you
personal ideals have no room to stay.
Thus, Lord Krishna said.
That Duryodhana's second mistake
was that he didn't choose the correct commanders
to lead his army.
Lord Krishna said.
You didn't use your powerful warrior Ashwatthama
in the apt manner.
You didn't let him lead the Kaurava army.
Ashwatthama was Guru Dronacharya's son.
He wanted to make friends with Duryodhana.
But Duryodhana
never considered him a friend.
He always considered him the son of his guru.
As the commander
Ashwatthama would have been the best.
Attachment, vows, curses.
He was free from all kinds of bondage.
In comparison to Drona and Karna
you thought he was inferior.
You called a friend, the son of your teacher.
You didn't care to find out what he felt.
He was a dear friend of yours.
He was devoutly loyal.
Brave, courageous, immortal and powerful.
He had the power of cosmic weapons.
That was the end of another chapter of the great epic
in which millions of stories reside.
But this is the beginning of an attempt
to view this great epic
and re examine it from a truthful perspective.
To see for oneself
which side we are on?
With the righteous?
Or the unrighteous?
Or perhaps...
Keep watching,
Mahabharata.
The end
or the beginning.