9 Things No One Told You Happened After The Battle Of Mahabharata Ended

The epic fusion of power, Dharma and respect- Mahabharata’s most crucial point was the Battle of Kurukshetra, which was so big on the scale that it marked the end of an epoch. The battle in which both sides ended up resorting to dishonourable acts to declare win over each other culminated in the victory of Pandavas, the death of all Kauravas, and a remainder of a lot of widows.- Something all of us have been taught either by grandparents or in school.

However, what happened after the war is something that the rare breed of readers wouldn’t know.

1. The 18-day long battle ended with only the Pandavas, Satyaki, Kripa, Ashwatthama, Kritavarma, Yuyutsu and Krishna as survivors.

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2. After the battle decided the fate of Pandavas and the fall of Kauravas, Yudhishthira succeeded Dhritarashtra to the throne of Hastinapura.

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The death of several rulers and kings in the war resulted in several successions, of which two notable ones being the crowning of Yudhishthira as the king of Hastinapura and declaration of Yuyutsu as the subordinate king to Yudhishthira for the kingdom of Indraprastha. Evidently, the central power in the Gangetic plain had now shifted from the Kurus to the Panchalas. The states of Hastinapur and Indraprastha were reunified and were governed by the Pandavas.

 

3. The carnage had left Gandhari (the mother of the Kauravas) devastated, who then gave Lord Krishna curse of witnessing the same annihilation of his own family.

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Gandhari was woeful, but more than that, she possessed angst for Lord Krishna because she thought that despite having the divine power to stop the war, Krishna chose to side with the war, and hence the curse she gave him.

 

4. Gandhari’s curse to Krishna takes 36 years to materialise (leading to his death), a period during which Pandavas stay in power.

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The violence in the Dwaraka cracks open, with Yadavas killing each other. Mausala Parva describes the Lord Krishna’s death in the 36th year, which occurs as a result of an arrow mistakenly shot at him by Jiru. A dying Krishna consoles the apologetic Jiru and merges in the image of Lord Vishnu.

 

5. Arjuna’s warrior abilities start to give up, and Dwaraka drowns in the sea.

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Learning about the mayhem occurring on the Krishna’s side, Arjuna arrives to help the dwindling clan of the Yadavas of which the old men, women and children, and the 16,000 wives of Krishna, seem to be the only survivors. As they together set off for Indraprastha, the water levels begin to rise, causing the drowning of Dwaraka in the sea. The army of Arjuna, travelling with the Yadava women and children are attacked by robbers on their way to Indraprastha, and Arjuna, the most celebrated warrior of the epic, fails to protect most of them and starts to question his warrior abilities.

 

6. The renouncement of the Pandavas’ kingdom and the onset of their final journey to heaven.

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When Arjuna confides in sage Vyasa of his inability to protect those who depended on him, Vyasa tells him that the Pandavas have served their purpose of their life, and now they should leave for their final journey to the Himalayas and pass on the responsibilities to the next generation. Arjuna tells of this to his brother Yudhishthira, and the Pandava brothers along with the wife Draupadi begin their journey across the whole country, to begin the final ascent to the Himalayas.

 

7. While scaling the Great Himalayas, the 4 Pandavas and Draupadi fall to their respective failings, but Yudhishthira stays put.

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After crowning Parikshit as the new king, when the 5 brothers leave their kingdom with the wife, a dog befriends them and accompanies them for the entire journey. While ascending the Himalayas, Draupadi becomes the first one to fall, followed by Sahadeva, Nakula, Arjuna, and Bhima. Yudhishthira explains the failings of each one of them as they fall to their deaths. Yudhishthira and the dog continue on their ascent.

 

8. Yudhishthira’s final test while climbing up Mount Meru.

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As the dog and Yudhishthira climb up the mountain, Indra appears on his chariot asking Yudhishthira to commence with him, his final journey to heaven. Yudhishthira asks him to take the dog along with them.- A request which Indra disapproves of.

But Yudhishthira stays adamant on his request of taking the dog along.

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It is only later on when Yudhishthira is made to realise that the dog was actually the deity Dharma, who in awe of Yudhishthir’s virtues, appreciates him. And eventually, he enters in Indra’s chariot to heaven.

 

9. The happy reunion in heaven.

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The epic describes the reunion of Karna, Pandavas and Dhritirashtra’s sons in heaven, where they all get back together, free of angst and rivalry against each other.

And so the epic ended, and the new kind of epic as we see today’s world as, flagged off.

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