A Journey To Discover Life

The night of the Bhadra Amavasya saw a funeral pyre in the Pandavas' camp. Wails of the ladies filled the air as the young brave heart was turning into ashes. The ashes lit up a celebration in the Kauravas' camp. Duryodhan, Dushyasan, Shakuni, and Jayadrata all succeeded in their mission. Breaking the Pandavas' backbone, killing their favourite son. Karna joined in the celebrations reluctantly; he had released the boy from the pain. The face kept coming back to him. After all, he was his nephew. He shut his eyes in pain. The air tonight seemed cursed. The pyre burning made the teenage widow run towards it. She had no hope of living without him. Life was already tough; each day, he went to war with a smile on his face. She had already lost her brother. Now she had none to return home to her. "Stop!" His mother pleaded between the wails. "Stop her, someone, please!" None could move. The 13th day of war had turned everyone into stone-cold statues.  "Ut...

The Beginning: The kingdom was buzzing with the news of an anticipated war. The Pandavas rejected their lands and Indraprastha by Yuvraj Duryodhan. Everyone knew a big battle was to be fought, yet everyone feared speaking of it. The news reached the lands of Aryavarta like wildfire, and every king was in a talk with his ministers over which side to choose, whose win could benefit them. Meanwhile... Away from this tense atmosphere in the Andarmahal of the Palace sat a princess. Her wedding was being planned, and her maids and friends were all busy planning the decorations. They giggled in excitement, talking about how she is the luckiest girl in the world to marry the bravest of warriors in the land, the son of Arjun.  She seemed absent-minded as she stood on the Palace balcony overlooking the city. She was a teenager with dreams of love... and here she was about to get married, but had never seen her husband. The Gods seemed to hear her. She turned to look at why her Sakhis had sto...

The Prince was born in Dwarka. He grew up at his Uncle's place, learning the art of weapons from him. He proved a worthy heir to the warrior prince. Wherever he went, he was praised for his archery skills. People said he inherited it from his father, the son of Indra. He also learned to use the Mace and Sword. When he was fifteen, news arrived that his father's exile was over, and he had decided to marry his son to the princess of Matsya. His mother was pleased. The grand wedding followed the preparations for the battle. What excited him most was meeting his father, uncles, Rajmaata Panchali and his cousins for the first time. The young prince spent a few months in the Matsya capital of Viratnagar with his new bride. A few months later... at Kurukshetra... The Battlefield was getting ready. It was the Twelfth Night of the battle, waiting for the Thirteenth day. Bheema Sena had killed twenty of the Kauravas the day before, and he was content. The Pandavas were making battle plan...

This is part of the "Uttara Series", which you will find under the Mahabharata. The series is also available on Wattpad. She was clad in white attire. Her churamani and jewellery were all taken away. She sat numbly in front of his dead body for a whole day, pregnant with his heir, looking at his face as though he was asleep. He had told her more than once that this day could come and that she had to protect their heir. He feared her future without him. That one day turned the fifteen-year-old  Princess of Matsya  into an aged lady. She became quiet and aloof. Her only concern now was her baby. Her baby wiggled in her womb. She remembered him saying,    " I will always be with you." All she wanted now was a son like his father. But she knew all Hastinapur wanted was an heir to the throne. The war had ended five days after his death, and they were back in the palace of Hastinapur victorious. She, for the first time, entered her real in-laws' home, but without him....

It was the thirteenth day of the war. Bhadro Amavashya of the Year. The wives of all the warriors were up before dawn performing pujas for their husbands' well-being. Panchali, Subhadra, and Uttara lead them to the Shiva temples to pray to the god of destruction. Before the god, the Queens and wives placed their offerings and prayed for the well-being of their husbands and children. By the end of the day, some more will become widows. Some more will never come back to their families. The thought scared them. Today, Uttara was happy. Her baby moved. She could feel it. She rushed to her husband and saw him tired and asleep. She watched him sleep until Panchali called her for prayers. When they got back, it was almost dawn, and the horses and soldiers were getting ready again. Uttara searched for her husband and found him waiting for her at their tent. He was dressed for the day in armour, holding his sword. They smiled at each other as she put vermilion on his sword and forehead. ...

She knew him as Brihannala, her dance teacher. She learned the skills of graceful dancing from him. He turned out to be Arjun, the greatest of warriors. She still could not believe that the lady who did her mother's makeup was, in fact, Samragni Draupadi. Her twin brother Uttar was quite excited to know that Maharathi Arjun would teach him archery at their palace. She was sitting in the Palace Gardens with her brother when a guard came in. " Princess of Matsya, your father has called you to the Chambers. It is urgent." Both the twins made their way to the chambers where their parents sat with the Pandavas. Their father announced to "  It was a pleasure having you people at the Palace of Matsya. I proposed the marriage of my daughter to Maharathi Arjun. He accepted it for his son. Next week, we will send a letter to Dwarka asking Vasudeva to arrive with the groom and Subhadra ."She was surprised. Marriage to her teacher's son? Who was he? She sat in her chamb...

  She was sitting inside the Palace at Dwarka. Her brothers were busy attending to guests. The Prince of Hastinapur had arrived that day with a proposal for her elder brothers. Being aloof from political scenarios, the young princess, the only sister to her two brothers, was not bothered. She hated the sight of the prince who troubled her aunt and cousins back in Hastinapur. But he was her brother's student and hence a favourite at Dwarka. A maid came in a hurry and informed,  " There is good news, Rajkumari. Your wedding has been fixed to the Prince of Hastinapur, Suyodhan, by your eldest brother" Shocked, she could not speak. Her brother did not bother to ask for her opinion. Her childish anger overcame her as she rushed to her other brother, the one who always had the way. Crying, she reached his chambers, where his wife Rukmini was present. Seeing his dearest sister cry, Rukmini got up worried from her seat. "What is wrong, sister? Why are you crying?" ...

In the palace gardens at Dwarka, ladies of the house were gathered. They were picking flowers and gossiping. Subhadra and Panchali sat in a corner away from these ladies, gossiping, worried. They were awaiting a reply from Hastinapur. They have sent peace offerings, hoping no war would happen. They feared the destruction that the war promised. Their newly married daughter-in-law came up, and they forced smiles on their faces. She, who was brought into their lives with promises of happiness, should not be touched by their worldly worries. " How was your trip through Dwarka Uttara?" "It's a beautiful city, Mata." " Yes, my brother planned it himself. Didn't he, Jiji?" the proud Subhadra lamented. " Where is he?" Panchali asked, ignoring her favourite husband's younger wife's childishness. " Where is my son?" " He is in the fields practising archery, Jesth Mata..." " He did not escort you to the Andarmahal? D...

Reincarnation and rebirth are common concepts in every myth and culture of ancient times. The results of a lifetime are the fruits of Karma from the previous life, and your decisions in this life are for the results in the next. All ancient cultures like the Egyptians, Indians and Aryans believed that a man is reborn again and again in the form of new life in his own clan and connects with the same people and lives his mistakes. One who leads a just life and completes the cycle of rebirth gets a place in heaven or hell. It is believed in Hinduism that each husband and wife have the same relation for seven such rebirths. Here, compiled from different folktales, are the different lives of Abhimanyu and his wife, Uttara. Abhimanyu was the son of Arjun, Prince of Hastinapur and Subhadra, sister of Krishna. Uttara was the princess of the Matsya kingdom. Previous Lives: 1. A popular folklore suggests that once Vishnu was going to kill a demon, Abhikasura, who had caused harm to many. The dem...

The   Princess of Matsya   was now the bride of the   Prince of Indraprastha . They were leaving her Paternal home at  Viratnagar   and going to  Dwarka,   where the Prince grew up in his maternal home. Her actual Sasural was Hastinapur, where his mother had been, but the upcoming war between her husband's clan forced them to go to   Dwarka.   It was a day-long journey. From   Bairat in Rajasthan  to   Dwarka in Gujarat.   They stopped midway in the forests to give the charioteers and horses rest. When she started the journey, she was sharing a chariot with her mothers-in-law , Panchali  and   Subhadra.   Her husband was upfront with his father. The chariots were in line, the new bride's one in the middle of the long procession. She was in conversation with the ladies. " So, did Abhimanyu talk to you or was he this shy?"  Asked  Panchali , noticing the young bride trying to catch a glimpse of the g...