Episode 22 - Drona and Karna

Recap

Dronacharya becomes the new Guru of the princes, and is instantly a thorn in the side of Shakuni.

Chivda

Mai hastinapur ki aankhon me aankhein mila kar nahi dekh sakta.

Synopsis

While the princes train under Drona, Shakuni worries about Duryodhan’s place on the royal throne. Drona’s son Ashwathama joins the princes as a pupil. Adhirath brings Karna to Drona on his request to learn shashtra vidya. Drona refuses based on the caste of Karna,( Contradicted and Discussed in detail below) while Karna points out that Drona is a hypcrite since he is teaching his own son who is also not a Kshatriya. Drona performs a test to measure the courage of the princes and Arjun is the only one who passes.

Discussion

These episodes act as a character foundation for the Kauravs and the Pandavs. One thing I would like to get out of the way before I begin any discussion is that there is one incident which has been a controversial topic for a while now, that is the refusal to teach Karna. In the show it is shown that Drona refused to teach Karna because he was not a Kshatriya but such is not the case if you refer to the texts. Karna was indeed taught by Drona and grew up with the Kauravs and the Pandavs, but it was only when it came to teaching powerful weapons like the Brahmastra did Drona refuse to teach Karna. The reason for the refusal being the immaturity and aggressive temperament of Karna. Keep in mind that Brahmastra has been described as being similar to nuclear weapons in Area of Damage, and to give such knowledge to an angry child is of course a fool’s game. I suggest you search for this information on your own to form your own opinions. The information above has been sourced from various print versions of Mahabharat.

As seen in this episode as well, Arjun is a prodigy. He is brave, strong, skilled and has the right temperament to be the hero of this story. While the princes ran off to find help or save themselves, he stood brave and used his skill such that the alligator stayed alive and Drona was saved too. Bhishma and Vidur have been in discussions since the past few episodes and it is leading nowhere. To be honest, Bhishma himself brought this upon himself when he gave up the throne for Shantanu’s offspring. That was the moment when merit died and and lineage won. I suspect this will go on for a few more episodes until the princes grow up.

Gandhari seems to be aware of Shakuni’s motives now. She is a virtuous woman and if she could see, I truly believe the course of history would have been different in this story. Shakuni is lying to himself when he says that he is against Gandhari for her own good. He is truly a personification of evil. True evil is not that which hurts, but one which makes others do the hurt for it.

The reviews are coming in late because of my personal reasons, but they will keep coming rest assured. Until then!

Notable dialogue:

Jo brahman Sashtradhaari ho, uspe vishwas hi nahi karna chahiye

To be continued