Mahabharat - Episode 24 - Rangbhoomi

Rangbhoomi

Aaj se mera jeevan tumhare liye, Meri Nishtha tumhari, aur meri mrityu bhi tumhari hi hogi.

Synopsis

The princes return to Hastinapur and take part in a competition designed to show off their skills. They all introduce themselves in front of king Dhritrashtra, while Kunti narrates the happenings to a bling Gandhari. Yudishthir fights all the princes at once and defeats them subsequently. Bheem and Duryodhan fight with gadas, and have to be seperated when the fight turns serious. Arjun steals the show with his magical arrow skills, summoning the four elements from the sky using the arrows. Karna comes to challenge Arjun, but is denied a fair fight by the elders using various excuses. At one point Duryodhan makes Karna the king of ang kingdom, but Karna is still denied a shot at the competition.

Discussion

Not too much to discuss in this episode but here are some points that I think are worth marking:

• The blind Gandhari can easily recognise the sound of Bhishma's conch.
• After the fight ends between Bhim and Duryodhan, Dhritrashtra eagerly asks Vidur about who was stronger. The blind king still tries to find ways to make sure Duryodhan gets the throne. Vidur being Vidur, gave a diplomatic reply, much to the anger of Dhritrashtra.
• I think Arjun's powers are shown as a bit too strong. I don't remember reading anywhere that teleportation was one of the powers of his arrows, but I think some flair was needed to make this a popular show back in the day.
• Of course Karna's garland would go on Dhritrashtra's neck. An enemy of my enemy is my friend.
• Speaking of friends, in this episode we witness the beginning of a lifelong friendship. Duryodhan and Karna's friendship is pretty famous for being unquestioningly loyal.
• Kunti realised who Karna was the moment she saw him and fainted.
• Karna being denied a fair chance at the competition was a bit sad but I think it was done for the greater good, since a non kshatriya winning that competition would bring about some massive civil revolts that would be hard to control. Not letting him compete due to his caste or birth is just a facade to hide the fact that him winning would bring about a storm of chaos in Hastinapur, which already very volatile.

Notable dialogue:

Ye samaroh nahin, Hastinapur ke rajkumaron ke liye Pariksha ka aangan hai

Ye khel me gadaon ke takraane ki dhwani nahi hai!

Kya hua?

Acharya Dron ne pratiyogita rukva di hai Maharaj.

Bhaari kaun pad raha tha?

Ye yaa to Acharya Dron jaane, ya to Tat shri.

Maharaj ko apna parichay do Kuntinandan

Acharya Dron ka shishya Arjun, Maharaj ko pranam karta hai

Kya iske alava tumhara koi parichay nahi hai vats?

Nahi Maharaj, Bhakt ka parichay keval bhagwan hai. Aur shishya ka parichay keval guru..

Aaj Arjun jaisa shreshth dhanurdhar aur koi nahin hai

Hai Acharya, hai

Ang raaj Karna ki jay!

Parantu yadi kabhi yudhbhumi me arjun aur mera saamna ho gaya, to aap mere aur arjun ke beech apne ye shabdon ki dhaal nahin rakh paenge.

Yaad rahe! Main Brahmastra tak tumhara pichha nahin chhodunga.

Rishiyon ke Gotra, aur nadiyon ke Strot ko kaun dekhta hai bheem?

To be continued