MB13-Drona killed by deceit!

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After the slaughter of great warrior Abhimanyu by deceit, the saga of deceit continued with either side resorting to all kinds of unfair means to kill each other.

MB12-All is fair in love and war!

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At least that is how the saying goes and many of us really think so! But not so in a war that was meant to be a war of righteousness – or Dharmayuddha.

MB11-Drona – The Ancient Indian test-tube baby!

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Today we are all familiar with the procedure called In-Vitro Fertilization, which has come as a boon to many a mother who cannot conceive naturally. 

In common parlance, the babies born by such a procedure are called ‘test tube babies’, though they are really not born in a test tube per se. Only the fertilization of ovum by the sperm takes place outside the body of the would be mother, in a Petri dish – ‘test tube’ under controlled conditions.

But not so, in the case of Drona – if you believe what the story says. Drona was a true test tube baby!

MB10-Winning by ‘hook or crook’!

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After the fall of Bhishma, there was some hope that the war would end. Bhishma tried his best to dissuade the Kauravas from further massacre.

But the evil Kauravas were far from reforming. They somehow wanted to eliminate the Pandavas ‘by hook or crook’ as they say.

MB09-Amba finally takes her revenge!

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Having come to know about Bhishma’s decision not to confront Shikandi, or Amba in her previous birth, both sides, Kauravas as well as Pandavas were charting out their way ahead.

MB08-Shikandi – a transgender hell bent on revenge!

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Even great people commit heinous mistakes. So did Bhishma. And the result was Shikandi.

In his previous birth, Shikandi was the eldest of the three daughters of King of Kashi. In that birth his name was Amba. How Amba became Shikandi is a sad story which we will discuss now.

MB07-Bhishma’s Achilles heel!

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As promised to the Kauravas, Bhishma continued to wreak havoc on the Pandava army day in and day out. Thousands of soldiers and great warriors on the Pandava side were killed by raging Bhishma.

MB06-What do you do if God wants to kill you?!

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When you are in difficulties and when your life itself is at stake, you pray to God for help. What if God himself tries to attack you? You have no one else to turn to. Nor you can do anything to protect yourself.

That is what exactly must have happened to Bhishma.

MB05-Bhishma – the man the terrible!

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In the previous episode we were discussing the strange behavior of Bhishma. On one hand he was all for the Pandavas. But at the same time, he was hell bent on vanquishing them by siding with their opponent. Why? 

Let us dig a bit into Bhishma’s past. 

MB04-Seeking enemy’s permission before killing him!

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Have you ever heard of anyone seeking the permission of the enemy before killing him? That sounds ridiculous and insane. But Yudhishthira did exactly that.

BookTalk: Audio version of 'Mantra to Enhance Your Mental Capabilities'

In today’s book talk I am going to discuss about the audio version of my book “A Mantra to enhance your mental capabilities”.

MB03-Humiliation is impossible to forget!

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Many of us who have undergone humiliation know how difficult it is to forget and forgive. We may be very righteous, endowed with clarity, broad minded. But still, if we are humiliated, that too over and over again, we hardly forgive the person who has humiliated us. 

That is exactly what happened to Dhritarastra. 

MB02-Vyasa – A dark boy born on an island!

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Probably, there is no other author in the entire Indian history who is as revered, as versatile, as multifaceted, and as proficient as Vyasa who also happens to be the author of Mahabharata we are talking about. 

His actual name was Krishna Dvaipayana – literally meaning ‘a dark boy born on an island!’ What a strange name! 

Let me give a bit of his background. 

MB01-Mahabharata: The biggest Epic ever known

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Hi, I am happy to be back once again, after a short break. I hope that during my absence, you enjoyed listening to the Bhagavad Gita verses beautifully sung by Padmini Dinesh. If you have missed them for some reason, please go back to past episodes and do listen to them. I am sure you are going to like them and also have a new experience in Indian musical melody. She has done a great job. Thank you Padmini. 

Today, I am going to start another interesting series. My voice is almost fine now. But occasionally you may find some distortion. Please don’t mind. 

GV13…..Meditation can take you to the ultimate

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion.

GV12…..People follow different paths based on inherent nature

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion.

GV11…..The inherent nature makes people different

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion.

GV10…..How can we move beyond sense driven existence?

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion.

GV9…..Why do we commit blunders?

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion.

As usual, the verses are sung by Padmini Dinesh followed by English interpretations.

GV8…..How should one indulge in sense pleasures?

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion.

As usual, the verses are sung by Padmini Dinesh followed by English interpretations.

GV7…..What is wrong in going after sense pleasures?

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion.

As usual, the verses are sung by Padmini Dinesh followed by English interpretations.

GV6…..How does one steady the mind?

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion. As usual, the verses are sung by Padmini Dinesh followed by English interpretations

GV5…..How does a real Yogi look like?

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion.

As usual, the verses are sung by Padmini Dinesh followed by English interpretations.

GV4…..How to be a real Yogi while still being in the world

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion.

GV3…..Don’t go after petty things – Aim big

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion.

GV2…..Why we should not worry about death

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion.

GV1…..Verses from Bhagavad Gita

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Starting today, I will be posting some select verses from ancient Indian scripture namely Bhagavad Gita. This holy book is so well known that it needs hardly any introduction. So, I will skip that.

QV20.....Conclusion of ‘Quranic verses’ series

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In the past several episodes, I had a wonderful time sharing my thoughts on some of the verses from Holy Quran. Picking some really illuminating verses from the Holy Quran, I have tried to show how lofty these fundamental ideas are.

QV19.....Faith cannot be forced on others

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There are people who believe that Islam was spread at the point of a sword. There are even some Muslims, who think that their faith should be forced on others.

QV18.....Caught in the jaws of time!

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All of us, however successful or great we think we are, have to exit one day. Time spares none. It is as if we are all trapped in the jaws of time and the time is slowly gnawing us one after the other.