Notes for Tiny Tales from the Mahabharata pages 101-150
The Story of the lakes at Kurukshetra:
The brahmin warrior Parashurama dug five lakes. Samanta-Panchaka. They were filled with the blood of kshatriyas he had killed. There was a solar eclipse before the war at Kurukshetra and kings had come to the lakes to bathe and purify themselves. The pandavas were not there because they were in exile. Krishna, watching the kings bathe, had a vision of them all covered in blood which indicated that a war was coming.
The story of Vishnu and Bhudevi:
The earth goddess Bhudevi was in the form of a cow long ago. She gave her milk to the people of earth (mother nature?). The kings were greedy and milked her until her udders hurt which caused her to cry out. Vishnu heard these cries and vowed to punish the kings who did this to her. He said that he would return in the forms of Parashurama, Rama, and Krishna and spill their blood.
I really liked these stories because they gave some backstory to the setting of the coming war. These stories show that the place has a long history of bloodshed.
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| Vishnu and Lakshmi on an elephant meeting Shiva, Parvati, and Ganesha Wikipedia Commons |
Bibliography: Laura Gibbs, Tiny Tales From the Mahabharata Part C
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