On a gloomy afternoon, five brothers are wandering around, lost, in a forest.
Earlier that morning the brothers decided to go on a hike, but instead of walking the planned trail that was laid out for them by the forest rangers, they decided to blaze their own trail and just go wherever their sense of direction took them.
It turned out that the forest was much more vast than any of the brothers realized, and before they knew it they were very much lost. The map they brought with them was not any help because besides the trails already mapped out, it just showed a bunch of green so they were unable to discern their location from the map.
Thankfully, the brothers were all experienced hikers so you would think they would have come prepared with plenty of food, water, and other equipment to build a fire just in case anything bad were to happen while they were out hiking. Normally they would have brought all of those essential items, but because Arjuna was in a rush this morning and all of the other brothers were running late he refused to give them enough time to finish packing because as Arjuna said "We never need that stuff anyways guys, let's just go it will be fine". Except this time, it wasn't fine. They needed all the essential items, and they had yet to run across any water.
As the youngest brother, Nakula, wandered around he stumbled upon a massive lake filled with water. In the midst of his excitement, and quenching thirst, he decided to run to the lake. As he became closer to the lake a booming voice erupts and demands that Nakula must answer a few questions before he can drink from the lake. Nakula, dying of thirst, decided to ignore this voice and runs to the bank of the lake to get some water but as soon as he touches the water he dies.
The other four brothers heard the booming voice and decided to go see what was going on since they hadn't heard from Nakula in a minute. As they get to the lake they don't see Nakula at all and start calling out for him, and they try to figure out where that demanding voice came from. After a while, Sahadeva becomes thirsty and goes to the lake to get a drink of water and as soon as he touches it he dies.
Out of shock the brothers all rush to the water, but don't touch it, to try and figure out whats going on. When they get close to the water the voice sounds again, but they also ignore it and decide to go rescue their brother.
One after the other, all the brothers touch the water and die, except one, Yudhishthira. Instead he demands the voice answer where all his brother's bodies are and why he killed them. The voice answers and gives Yudhishthira the choice to answer the questions, and he does. Then the voice answers that he is the god of death, and that this was a test of their duty.
Since Yudhishthira passed the test he was able to bring all his brothers back to life. They all learned a very valuable lesson, and death agrees to point them out of the forest.
Author's Note: I kept the original story pretty much the same, except I decided to make the brother's hikers and had them choose to go into the forest instead of being in exile. I also chose to end the story differently and have them be able to leave the forest peacefully after one of the brothers could pass the test. I didn't want them to be unrecognizable or in exile.
Bibliography
Title: The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian EpicAuthor: R. K. Narayan
Year: 1978
I also chose to use the exile as inspiration to write a story! I really like your version, and I love the ending when Yudhishthira is able to bring back all of his brothers.
ReplyDeleteYou'd think after the death of the first brother that the others would be a little more cautious before doing the same exact thing that killed the other. But at the same time, they were just so thirsty that they weren't fully there or care.
Great job!
Hi, Chelsee!
ReplyDeleteIt is a nice change to have the brothers as normal hikers instead of exiles. Like what Chelle said, you would think they be more careful when they come across their dead brothers and possibly watch then die. But I suppose if they weren't exactly bright enough to try to come prepared for their hiking trip despite being late, you can't expect them to be bright in this scenario either. Good story!
Chelsee,
ReplyDeleteYou would think some advanced hikers would have the experience to make sure they pack all the necessary supplies to survive but I guess that is what made this a good story. I really like the way you retold this story your way and think that you are a great writer. Great Job! Hopefully you will get to read a story of mine soon.