Mahabharata Podcast

Episode 100 - Summing up

Episode 100 - I've put together my review of the epic, in its totality.  I discuss the strange way in which the epic goes into fine detail on some parts of the story, and

Episode 99 - Epilogue 2: The Snake Sacrifice

Episode 99 - This is the final piece that brings us around, back to the beginning.  We covered some of this territory before, back in Episode 2, but at the time, it was h

Episode 98 - Epilogue 1: The Beginning

Episode 98 - This is the first of two episodes that take us from the death of the Pandavas down to the Snake Sacrifice, held by Arjun's great-grandson.  We skimmed over t

Episode 97 - The End

Episode 97 - So this is it-- the final installment from the Mahabharata.  Book 18, the Svargarohanika Parva, is done, and the 18 parvas of the Mahabharata are now complet

Episode 96 - The Death of the Pandavas

Episode 96 - Arjun returns home with some bad news and some good news.  The bad news is that they have lost their powers and have lost their friends.  The good news is th

Episode 95 - Arjuna's Defeat

Episode 95 - Krishna is dead.  Balaram is dead.  The city of Dwarka sinks beneath the waves, and the refugees of that once-great city are making their way to Indraprastha

Episode 94 - The Kali Yuga

Episode 94 - The Dark Age is now unquestionably upon us.  The elder Kurus, living austere lives in the forest, found themselves consumed by a forest fire of their own cre

Episode 93 - The Ashwamedha Sacrifice

Episode 93 - The white horse returns home, only to be tied to a post, killed, & cut up into little pieces.  The priests do their best to follow the old rules, but there's

Episode 92 - The Anugita and the Wayward Stallion

Episode 92 - This is another eventful episode.  Krishna & Arjun take a break and go on a leisure trip to Indraprastha, where it appears Arjun is king.  Both heroes have f

Episode 91 - The Death of Bhisma

Episode 91 - We get treated to a last handful of the Final Teachings, and then Bhisma dies.  The poor guy set quite an objective for himself.  It must have been mid autum

Episode 90 - The Final Teachings, part 2

Episode 90 - A few more stories from Bhisma's final teachings.  We learn that Vyasa had a son, named Suka, who really did not seem to be pleased to be born.  And Bhisma h

Episode 89 - The Final Teachings, part 1

Episode 89 - For some reason, the first three full-fledged stories from the Anusasana Parva all center around a Banian tree.  They also share the theme of low-caste hunte

Episode 88 - The Book of Peace

Episode 88 - This episode begins the voluminous Last Teachings of Bhisma.  As Bhisma lies on his bed of arrows, the Pandavas, Krishna & Satyaki gather around to listen.  

Episode 87 - Rama's Famous Genocide

Episode 87 - Yuddistira is finally convinced that he should remain king, and he gets down to business.  He marches straight to the palace and has himself anointed and con

Episode 86 - To be (king), or not to be...

Episode 86 - It seems like Yuddistira always had a secret desire to give up the world and live like a sadhu.  But now he has a pretty good justification-- after all, he e

Episode 85 - Remembering Karna

Episode 85 - We begin the Book of Peace, the Shanti Parva.  After boasting to his uncle about his special clairvoyant powers, Yuddistira is blindsided by the news that he

Episode 84 - The Book of the Women

Episode 84 - Vidur & Vyasa tell a few parables to help Dhrtarastra pull himself together.  When the king is finally pacified, he leads all the bereaved women of Hastinapu

Episode 83 - Daksha's Sacrifice

Episode 83 - The brothers learn of the massacre of their sons & allies, and summon Draupadi to break the news.  As usual, all she wants is revenge.  Thus the Pandavas go

Episode 82 - Blowback

Episode 82 - Well, it seems there is no end to the tit for tat revenge cycle that Duryodhana forced into motion so long ago.  Now that he has been defeated, his survivors

Episode 81 - Downfall

Episode 81 - So this is it; the moment everyone has been waiting for.  Ever since Episode 7 when Duryodhana was born, he has finally received his well-deserved defeat.  B