"Life is like hot iron. . . "
And with those words to inspire some deep, sleep-deprived thoughts, let's begin!
So I understand the whole "by the stars he may know direction" part. And possibly the "by wandering, one may know paths." But what does "by taking care, none shall oppress him" mean? And why is the whole code about the burning house so much more inscrutable here? Good thing Yudhishthira knows what he's doing. Ish.
Need a stand in? Apparently any five handsome male corpses will do. They obviously think a lot of themselves and little of Duryodhana.
How thoughtful, to snap the neck of the man who was going to set you alight and murder you in your sleep so that he doesn't have to burn to death like you would have. Such a nice man you are, Bhima.
How come no matter where the characters of the epics are, they are always within sight of the Ganges?
What the heck is the barbarian tongue everyone is talking about?
Oh Aeneus, carry your father far! I-I mean. . . Oh Bhima, carry your brothers and mother far! So many parallels. . .
May the odds be EVER in your favor! How come when it comes to the lottery, a one in a million chance seems easily possible, but when it comes down to a human sacrifice, a one in a couple thousand choice seems impossible? What kind of logic is that?
Love that Buck drew the comparison between a blade of grass and a sword. Just awesome word play.
Son, you're being sent unarmed to a demon so that he may dine on you and a cartload of rice and two buffalos. Logical response? No, Mother! How could you! Bhima's response: "This is wonderful! I've never yet had enough to eat here!" Gotta love Indian epics.
At least here Yudhishthira's response makes sense. 'Cause later on, not so much. It's probably a good thing they try to ingratiate the reader/listener with him early, since otherwise he'd just be frustrating.
"He just kept on eating away. He had made himself hard." Oh, the thoughts on how this can be misinterpreted out of context, haha. Also, I am a terrible person for thinking and then typing this.
"Bhima had made himself huge." And so it continues. . .
Does Vyasa ever not speak in code? And how much forethought do all these codes take? Can you imagine?
[Obviously when I don't get a lot of sleep I simply question everything. Naturally.]
You defeated me in battle. My daughter was just born, and all I could think of was that you should be the one to marry her. I don't care that I'm thinking impossible thoughts since everyone says you're dead. I'm king and can bloody well think whatever unreal thoughts I want. Why, sometimes I think as many as six impossible thoughts before breakfast.
Muscles that when straining break bronze armor. Even if I hate Duryodhana's personality, I've gotta admit that's impressive. And would be attractive in practically anyone else. Yup, that.
"'Well, after hearing ten thousand explanations, a fool is no wiser. But an intelligent man needs only two thousand five hundred.'" A very specific number. Also, no one ever explains anything to me that many times, so whether I am intelligent or not it seems I shall never grow any wiser. Alas!
Interesting how in Narayan's version, Kunti's joking gave Draupadi five husbands, while in Buck's version, Draupadi herself chose all five Pandavas for her husbands herself. Seriously, that's a significant difference.
I have no idea what she thinks, and at a swayamvara she could chose anyone to marry. So if you want my advice, just take my sister by force. I mean, what can she do? Archaic, misogynistic swine. Stupid overbearing "I know everything!" deities. Gahhhh.
"'Transferred from one clear lake to another, like a lotus." I'm too tired for this. Such beautiful imagery, but I can't appreciate it today. I just keep thinking, why can't they speak plain English?!
Too much butter--there is no such thing!! Come on, Agni.
Can you imagine how many arrows it would take to make a roof over an entire forest? Arjuna must have a very impressive quiver.
How old must something be to have existed since before the time of the architect of the olden gods?! Like, dang.
And of course, they were put there by Krishna to decorate the house of Arjuna. Totally makes sense. Uh huh. Yup. My sleep-addled brain can not comprehend all these circular moments. . .
I want a palace constructed by Maya! (A girl can dream, right?)
Hahahahahahaha. I literally laughed out loud at the whole scene where Krishna tried to enter the palace of illusions. Great. Just great.
I love Bhima: "'But you must act the king: do what you want, in haste, without thought--and above all, do not consider the consequences.'" Gotta say, though, I hope that this is simply an indictment of the current king and not a generalization about all Indian kings. Otherwise they may have a problem with their approach to monarchy. . .
"'You resemble a young maiden prancing over rain puddles. . . You are a great actor.'" Again, Bhima!! Fantastic insult. I wish I could have seen Duryodhana's face, haha. You know, if this were real. (I promise, I do have a firm grasp on reality. Or at least on my perception of reality. But since everything is an illusion, and senses can be deceiving, who knows how real my reality is? Or if it is even anything like the next person's reality. I guess I don't have a grasp on reality at all. . . Soooo, yeah. Can I see Duryodhana's face now?)
And with those profound thoughts (or at least those thoughts that seem profound to my exhausted self at this moment), we shall await Yudhishthira's dice addiction with growing frustration!
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