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Chapter 15. The Hermitage
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Mahabharata, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Dharma
Pursuing Enlightenment
Heroism and Warfare
Grief, Loss, and Mourning
Stories and Storytelling
Summary
Analysis
THE CLUBS. Thirty-six years after the war at Kurukshetra, Yudhishthira sees unlucky portents. He learns that Krishna has died. Janamejaya interrupts to ask how it happened, and so Vaiśampayana goes back to tell the story in more detail.
The quick passage of 36 years suggests that nothing very eventful has happened, implying that the Pandavas have been successful in restoring their rule. Krishna’s death, however, represents a significant change, given his role in helping guide their return to the throne.
Themes
A prophecy states that Krishna’s son will give birth to a giant club that will wipe out all of his line, the Vrishnis, and a related group called the Andhakas, with the only survivors being Krishna himself and his brother Balarama. Furthermore, the prophecy states that Krishna himself will be killed by Jara (a hunter whose name means “old age” in Sanskrit). One day, as predicted, Krishna’s son Samba gives birth to a mighty club. The appearance of the club coincides with growing discord, with spouses betraying each other and people disrespecting their elders.
The giant club that wipes out Krishna’s line may be connected to the duel of clubs at the climax of the Kurukshetra war, where Krishna advised Bhima to put aside dharma and use tricky tactics against Duryodhana. Just as the duel of clubs represented one of the most acrimonious phases of the war, the birth of the new club here seems to suggest growing discord in Krishna’s lineage. Perhaps the club is Krishna’s punishment for advising Bhima to use dirty tactics, although, as usual, Krishna seems prepared to accept his fate.
Themes
Krishna senses bad portents. He and Balarama lead the Vrishnis and Andhakas on a pilgrimage to the ocean. Satyaki gets into a fight with another warrior and decapitates him. This turns the rest of the camp against Satyaki. One of Krishna’s sons comes to Satyaki’s aid, but the rest of the camp beats them both to death with dirty dishes, despite Krishna’s attempts to stop them. This angers Krishna, who turns some grass into a club and starts killing anyone in his way.
Even the survivors of the deadly Kurukshetra War like Satyaki ultimately die at some point over the course of the poem. Like Duryodhana, who was trampled after losing the duel of clubs, Krishna’s sons also suffer embarrassments, being hit by dirty dishes. Krishna, who has frequently advised others not to succumb to grief or passion, gets overcome with a violent desire for revenge. This could suggest that in his mortal form, even Krishna is fallible, or it could be a case of justified violence, in which Krishna correctly doesn’t let his grief stop him from taking action.
Themes
Krishna leaves the carnage to go meet Balarama in the forest. When Krishna arrives, however, he sees a snake crawl out of Balarama’s mouth, and Balarama leaves his human body behind. Krishna continues to go wandering in the forest. One day while Krishna is absorbed in Yoga, the hunter Jara mistakes him for a deer and shoots him with an arrow. Jara is frightened when he learns that he has mortally wounded a human, but Krishna reassures him that all is going according to fate. Soon, Krishna heads up to heaven, where Indra and a whole procession of heavenly figures greet him.
Snakes in the poem often lead to death or represent it, and so the snake coming out of Balarama’s mouth suggests a type of death, even though Balarama’s abandonment of his body might not be a death in the traditional sense. Krishna’s death is both a random mistake and the will of fate, as one of the most powerful warriors gets taken down by a mere hunter. While Krishna’s death may seem unfitting for someone so great, Krishna ultimately shows dignity in death by accepting it, and this is what leads him into heaven with Indra.
Themes
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Arjuna hears about the recent slaughter and goes to investigate. When he gets there, Arjuna helps provide for the bereaved women and children. He warns them that the ocean will soon engulf their whole city. He then finds Krishna’s body and arranges a funeral pyre, where Krishna’s four living wives decide to join him, burning themselves alive. Arjuna leads the surviving Vrishni women to found a new settlement on fertile land.
As perhaps Krishna’s most devoted friend, Arjuna takes responsibility for Krishna’s funeral arrangements. While the suicide of Krishna’s wives seems to suggest that a wife’s life isn’t worth living without her husband, the very next part of the poem contradicts this, showing how Arjuna leads the bereaved wives of the Vrishni men to start a new life on fertile land, suggesting the value of starting anew.
Themes
As Arjuna leads the Vrishnis, however, some robbers suddenly attack them. Despite Arjuna’s fierce fighting, the bandits abduct many women. Arjuna despairs that he can’t save them all. After the bandits are gone, he passes off kingship of the survivors in the new settlement to someone else and then goes to see Vyasa. Vyasa asks Arjuna why he looks so disappointed, and Arjuna explains recent events. Vyasa reassures him that everything happened as fate decreed and that Arjuna couldn’t have changed anything.
While Arjuna was able to protect the horse from all attackers during the horse ceremony, his inability to protect the Vrishni women from robbers shows a decline in the influence and abilities of the Pandavas, perhaps as a natural result of old age. It’s impossible to fully resist aging, which is perhaps why Vyasa consoles Arjuna with the knowledge that he was fated to lose some of the Vrishnis to robbers.
Themes
