The Pandavas escaped the fiery trap that was meant to kill them. They managed to escape secretly- no one knows they are alive. Bhima must fight a rakshasa in the woods to keep his family safe. He does this by breaking the rakshasa's back over his knee. Bhima then kills the warlord Baka by the same process, freeing a local village from the tyrant.
Bhima's process of killing his enemies in this manner makes me think of the iconic battle between Batman and Bane, shown below. Even if it's silly, this was the first thing I thought of
This is exactly how I imagine Bhima defeats his enemies
Draupadi is this gorgeous woman who is destined to have five husbands and be a Pandava queen. In her previous life, she was never satisifed by her husband. She prayed to the gods who promised she would be a high-born woman who would have FIVE husbands. Arjuna shoots the fish target with his arrow to win Draupadi's hand in marriage. Vyasa reveals that the Pandavas are each incaranations of Indra, so there is no problem with five men marrying the same woman.
This whole setup is wild.
Arjuna and Subhadra by Donald A. Mackenzie: Source
Part of the arrangement for Draupadi's marriage to the five Pandava men was that while Draupati spent time with one brother that the other brothers would leave them be or face exile for twelve years. When a fearsome rakshasa attacks the city, Arjuna needs his weapon to fight. His weapon is in the same room as Draupati and one of his brothers. After fending of the rakshasa, Arjuna leaves the city in exile for breaking his oath. While he is away, he visits the city Prabhasa and his friend Krishna. He falls in love with Krishna's sister Subhadra. The expectation is that Subhadra will marry Duryodhana despite the swayamvara having not been held yet. To get around this, Arjuna simply kidnaps Subhadra. Knowing that no man would want Subhadra after she had spent time in the house of another man, they welcome Arjuna back to hold an official marriage. Staying in Prabhasa until the end of his exile, Arjuna finally returns home. Draupati welcomes Arjuna's new wife.
Draupati then has a son for each of her five husbands while Subhadra has a son with Arjuna.
The idea of multiple wives blows my mind. I imagine that the children of Draupati and the Pandavas will ultimately be important. It also seems that men are rewarded for questionable actions- this is the second instance in the Mahabharata of men widnapping women to make them their wives!
Gambling Match by Donald A. Mackenzie: Source
This story seems a little ridiculous to me. Yudhishthira and the Pandavas visit Duryodhana to gamble. Yudhishthira seems to understand that the game will be rigged, but he plays along anyways. He gambles away everything- his gold, jewels, elephants, and slaves. He lost his whole kingdom, himself, all of the Pandavas, and even Draupadi. Why did he not stop gambling!? We see that eventually Duryodhana mocks Draupadi. He tries to strip all of the clothing off of his new slave in public. He mocks the Pandavas who are all now his slaves. Draupadi goes to Dhritarashtra who knew nothing of Duryodhana's actions. He offers Draupadi whatever she wants- she asks for herself, the Pandavas, and Yudhishthira to be freed. That's where this week's reading ends...
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