I never asked for this. Having like a million brothers has never been easy for me. Sure, I made my way through everything growing up and it was great to have a bunch of built in friends, but now we are all supposed to marry the same woman?? That just seems crazy to me. I'm not the only one who thinks that it is weird, either. The whole town thinks it is so weird that my brothers and I are all marrying one woman. We have been warned by many about the story of the two brothers who both fell in love with the same woman. They ended up fighting with each other so much over her that their family was ruined. I do not want that fate for my brothers and I- and neither do they. We have decided to take turns with our new wife year by year. The first year with go to the eldest and then the next and so on.
The plan went well for a couple of years, but I seem to be the only one who is still not comfortable with the idea. That's why when the chance to get out of everything came today, I took it. There was an old man who was living in the forest. He didn't have much, but some jerk came and stole what little he did. He came to me and asked for help, but I realized I left my weapon in the room I was not allowed to enter- the room where our wife (well, right now my brother's wife) stayed. I was not allowed to enter the room when my brother was away because it was seen as breaking the rules that we made, but I had to help this guy. He had only one great possession, but it was something that could never be replaced! I decided it would probably be a win-win if I helped him. I ran and got my weapon from the room- thus changing the course of my life for the next 12 years. I helped the man from the forest reclaim his items and I returned to tell my brothers what I had done and to tell them I was going to live in the forest. They weren't happy about it but a promise is a promise so I left that afternoon.
When I returned to the forest I ran into the man that I helped and he said that we could work together for survival. He brought me back to a group of sages with whom I lived for the first couple of years. It wasn't bad, but it still wasn't the life I was looking for. Living with the group of sages was pretty much just like living with my brothers. I had to share everything- well not a wife this time, but still! I decided to start exploring a little more every day in search of some way to make my life the best it could be.
One day it finally happened. I was searching the forest for all of life's answers when I ran into the most beautiful woman. I knew I shouldn't marry her because I was technically already married to the wife I shared with my five brothers but I couldn't help myself. I fell so in love with her that I decided to stay in the forest for the rest of my life. Although I am no longer living a life in a palace as a prince with my brothers, I am so much happier here. Instead of having many riches and a few shared relationships, I am rich in relationships and poor in the things that don't matter to me. Perhaps one day I will go back to visit my family, but I will never return to that life because I have finally found what I was looking for.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: For this story, I used the Mahabharata Epified- Link to Reading Guide as a source for inspiration. I liked the part of the story about Arjun and his exile to the forest, so I decided to write the story from his perspective. I twisted the story a little bit and added in the feelings of resentment toward his brothers because he had to share everything. I also changed the ending because I felt that he should marry the woman in the woods instead of returning home.
The fact that all the Pandavas married the same woman was definitely one of the stranger elements of the Mahabharata (which I guess is kind of saying something), so I love the fact that you fleshed out Arjuna’s perspective about the whole situation here. It makes sense that he would have the most to say about it, since he was the one who won Draupadi as his wife in the first place; he should definitely feel resentful. Also, when I first read the Mahabharata, I found it weird that Arjuna was so insistent about following the rules and exiling himself even though his brothers didn’t want that—but the way you’ve framed it here makes so much sense. Really awesome job with this!
ReplyDeleteHey Jenna, I love this story! The amount of imagination to create an entire monologue is impressive and you did it very well. This gives an entirely different perspective on the story and I really like how you were able to tell the original story perfectly just through the thoughts of one character, keep up the good work excited to see where this goes!
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