There are plentiful stories from the Mahabharata, directly and indirectly related to the main characters. They are tales of entertainment and learning. Here, we’ll discuss several stories from the Mahabharata that teach us important lessons about dharma and what constitutes the correct and wholesome way of living. Some of these stories are well-known while others are not so well-known, but they all have beautiful lessons embedded in them.
What to Learn From the Great Epic
Stories from the Mahabharata epic are in the hundreds! Almost every event in the epic is a story in itself, though we can appreciate the lessons better when we understand the surrounding context. The dharma of the Mahabharata can be understood best by becoming aware of the larger picture and and understanding individual events from that context. It also helps to be aware that the main Mahabharata characters embody an archetype. Figuring out the archetype will help the reader understand that characters’ motivation and whether they are on the side of dharma or adharma. In this epic of the Mahabharata, you will find that the actions of the Pandavas are almost always on the side of dharma whereas the actions of the Kauravas are almost always on the side of adharma. You’ll also see that characters like Bhishma are often on the fence. Draupadi’s actions are difficult to decipher if you look at them from only from human logic, but if you were to examine her actions from the bigger picture then you would view Draupadi in Mahabharata as a very gracious and dharmic character. Another thing we’d like to make you aware about is that we’ve used several sanskrit words on this page because translating them would result in loss of meaning. Check the Mahabharata glossary to understand what they mean and look up the Mahabharata FAQ for answers to frequently asked questions.
Apart from the events directly related to the Pandavas and Kauravas, the Mahabharata has stories that appear on the fringes of the central plot. They deal with the dharma in various facets and their implications. timeline. Such stories work as standalone narratives and are also found in other Puranas. The story of Samudra Manthan isone example of a standalone story. Many of these have been rewritten and retold as fictional narratives in literature and visual media (TV shows, movies, etc.). Do you know the following stories of Mahabharata in English?
Stories of Tests From the Mahabharata
Rishi Ayoda-Dhaumya Tests His Disciples
Rishi Ayodha-Dhaumya had three disciples who had been learning at his hermitage for some time and were nearing the end of their education. The wise Rishi decided to test his disciples before they went their own ways into the open world. If we think about it in contemporary terms, this was a graduation exam. However, ancient India did not believe in standardized tests. The gurus knew each disciple at a personal level, so even though there would be certain common tests, the guru would also test each disciple in unique ways to see if they were ready for the world. The next three stories are about how Rishi Ayoda-Dhaumya tested his three disciples: Aruni, Upamanyu,and Veda.
Rishi Dhaumya Tests His Disciple Aruni
The Rishi asked Aruni to solve a problem with water leakage in a nearby canal. That canal channeled water to various nearby fields. However, some problem had developed and the farmers weren’t getting water in their fields. Rishi Dhaumya asked Aruni to fix the problem.
Aruni got to work and soon found out that the canal’s wall was broken at one place because of which all the water leaked out from that hole. That’s why no water reached the farmers’ fields. Aruni first tried to plug the hole with some clay but the clay wasn’t strong enough to contain the water. After a few unsuccessful attempts to solve the problem, Aruni himself sat in the hole to prevent the water from leaking. Finally the problem was solved and the farmers got their water.
Aruni stayed put in the canal’s hole to ensure the water doesn’t start leaking again. Meanwhile, in the ashram, the Rishi started to get worried because Aruni hadn’t returned. He called his students and they went in searching for Aruni calling out his name loudly. When they reached close to where Aruni was sitting in the canal’s wall, Aruni heard his teacher call out his name and immediately rushed out to his teacher and explained how he had solved the problem. However, when Aruni stepped out of the hole the water started leaking again.
Nevertheless, the Rishi was pleased with Aruni. He blessed his disciple and gave him permission to go out in the world and live his life. He also gave Aruni a new name – Uddalaka – which meant water flow.
Rishi Dhaumya Tests His Disciple Uppamanyu
After Aruni left the ashram, Rishi Dhaumya decided to test another disciple, Upamanyu. He asked Upamanyu to go and take care of the cattle grazing in the forest clearing. The disciple bowed and left to do as ordered by his guru.
Upamanyu returned in the evening with the cattle. Rishi Dhaumya looked at his disciple looking hearty and asked how he sustained himself without food. Upamanyu replied that he went to the nearby village for bhiksha and ate the food provided by them.
Rishi Dhaumya admonished him for forgetting to offer the bhiksha he received to his guru. Upamanyu apologized. The next day, he brought the food to his guru and left to take care of the grazing cattle. However, when he returned in the evening, Upamanyu appeared well-fed.
Upon inquiry by the guru, he replied that he went to ask for another round of bhiksha. Rishi Dhaumya was disappointed and reminded Upamanyu that he was depriving other students of their food by asking for food twice.
The next day, Upamanyu found another way to sustain his hunger. He drank the milk from the cows. When he revealed this to his guru, Rishi Dhaumya reminded him the cows belonged to the ashram and he had to take permission first.
The following day, Upamanyu consumed the froth brimming out of the calves’ mouths when they suckled milk from the cows. Rishi Dhaumya again reminded Upamanyu that calves needed all that milk to grow stronger.
A determined Upamanyu wanted to control his hunger but failed. He finally gave in and ate some leaves which turned him blind. This terrified Upamanyu who stumbled his way to the ashram and fell into a ditch.
A worried Rishi Dhaumya went searching for his disciple and found him in the ditch. He advised Upamanyu to pray to the Ashwin twins to grant his eyesight back. Upamanyu did as instructed. The Ashwins indeed appeared and gave Upamanyu a loaf of bread to consume. Upamanyu said he would first offer it to his guru. Pleased by his dedication, the Ashwins restore Upamanyu’s eyesight.
Rishi Dhaumya blessed Upamanyu and told him he had learnt his lesson and was ready to leave the ashram and live his life in the world.
Rishi Dhaumya Tests His Disciple Veda
Two of the three disciples completed their tests and left Rishi Dhaumya’s ashram. You might be wondering how the Rishi would test his third disciple – Veda. Rishi Dhaumya didn’t say anything about the test. He simply asked Veda to stay back at his house for some time and serve him because it would benefit Veda. The disciple agreed and stayed back and did all the tasks his guru asked him to perform. He worked like an ox for his teacher and bore heat, cold, rain, and all sorts of heavy burdens without complaining. Finally, Rishi Dhaumya was pleased with Veda and blessed him to go out in the world and live his life.
After leaving his guru’s ashram, Veda decided to enter the grihasta (householder) stage of life. He got married and set up his own ashram. However, Veda’s technique of teaching was very different from the way his own teacher taught. After experiencing extremely heavy and exhausting tasks at his own guru’s ashram, Rishi Veda, now himself a teacher, decided that he would not put his students through extreme physical labor. He taught his students in a very gentle way and gave them a lot of freedom in using their own discretion in making decisions. His teaching bore fruit when his disciple, Uttanka, took very good care of his house when Rishi veda had to go away for sometime to attend a grand yagna.
Five Famous Stories From the Mahabharata
The stories in this section are independent of the central Draupadi Mahabharata plot. However, they teach us about love, loyalty, greed, betrayal, arrogance, good vs. evil, and that every action has consequences.
Shakuntala and Dushyanta
Sakuntala was the daughter of a celestial angel, Menaka, and Rishi Vishwamitra. Indra sent Menaka to hinder the rishi’s tapasya. She was successful in distracting Rishi Vishwamitra from his tapasya, but ended up with a child whom she left on the banks of a river in the Nandana forest. Rishi Kanva found the child and adopted her. He called the baby, Sakuntala.
Years later, King Dusyanta went hunting in the forest and came across Rishi Kanva’s ashram. There, he met Shakuntala and fell in love with her. The duo got married in secret as per the Gandharva marriage rituals. He left after the marriage, promising Shakuntala that he’d send for her soon.
However, after leaving he did not send anyone to bring Shakuntala to the palace. She waited for years but there wasn’t even a message from the king. One day, after discussing her pain with her father, Rishi Kanva, she decided to go to the palace with her son, Bharat.
In the palace, the king refused to recognise her. He denied any knowledge of her and asked her to leave. Feeling betrayed and insulted, Sakuntala reminded him of their time together and told him that he should follow dharma. When Dusyanta still denied the truth, the gods from the heavens spoke and a celestial voice informed him to accept his family. Dusyanta made sure the entire kingdom heard of the celestial voice, and acknowledged Sakuntala.
He then apologized to Sakuntala, saying the public wouldn’t have accepted her or the child without proof, and hence, he had to put up an act and provoke her.
Dushyanta crowned Bharata as the prince. Bharat grew up to be a fearless warrior and protector of dharma. Eventually, blessed by the gods, he becomes a Chakravartin Samrat.
Note: The Kalidasa retelling of Sakuntala (Abhijnanashakuntalam) has additional creative elements and is considered one of the greatest dramas in Indian Literature. It is also one of the most popular stories from Mahabharata in Hindi, Telugu, and other Indian languages.
Check out this beautifully illustrated copy of Shakuntala published by Amar Chitra Katha. The book follows the Kalidasa version of the story.
Samudra Manthan
This is the story of churning the great Ocean of Milk (Ksheera Sagaram) using Mandara Mountain as the churning rod and the serpent, Vasuki, as the rope. This is one of the stories from the Mahabharata that is also mentioned in several Puranas. With the gods on one side and the danavas on the other, they tugged Vasuki this way and that to churn the celestial ocean for amruta (heavenly nectar that gives immortality).
Around thirteen items arose from the ocean as the churning progressed. Halahalam or Kalakuta, a deadly poison, was one of them. Shiva agreed to store it in his throat. The Moon (Chandra), Parijata tree (Kalpavriksham), Airavata (White Elephant with four tusks), Uccaihshravas (white horse with wings), Kamadhenu (celestial wish-granting cow), Kausthubha and Chintamani gems, the apsaras (angels), Goddess Lakshmi, and Soma appear also appeared from the ocean.
Finally, Dhanvantri arose from the ocean with the pot of amruta. The danavas stole the pot and ran away. That’s when Vishnu took the Mohini avatar to entice the danavas and got the pot of amruta from them.
Note: Samudra Manthan is a part of Shrimad Bhagavatam. Sauti Mahamuni recites the same to other rishis when narrating Mahabharata to them. Check out the Mahabharata Glossary for more information (to be published soon).
Amar Chitra Katha’s The Churning of the Ocean depicts the events of the Samudra Manthan with illustrations.
Birth of Garuda
Garuda is the most powerful bird in Hindu Itihasa-Purana stories. He is known as the Indra among birds and is also the vehicle of Maha Vishnu. The story of his birth, which occured in Satya Yuga, is full of action, adventure, and intrigue.
Sage Kashyapa had thirteen wives. You might have heard of Diti and Aditi who give birth to devas and danavas, respectively. Among the other wives of the sage were two ladies called Vinata and Kadru. One day, the sage granted them each a wish. Kadru asked for a thousand powerful and resplendent serpents as sons and Vinata asked for two sons who would become greater than Kadru’s thousand sons.
Sage Kashyapa granted them their wishes. He gave Kadru a thousand eggs from which her serpent sons eventually crawled out. Vinata also got two eggs, however, her eggs didn’t hatch for a long time. Vinata became impatient and cracked open one egg. The baby was still developing in the egg when she cracked it open. As a result, the child was born half-formed. As soon as the under-developed child came out of the egg, he cursed Vinata and flew into the sky to eventually become Surya devata’s charioteer. This child’s name was Aruna. The curse he uttered on his mother was that she would become Kadru’s slave. However, before flying away, he said that if she took proper care of the other egg, then her second son would deliver her from slavery.
The wheel of karma turned and Kadru used deceit to enslave Vinata. Despite the suffering of having to perform tasks at Kadru’s bidding and having to carry her to various places, Vinata took very good care of the second egg. She had learnt her lesson and did not show any impatience this time. Five hundred years later, the second egg cracked open, and a brilliant bird came out of the egg. This bird was called Garuda. He was majestic and glowed like fire.
True to Aruna’s prophecy, Garuda freed his mother from Kadru’s bondage. In performing this task, circumstances became such that he even had to fight the devatas, but Garuda prevailed and Vinata was freed from slavery.
Note: The birth of Garuda gets a magnificent description in the original. The enmity between Nagas and Garudas has been exploited in several fictional retellings with many embellishments. This is one of the most powerful short stories from the Mahabharata because its words have a mantric effect.
You can read Garuda by Amar Chitra Katha to enjoy the story with colorful illustrations.
Garuda as Vishnu’s Vehicle
Garuda was Vinata and Rishi Kasyapa’s son, born from an egg. He was a mighty bird with a vast wing span, a powerful beak, and strong claws. Garuda startled the world when he broke out of the shell. He shone as radiant as Agni himself. However, his mother was a slave to her sister, Kadru, which made Garuda a slave of Kadru’s serpent sons.
Hurt by how his mother was ill-treated, Garuda asked if there was a way to gain freedom from Kadru and her serpent sons. The serpents told him to bring amrita (nectar) from heaven. If he was successful, they would free him and his mother, Vinata, from the promise. Garuda agreed to the deal. He first met his father, Sage Kashyapa, and flew to heaven after having a few adventures along the way.
The gods were terrified and awestruck by his splendor. They tried their best to fight and prevent Garuda from reaching the pot of amrita, however, the mighty Garuda vanquished the devas with ease and reached the place where the amrita was kept. Seeing that the pot of amrita was protected by multiple layers of security, he strategized his way through the layers, grabbed the pot of Amrita and flew back to give it to the serpents.
On his way back, Garuda flew past Vaikuntam, Maha Vishnu’s adobe. Vishnu was pleased to see that Garuda didn’t even touch a drop of amrita, nor was he interested in consuming it. He said he would give the bird a boon.
Garuda thanked him and asked to be immortal and free of diseases even without drinking amrita. He also wished to stay above Vishnu. When he granted the wishes, Garuda said he would also like to give Vishnu a boon.
Vishnu asked Garuda to become his vehicle. Garuda immediately agreed and Vishnu said that he would put Garuda’s image on his flagstaff. This ensured that he would always stay above Vishnu at all times. Thus, Garuda became Visnhu’s vehicle and his ardent bhakta.
The Story of King Yayati Enjoying Pleasures for a Thousand Years
While the story of King Yayati is seen as a tale of lust and its consequences, it also deals with various themes on both sides of the spectrum.
King Yayati married Devayani, daughter of Sage Shukracharya. However, once he had a physical relationship with Sharmishtha, Devyani’s beautiful maid. Angered by the infidelity, the Shukracharya cursed Yayati to become old and impotent. When he pleaded for forgiveness, the sage told him that if another man agrees to accept the curse, Yayati would regain his lost vitality.
Yayati asked his five sons if any of them would exchange their age with him. Yayati wanted to enjoy sensual pleasures for a thousand years after which he promised to re-exchange their ages and restore that son’s youth. Puru, Yayati’s youngest son, was the only one who agreed. As a result, Puru became old and Yayati became young and virile. Yayati was delighted. He enjoys everything that youth and a young body can give him. For one thousand years he sported with beautiful maidens and apsaras and spent his time in celestial gardens, gem-laden mountains, and shimmering lakes. However, in the end, he realized that physical pleasures were ephemeral and the only pleasure worth pursuing was Divine pleasure.
Lesser Known Short Stories From Mahabharata
The Seven Chiranjeevis
While the word Chiranjeevi is interpreted as immortal, it actually means that the person would live for a very very long time (centuries). According to Mahabharata, there are seven such men in this universe:
- Hanuman (also considered the elder brother of Bheema)
- Krishna-Dwaipayana Veda Vyasa (the rishi who composed Mahabharata)
- Ashwatthama (Sage Drona’s son)
- Vibhishana (Ravana’s younger brother)
- Maha Bali (the demon king)
- Parashurama (Vishnu’s sixth avatar; he is also known as the warrior sage)
- Guru Kripacharya (the sage who trained the Kuru clan before Dronacharya)
Amba’s Story of Revenge Through her Rebirth as Shikhandi
Amba was the eldest princess of the Kosala kingdom. She had two sisters: Ambika and Ambalika. When the sisters were of marriageable age, the king of Kosala held a swayamvara for his daughters so they could each select a groom for themselves. Bhishma stormed into the swayamvara function and abducted Amba and her two sisters to take them back to the Kuru kingdom’s capital, Hastinapur, as brides for his stbr-brothers, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya.
After reaching Hastinapura, Amba told Bhishma that she loved King Shalva and was going to select him as her husband in the swayamvara. Bheeshma apologized to Amba and asked his soldiers to escort her respectfully to her lover, King Shalva.
Shalva had tried to stop Bhishma from abducting the sisters but had been defeated by the latter. When Amba returned to Shalva, he felt humiliated and broke his relationship with Amba. Devastated, she went to Bhishma and asked him to marry her as he was the one who abducted her. However, Bhishma declined to marry Amba because he had taken a vow of celibacy.
Spurned by her lover (Shalva) and abductor (Bhishma), she went to Bhishma’s guru, the great warrior sage, Parashuram. She pleaded with Parashurama to help her. Parashurama tried to convince Bhishma to marry Amba, but B hishma refused because of his vow of celibacy. Parashurama even battled with Bhishma but was unable to defeat Bhishma.
When Amba realized that nothing would convince Bhishma to marry her, she went into the forest to perform penance and get revenge on Bhishma for ruining her life. Lord Shiva gave her a boon that she would be the cause of Bhishma’s death in a future birth.
Amba was, in a later birth, born as Shikhandi to King Draupada and his wife in the Panchala kingdom. Shikhandi was a female child who later became a male when they exchanged their gender with a yaksha called Sthulakesa.
During the Kurukshetra war, Krishna strategized to Shikhandi and Arjuna to fight Bishma together. to kill Bhishma. Eventually, Bhishma fell to Arjuna’s arrows, but shikhandi became The cause of Bhishma’s death because Bhishma had taken a vow to not attack a person who was a woman or had been a woman earlier. Because of this, Bhishma did not fire arrows of attack in the direction of Shikhandi and Arjuna’s direction. This way, Shikhandi succeeded in getting her revenge and the Pandavas succeeded in vanquishing Bhishma. It is an example of dharma in the Mahabharata.
The Curse of Urvashi on Arjuna
Urvashi is one of the three main apsaras in Indra’s abode. She is the epitome of feminine beauty and is immortal. The story goes that during their exile, Arjuna prayed to the gods to obtain celestial weapons for the upcoming war with the Kauravas.
Since Indra was Arjuna’s father, he invited Arjuna to heaven to grant him the boons. Arjuna stayed in heaven for a long time. He received the divine weapons, blessings, and also learnt several other skills. One day, while in heaven, Urvashi saw him and was awestruck by his beauty and strength. She tried to impress him and proposed a liaison (or physical relationship). However, Arjuna apologized and declined, saying he saw Urvashi like a mother, and therefore, could not agree to her proposal. Enraged by his words, she cursed him to be a eunuch for one year.
Later, during the Pandavas’ 13-year exile when it was time for the final Agyatavaas (the year of disguise), Arjuna utilized the curse to become Brihanalla, a transgender dance teacher, to Uttara, King Virata’s daughter.
Summing up the Stories From the Mahabharata
Every story in Mahabharata has something valuable to offer. Sometimes a story directly illustrates an aspect of dharma and clearly shows us what is aligned with dharma and what is not aligned with dharma, some stories even show us the consequences of such actions, however, there are many stories where the distinction between dharma and adharma is not clear. The stories illustrate the fact that dharma is subtle. Finally, certain stories show us how different people (or personalities) act in unique ways in a given situation.
This great epic is best savored, not just by reading the stories literally, but also by look for hidden meanings and the bigger picture.
If you enjoyed reading the stories on this page then you will also enjoy the stories from the Mahabharata in Hindi.
Check out The Mahabharata – FAQs Page for additional information (to be updated regularly).