\
1. Look for examples of the motif of sight and blindness. In what ways are the various characters blinded or in the dark? In what ways do they see the light?
2. "I compose everything," Vyasa tells the boy toward the end of Part I. "Nothing is written down and I hesitate in moments when thought escapes me." Note the various techniques used by the filmmaker to evoke the storytelling roots of the Mahabharata, the oral tradition represented by Vyasa, who enters the narrative at various points, describing action and feeling, sometimes even talking to his characters. Pay special attention when Vyasa intervenes between the Kauravas and Pandavas, saying "Put down that weapon! No crime should corrupt this poem!"
3. Note the use of dark and light by the filmmaker. What are the most brightly lit scenes? Does Part I end in light or darkness? What do you make of this?
4. The feud between the Kauravas and Pandavas takes up only about 25% of the whole book (the rest is poetry, lengends and myths, instruction in the worship of Shiva and Vishnu). Why does Peter Brook make it seem like the feud is the epic?
5. What characteristics of the epic are apparent in the Mahabharata?
6. Compare and contrast Arjuna and Odysseus.
7. How does Gandhari finally bear her 100 sons?
8. How does Duryodhana get Karna’s loyalty?
9. After Draupadi is humiliated before the Kauravas and Pandavas, King Dhritarashtra grants her favors. She asks nothing for herself. What does she ask for and why doesn’t she ask anything for herself?
10. Note the curses and prophesies made: Draupadi curses the Kauravas; she says that Duryodhana’s death will come when he is struck in the knee. Bhima predicts that he will eat the heart of Duhshasana, and Draupadi vows to leave her hair down until the moment when she washes it in Duhshasana’s blood.
Arjuna promises to kill Karna, and Bhisma predicts that Karna will forget the formula for the ultimate weapon at the moment of his death. Krishna says, rather matter-of-factly, that the Pandavas will be victorious in the end. What is the function or meaning of these curses and prophesies?
11. Consider Bashupadha, the ultimate weapon, given to Arjuna by Shiva, also given (in formula) to Karna by Bhisma. It is an absolute weapon that can destroy the world; it is a weapon that can be launched with a bow, an eye, a word, a thought. Once released, it cannot be recalled. It cannot be disposed of, nor given back. The Earth shakes when it hears the name. In what ways does this 4000-year-old story foretell the fate of the 20th century?
12. Both Duryodhana and Arjuna visit Krishna to ask for his allegiance in the war. Krishna says he will not fight, and cannot take sides because he loves them all equally. But he does give them a choice: one may have all his men and armies and chariots, the other may have him—unarmed—by his side. Arjuna chooses Krishna, and Duryodhana is happy to have 11 armies to the Pandavas’ 7. What do these choices say about the two leaders? And when Duryodhana refuses to give the Pandavas 5 villages to avoid war, Krishna shouts: "You will have your glorious death. We will see a glorious massacre!"—and then reveals his fire to Dhritherashta, who momentarily sees the light. What is the effect of ending Part I at this point?
The Mahabharata: Part II
1. Why does Karna ask his mother to keep the secret of his birth from his brothers?
2. Why does Arjuna, a warrior, hesitate to blow the conch signaling the beginning of battle?
3. Why does the filmmaker have Vyasa say what Krishna is saying to Arjuna, even when the image shows Krishna’s lips whispering into Arjuna’s ear? What does Vyasa say that Krisha is telling Arjuna here about action and detachment? In this same scene, the filmmaker has the character Krishna talk about Krishna (himself) in the third person. ("To reply to this question," Krishna says, "Krishna led Arjuna through the tangled forest [to teach him] the ancient yoga of wisdom. . . the mysterious path of action. . . ."
4. What secret knowledge does Arjuna get from Krishna that enables him to blow the conch shell?
5. Note the curses that come to pass: Duryodhana's death comes when he is struck in the knee, as foretold by Draupadi. Bhima does as he predicts: he eats the heart of Dushassana.
And Draupadi does as she says she will: she leaves her hair down until the moment when she washes it in Dushassana’s blood. Arjuna, as prophesized, kills Karna, who—as Bhisma foretells—forgets the formula for the ultimate weapon at the moment of his death. And the Pandavas are victorious in the end. What is the function or meaning of these fulfillments of curses and prophesies?
6. It is known that the war will continue until Bhisma is killed, but because of the blessing of life given to him, no one believes it is possible to kill him. When Arjuna asks how Bhisma can be killed in order to end the war, Bhisma identifies Sikhandim as a warrior who can kill him? Who is Sikhandim?
7. In Part I, Bhima’s son Ghatotkatcha promises to help him when he needs him. Krishna claims that no one can stop Karna except Ghatotkatcha, and asks him to offer Karna to the gods. But Karna throws his spear into Ghatotokatcha’s heart and kills him. Was Krishna wrong?
8. "When dharma is protected, it protects. When dharma is destroyed, it destroys." What does this mean?
9. "Death doesn’t exist. Death is powerless against eternity." What does this mean?
10. After the battle, Gandhari, mother of the Kauravas, curses Krishna, telling him he will be killed and rejected. He says to her, I know, and tells the story about how in 36 years a hunter, mistaking his feet for the ears of a deer, will kill him. How is it possible for a god to be killed?
11. Near the end of the film, Krishna says, "Even if you can’t see it, the light has been saved." What does he mean here?
12. Note the use of dark and light by the filmmaker. What are the most brightly lit scenes? Does the film end in light or darkness? What do you make of this?
13. Vyasa tells the boy that all the Pandavas died without children, except for one of Arjuna’s, saved by Krishna. The boy comes from this child. At the end of the story Ganesha gives the boy the book, and the boy takes it out of the cave while Ganesha and Vyasa talk with one another. What meanings lie in these final words and images?
No comments:
Post a Comment