Ambika called out, "Vyasa, I cannot look at you nor can I smell you, your utter presence is making me nauseous, let alone your horrid appearance."
Ambika closed her eyes and and Vyasa told her that their child will be born blind. Ambika could not bear opening her eyes to see the sickening view of Vyasa, so she continued with them closed.
Their son was born blind just as Vyasa had predicted. The son's name was Dhritarashtra. Dhritarashtra later wondered why he was blind, and his mother told him that his father was so unbearably ugly, that she was forced to close her eyes while he was being conceived. Dhritarashtra was upset, as he became self conscious about his own appearance. He feared kids in school would bully him for looking as ugly as his father. Dhritarashtra grew angry with his mother and blamed her for all of his life struggles. For being blind, for not knowing what he looks like, for being bullied in school, everything.
Later on in life Dhritarashtra became the King of Hastinapur. He hated his mother so much, he decided to banish her from the kingdom. He believed that finally he could get rid of his mother Ambika and punish her for all his hardships.
Ambika had left Hastinapur deeply saddened. She ran far away where nobody could ever find her again. Never was she seen by another human.
A few days later, a friend of Dhritarashtra named Raj asked him, "Why would you banish your mother?"
Dhritarashtra replied, "She was responsible for all my struggles. She was the reason I was blind."
Raj replied, "You understand she went blind for you too, right? She had her eyes poked with needles to destroy her vision. She did it because she loved you. How could you do this?"
Dhritarashtra, unaware that his mother sacrificed his vision to be like him, was struck with everlasting guilt. He looked far and wide for his mother, but she was nowhere to be found. Dhritarashtra lived the rest of his life in pain and regret about how he had treated his loving mother.
Bibliography - Mahabharata Episode 7 by Epified
Authors Note: I took inspiration from the Mahabharata Episode 7 where Dhritarashtra is born to Vyasa and Ambika. He is born blind because his mother did not want to look at his father, Vyasa. The ugliness of Vyasa was too much to handle. I tried to retell that story in this piece while adding my own twist at the end. In the original story, Dhritarashtra is aware that his mother has sacrificed her vision for him, but in my retell he is unaware. I believe that it was necessary for bringing a neat twist to the story.
Hey, Saad!
ReplyDeleteI liked your creative twist on the story here, especially as you use it to develop the character of Dhritarashtra. The situational irony here is well executed. However, I wonder if there is an underlying message that could be applied here with blindness as a metaphor? As in each character has something that they are unwilling or unknowing of (blind to?). This could serve as an interesting metaphor.
Cheers,
Chris
Hey Saad!
ReplyDeleteGreat attention catcher. The first sentence is amazing, and I literally thought "Oo, this is going to be good". It is so tragic that he is blind because his mother couldn't look at his father - mega ouch. I really like twist where his mother is almost the bad guy. The emphasis is on how his mother caused some of his struggles through vanity, and without a sacrifice on her end, she just seems cruel. It was really interesting and entertaining to read!
Sincerely,
Rachel
Hey Saad, interesting topic of choice. I liked the twist that you added in the end. It gives the story an element that makes it unique. I always associated a level of fascination with alternate versions of the Mahabharata!
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