Mahabharat - Poetry

Sabha Parva

Maya built the Pandavas a regal palace,

Beautiful with great finesse.

The brothers then performed Rajasuya,

Once Bhima slayed Jarasandha.

Immense fortune the ceremony did bring,

Rendering Yudhistira a powerful king.

Yet among the pomp and ceremony,

Duryodhana burned with jealousy.

Despite wise men’s advise,

He invited Yudhistira for a game of dice.

First, the Pandava king gambled his wealth,

But due to Shakuni’s stealth,

He was painfully defeated,

The stakes growing heated.

One by one, he lost all that was his own,

His brothers, himself and his throne.

Finally, he lost his wife, Draupadi,

Who Dussashana dishonoured immorally.

But due to Krishna’s protection,

She was saved from humiliation.

Then the game was played again,

This time, costing the Pandavas their reign.

So the brothers along with their wife,

Set off to live a forest life.

For twelve years they were exiled,

In the 13th, they must be disguised.

Thus began adversity for the Pandavas,

For now begins the Vana Parva.