I also never knew about Gundhari's one hundred sons. I think this is a very interesting and dark story. It's really sad that such ominous sons were born to such a lovely couple. I wonder what happened to the rest of their children though. Were they all killed in battle?
Ekalavya's story also makes more sense after hearing it from this perspective. Drona had more reason than just pride in taking the archer's thumb: he was trying to protect Arjuna's confidence and reputation. Still, I am not very happy with Drona's choice and I think this incident shows his negative character, making the feud with his brother more controversial.
I could relate many of these stories to Game of Thrones in which people do many bad deeds in order to maintain their children's throne. Prince Joffrey is as rotten as Duryodhana while their caretakers go to great lengths to protect them. Drona's act of violence reminds me of multiple instances of mutilation in order to cut down powerful characters.
Bibliography: Epified Mahabharata Videos Part B, Web Source
Image: Joffrey Baratheon Game of Thrones by Chris, Flickr
I love the epified videos series! Something about being able to watch the stories come to life in the form of sketches really appeals to me. I feel like I retain information from these videos so much better this way, similar to the way Khan Academy works. I also found the lengths that Drona was willing to go to in order to protect Arjuna as the best archer a little humorous. It seems very petty and it continues to happen throughout the story! I think I was a little shocked because I imagined the heroes of these epics to be a little more…virtuous? I will say that I am impressed that the protagonists and antagonists of these stories seem to be on an even playing field when the events of these stories are put into context, which just demonstrates that no being is capable of pure good or evil, but some balance in between.
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