Reading Notes: Sister Nivedita (The Deception of Bhima)
The Deception of Bhima
In this story, the Kurukshetra war is happening, and Bhima is trying to figure out a way to defeat Drona. As long as Drona's son, Ashvatthaman, is alive he will never be defeated. This gives Bhima an idea. He goes and finds an elephant and names the elephant Ashvatthaman. Bhima then kills the elephant and shouts at the front lines, "Ashvatthaman is dead!" This devastates Drona, but he does not believe it until Yudhishthira, someone Drona knows cannot lie, says it to be true. However, Drona does not hear Yudhishthira say, "Ashvatthaman the elephant" under his breath. As Drona falls to despair, Dhrishtadyumna seizes the opportunity to cut Drona's head off and ultimately kill him, thus winning the battle.
I want to recreate this story so at the end Drona's son comes back and sees what has happened. I also want to add more dialogue to make it a bit more personal. I think this story is a great way to portray the lesson on why people should always see things for themselves before jumping to conclusions.
In this story, the Kurukshetra war is happening, and Bhima is trying to figure out a way to defeat Drona. As long as Drona's son, Ashvatthaman, is alive he will never be defeated. This gives Bhima an idea. He goes and finds an elephant and names the elephant Ashvatthaman. Bhima then kills the elephant and shouts at the front lines, "Ashvatthaman is dead!" This devastates Drona, but he does not believe it until Yudhishthira, someone Drona knows cannot lie, says it to be true. However, Drona does not hear Yudhishthira say, "Ashvatthaman the elephant" under his breath. As Drona falls to despair, Dhrishtadyumna seizes the opportunity to cut Drona's head off and ultimately kill him, thus winning the battle.
I want to recreate this story so at the end Drona's son comes back and sees what has happened. I also want to add more dialogue to make it a bit more personal. I think this story is a great way to portray the lesson on why people should always see things for themselves before jumping to conclusions.
(Bhima kills the elephant, Ashvatthaman. Wikipedia Commons)
Bibliography: The Deception of Bhima by Sister Nivedita in Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists
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