Gandhari and Dritarashtra bumped into each other as they were trying to drink water from a beautiful, pure lake nearby. Both ducks were blind, so they were not aware of the other one attempting to drink from the same lake at the same spot. Though they couldn't see, they immediately fell in love with the other's touch. They could feel each other's soft and luscious feathers and yearned for the other's embrace. Each day after their first encounter, Gandhari laid an egg. this occurred for 100 days, and finally the couple felt like they had their own little family they could be happy with. All of the other ducks nearby, who inhabited the same area around the lake, were very happy for the couple and even helped protect the eggs and sat on them when it was cold and when predators lurked nearby.
Finally, the first egg hatched. Dhritarashtra had gone to get food for the couple, but Gandhari had immediately heard the first crack. SHe felt each egg until she came across the one that was less smooth than the others. as she grazed her feathers over the egg, she could sense movement inside. She was so ecstatic! Her first child was about to be born, and it was going to be perfect! All the other ducks gathered around quickly and waited for the big moment. Finally, a baby chick was born. Gandhari immediately cuddled her child and was so happy that the other ducks couldn't bear to tell her the truth. What they saw was the ugliest and scariest looking duck they had ever seen. However, they knew Gandhari and Dhritarashtra couldn't see, so they saw no harm in keeping this information from them, rather than ruining their perception of their first-born. When Dhritarashtra came back, he had the same reaction as Gandhari and could not believe it! He could sense the baby's little fuzzy body, but obviously couldn't actually see it, so he was oblivious to the true nature of his child as well. One by one, all the eggs hatched and each time, the other families around the lake exchanged a look with each other, signifying that they were in fact terrified of what the baby ducks were going to be like. Finally, they decided to tell the happy couple what they saw. As they imagined, the couple was not happy to hear their comments and believed the others to simply be jealous of their babies.
A few weeks had passed since all the eggs had hatched, and their first-born cried out his first cry. When Gandhari and Dhritarashtra heard it, they were in shock. Though they couldn't see the demon side of their children, they heard its cry and immediately realized that the others were right. No duck ever sounded like that; instead of the usual ca-caw, their offspring emitted a demonic shriek that chilled them to their core. A demon's cry. The happy couple was soon devastated.
The couple was extremely terrified and decided to pray to the Goddess Ganga and help them cleanse their babies, hoping that bathing in the Ganges River would get rid of the darkness in their souls. After praying for 100 days and 100 nights, Ganga appeared before the couple. They explained their situation and after one look at the children, Ganga readily agreed to help. She placed each of the baby ducks in their own pot and took all 100 pots to the river with her. She spent days performing various rituals and after what seemed like forever to Dhritarashtra and Gandhari, Ganga finally returned with 100 smiling, beautiful, demon-less ducks who cried out in soft voices. The cleansing had worked! The couple was extremely grateful, and the other duck families around the area were relieved to know their home would not be soon invaded by demons.
Bibliography: Epified Mahabharata, One-Hundred Sons.
Author's Note:
I don't really know how I thought of this, but when I was reading the Epified Mahabharata videos, I was thinking about how 100 children is a lot and that their birth wasn't very normal. It explained how Gandhari had been pregnant forever and how she had many nightmares and bad experiences during the term, and when she finally gave birth, it was a huge lump of flesh. Finally, Sage Vyasa took the lump and divided it into 100 pieces and placed each one in a pot. After a while, the babies were finally born. However, their eyes were super dark and demonic looking. While the other people saw it, Gandhari and Dhritarashtra clearly didn't. I decided to keep that part the same, and at the end I decided to make it a happy story. I also made the characters ducks because 100 hatching eggs sounded fun to write about, instead of 100 lumps of flesh growing in pots. Since I wanted a happy ending, I had them realize their kids' demonic side and pray to Ganga and have her clean their babies' souls. Hope you liked it :)
Finally, the first egg hatched. Dhritarashtra had gone to get food for the couple, but Gandhari had immediately heard the first crack. SHe felt each egg until she came across the one that was less smooth than the others. as she grazed her feathers over the egg, she could sense movement inside. She was so ecstatic! Her first child was about to be born, and it was going to be perfect! All the other ducks gathered around quickly and waited for the big moment. Finally, a baby chick was born. Gandhari immediately cuddled her child and was so happy that the other ducks couldn't bear to tell her the truth. What they saw was the ugliest and scariest looking duck they had ever seen. However, they knew Gandhari and Dhritarashtra couldn't see, so they saw no harm in keeping this information from them, rather than ruining their perception of their first-born. When Dhritarashtra came back, he had the same reaction as Gandhari and could not believe it! He could sense the baby's little fuzzy body, but obviously couldn't actually see it, so he was oblivious to the true nature of his child as well. One by one, all the eggs hatched and each time, the other families around the lake exchanged a look with each other, signifying that they were in fact terrified of what the baby ducks were going to be like. Finally, they decided to tell the happy couple what they saw. As they imagined, the couple was not happy to hear their comments and believed the others to simply be jealous of their babies.
A few weeks had passed since all the eggs had hatched, and their first-born cried out his first cry. When Gandhari and Dhritarashtra heard it, they were in shock. Though they couldn't see the demon side of their children, they heard its cry and immediately realized that the others were right. No duck ever sounded like that; instead of the usual ca-caw, their offspring emitted a demonic shriek that chilled them to their core. A demon's cry. The happy couple was soon devastated.
The couple was extremely terrified and decided to pray to the Goddess Ganga and help them cleanse their babies, hoping that bathing in the Ganges River would get rid of the darkness in their souls. After praying for 100 days and 100 nights, Ganga appeared before the couple. They explained their situation and after one look at the children, Ganga readily agreed to help. She placed each of the baby ducks in their own pot and took all 100 pots to the river with her. She spent days performing various rituals and after what seemed like forever to Dhritarashtra and Gandhari, Ganga finally returned with 100 smiling, beautiful, demon-less ducks who cried out in soft voices. The cleansing had worked! The couple was extremely grateful, and the other duck families around the area were relieved to know their home would not be soon invaded by demons.
Source: Gandhari surrounded by her one-hundred sons.
Bibliography: Epified Mahabharata, One-Hundred Sons.
Author's Note:
I don't really know how I thought of this, but when I was reading the Epified Mahabharata videos, I was thinking about how 100 children is a lot and that their birth wasn't very normal. It explained how Gandhari had been pregnant forever and how she had many nightmares and bad experiences during the term, and when she finally gave birth, it was a huge lump of flesh. Finally, Sage Vyasa took the lump and divided it into 100 pieces and placed each one in a pot. After a while, the babies were finally born. However, their eyes were super dark and demonic looking. While the other people saw it, Gandhari and Dhritarashtra clearly didn't. I decided to keep that part the same, and at the end I decided to make it a happy story. I also made the characters ducks because 100 hatching eggs sounded fun to write about, instead of 100 lumps of flesh growing in pots. Since I wanted a happy ending, I had them realize their kids' demonic side and pray to Ganga and have her clean their babies' souls. Hope you liked it :)
