The beginning of this epic took me along time to read as I tried to keep up with who was who. There was so much detail of lineages that it was a bit harder to follow than the beginning of
Ramayana. However, once the stories really started, I thought the tale was intriguing and fun to read.
My first favorite part was the was how the Yudhishira and his brothers escaped and caught Purochana in the fire that was planned for them.I couldn't imagine realizing the man who you trust and who is like your father, who has made you his heir, is trying to kill you. That would be so terrifying and I thought how Yudhishira handled it was perfect. The planning ahead to get the tunnel out of the house would have taken a lot of quiet work and secrecy, particularly to keep it from Purochana who was living in the same home. If they would have been caught, I wonder what would have happened. Would Purochana just have killed them or would the king have found another way to quietly dispose of the brothers?
Another thing I found intersting in this story was the Pandavas relationships to Rakshasas. While Bhima does fight and kill many, I thought that it was interesting he had a child with Hidimba. While it says she appeared to him in the form of a beautiful woman, did he know she was a rakshasa? In Ramayana, Rama seemed to sense that Soorpanaka wasn't who she appeared to be and refused her adivances. I would think it would be unusual for a hero who kills rakshasas to have a child with one. Although it seems to work out well for him as Bhima has a son to help him when he needs it.
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