Ishwa helper Reged: 03/03/02 Posts: 553

Re: Shalya of Madras [Re: Suprabha] #17647 - 06/20/02 02:29 AM Edit Reply Quote

I have to say, Suprabha, that I've to look more deeply into this matter. Till recently I wasn't much involved with all the characters which hadn't have much to do with the main story of the Mahabharata. But sometimes I realize that they can give clues or keys to a very different layer: the international character of the Mahabharata, because more communities are involved, like the Danavas, Nagas, Pishachis, Yakshas, Rakshasas, Apsarasas, Gandharvas, Kinnaras/Kimpurushas, etc. Some of them are so old that they became deified, some weren't on the same line anymore with the Arya ideal, and became alien and later demonised, etc. In general, all the people and events that became mythologized (deified and demonised), had some kind of historical core. The events and characters were then re-used in different ways: psychologically, metaphysically, astronomically, astrologically etc. About Shalya It is very much possibble about these events and sounds very logical too in relation to Duryodhana and Karna. About Shikhandi The confusion about male and female has to do with two characters involved: Shikhandii or Shikhandin is the male word. Actually this character is far older than the BharataYuddha. He lived many generations before the second character, named Shikhandinii, the female form. She was the daughter of Drupada Yajnasena, and sister of Krshn� Draupadii.