Week Ten Reading Diary Continued: The Mahabharata, Peter Brook

Part D - The Art of War

The Mahabharata War Scene, Peter Brook (1989)

After nine days of battle, men end the day with their rituals. Bhishma who is injured, meets with the Kaurava brothers, Karna, and Drona in his quarters. Duryodhana tells Bhishma that he is disappointed with his performance and how it is his fault that they have not succeeded in the war.  

As the Kaurava brothers and Karna leave Bhishma’s quarters, Drona stays behind.  Bhishma tells Drona of his dream.  In his dream, a stranger kills him.  Drona laughs as Bhishma tells him, and Bhishma asks why someone would kill him.  Drona responds that only you  know the answer. 

Bhishma is left to think about how he will win the war against the Pandava’s.  He hears a sound outside of his quarters and knows that it is Amba, the princess that he turned away earlier in the epic.  Amba walks into Bhishma’s quarters and tells him that she has been following him all of these years and that her feelings of revenge have not changed.  Amba then reveals that she has a secret, she will partake in the next battle and that she has taken on a man’s image.  Her new name is Shikhandi.

This scene is not how I depicted it in my mind.  Brook was able to make the scene dramatic especially with the music that played as Amba spoke to Bhishma.  I did not gather that Bhishma was frightened from Amba’s presence, nor was he uncomfortable.  In the movie it seemed as if he knew his life was going to end.

When Kunti approaches Karna and they have the conversation about his birth, Karna cannot help but acknowledge that after all of these years Kunti has abandoned him.  The only possible reason why she would want him to side with the Pandava's is because of the power that she possesses and the thought of her losing a son.  

Bibliography: “The Mahabharata” directed by Peter Brook (1989)

                     “The Mahabharata” written by R.K. Narayan (1978)