Storytelling for Week 5: The Great Fire

Prince Yudhishthira was the second oldest son of king Tutankhamun of Hastinapura. He was loved by everyone in the city because of his kind and wise nature. His less popular half brother Duryodhana was heir to the thrown. Growing up knowing that he would someday be kind had turned him rotten. As they got older Duryodhana grew jealous of Yudhishthira and feared that the people would serve him instead when the old king died.

Yudhishthira, wise as he was, understood the hatred from his brother and erred on the side of caution. One day he realized that his palace was susceptible to burning because it was made completely of wood and the furniture and tapestries were all soaked in oil. He knew that if Duryodhana were to plan something, it would be to burn him, his wife Kunti, and his children alive inside their own palace.

Yudhishthira immediately ordered to have a secret underground passage dug through the floor of his palace all the way to the forest at the edge of the city. It took weeks to complete. The night after the passage was complete the family slept deep knowing that they had a way out should anything bad happen.

Yudhishthira and Duryodhana’s palaces were separated only by a guard tower, which held the wicked guard Purochana who was on guard duty that night. Duryodhana ordered Purochana to set Yudhishthira’s palace on fire during the darkest part of the night and hurry back to the tower before anyone saw him. Purochana did just that.

Yudhishthira was woken by a bright light, which turned out to be his burning palace. He quickly woke the rest of his family and rushed them through the passage to safety. The flames from the burning palace reached fifty feet in the air; they could be seen from several miles away. There was a slight breeze that night that caused the flame to spread first to the watchtower and then to palace where Duryodhana was in a deep sleep in his bed. Both he and Purochana were burned alive.

The next morning at dawn Yudhishthira and his family returned to the lot where the three structures now lay in ashes. The fire had not spread past the palace of Duryodhana. The charred remains of both bodies were found. The king was notified of the events that had taken place in the night and Yudhishthira was named the new heir to the throne. Everyone in the city rejoiced.

Escaping the Fire

Author's Note:

In the original story Duryodhana is suspected of planning an attack such as burning down the palace where queen Kunti and her children are staying. A secret passage is dug and the family escapes before anything is even done to them. Bhima goes back through it and sets fire to the guard house and burns Purochana in it. That fire spreads to the palace with the passage and burns down too with a few visitors in it. The town takes the charred bodies to be the Kunti and her kids. They live in the forest in secret so that they will not be hunted.

I changed the story around to where Duryodhana hates Yudhishthira because he is more loved by the people of the city. Yudhishthira is married to Kunti and they live in the palace. Purochana actually lights the palace on fire, but it burns his guard tower and Duryodhana's palace. Yudhishthira and his family escape through the passage while the fire kills Duryodhana and Purochana. 

Bibliography: PDE Mahabharata: The House of Fire by C. A. Kincaid (1921).