Question

According to the Mahabharata, in which Mahajanapada did the Pandavas live during their exile?
1. kuru
2. kaushal
3. mall
4. matsya

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 4 : matsya

The correct answer is matsya.

 

• Due to a decree from their uncle Dhritarashtra, the brothers were forced into exile.
  • He was taken to the barren land, however, he turned it into the splendid city of Indraprastha.
  • A spiteful Duryodhana invites Yudhishthira to assert his authority in the game of dice, which was one of the turning points of the epic.
  • Yudhishthira made bets and lost his wealth, kingdom, and property due to his gambling, which Shakuni attributed to the rigging of the dice game.
  • Therefore the Pandavas were sent to exile for thirteen years.
  • After spending twelve years of forest exile, they lived for a year in the form of the Matsya Empire, also known as the Virat Empire.​

 

• The Virat Parva, also known as the "Book of Virata", is the fourth of the eighteen books of the Indian epic Mahabharata.
  • The Virata Parva traditionally has 4 sub-books and 72 chapters.
  • The critical edition of Virata Parva consists of 4 sub-books and 67 chapters.
  • It discusses the 13th year of exile, which the Pandavas will have to spend in secret to escape the 12 years of exile. They do this in the court of Virat.
  • They hold many different identities.
  • Yudhishthira recognizes the king as a sports entertainer and calls himself Kanka, Ballava's Bhima, a cook, Arjuna teaches dance and music as the eunuch Brihannala and dresses as a woman, Nakula wears horses as Granthika. , Sahadeva herded the cows as Tantipal, and in Draupadi, the name of Malini passed to Queen Shudeshna as Sairandhri.