A Comprehensive Collection - Swami Vivekananda

""510 THE MAHABHARATA.her choice and she threw the garland over tke head ofArjuna; he was chosen.The other princes, they were very much disgusted thata priest should catch this beautiful princess, when thesekings and princes had failed ; so they wanted to fightArjuna. There was avtremendous fight but they were allbeaten. So they all went back to their homes.-And the five brothers with the princess, they returnedto where they had left their poor mother in a * cottage.Every day they used to go out to beg, as Brahmans, thepriestly class, have to live by begging. So they used to goout and what they got by begging they brought and themother divided itamong them. Now, the brother of the"princess had said :Why, who are these people? W.ho isthis ittan whom my sister is going to marry ? They havenot any chariots or horses or anything.Why, they go onfoot." But he followed at a distance. And thus the five"brothers, with the princess, came to the cottage where themother lived ;and Dharma says, Mother, we have gotmost wonderful alms to-day" ;and the mother says:Divide it, my children and then the mother foundout :why, it was a bride Jbut see, whatever it be, themother s word was there ! It must not be wronged ;mustbe fulfilled : mother s words. And the five brothersmarried the same one.Now, you know, in every society there are stages ofdevelopment. Behind the epic here, there is a wonderfulglimpse of more ancient historic times. The author of the^ poem mentions the fact ;but he tries to gloss it over andfind an excuse and a cause because it was a wonderfulmother s word, mother s troth,and so on. Behind thatyou know, in every nation, there has been a certain stagewhen polyandry prevailed, all the brothers of a family