Indian traditions, Nivedita and Coomaraswamy
Kurukshetra
After the Pandavas’ exile ends, an embassy offers friendship without restoring their kingdom. The answer demands the return of Indraprastha or preparation for battle, leaving the family quarrel unresolved by negotiation. Both armies march to Kurukshetra, the plain chosen as the scene of action. The retelling compares the battlefield to a dice board on which the warriors stake their own lives, recalling the earlier gambling conflict.
Also known as Kurukṣetra
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In the sources
Principal account
TraditionalAfter the Pandavas’ exile ends, an embassy offers friendship without restoring their kingdom. The answer demands the return of Indraprastha or preparation for battle, leaving the family quarrel unresolved by negotiation.
Further detail
TraditionalBoth armies march to Kurukshetra, the plain chosen as the scene of action. The retelling compares the battlefield to a dice board on which the warriors stake their own lives, recalling the earlier gambling conflict.
Context & interpretation
Kurukshetra is presented here as the battlefield of the collection’s Mahabharata retelling. Its narrative military gathering is distinct from a complete historical or archaeological reconstruction. The gambling comparison is a literary image, not a claim about the terrain’s physical design.
Original passages
Source 1
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists
Either render us back Indraprastha or prepare to fightOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Nivedita and Coomaraswamy, Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists (1914), active reader leaf 225
Exact passage checked against the active edition text and original-leaf mapping; whitespace and scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0109-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0109-E001-P0225
- Original scan leaf
- 225
- Recorded leaf number
- 225
- Current Reader position
- 216
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists
the dice-board was the battle-fieldOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Nivedita and Coomaraswamy, Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists (1914), active reader leaf 226
Exact passage checked against the active edition text and original-leaf mapping; whitespace and scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0109-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0109-E001-P0226
- Original scan leaf
- 226
- Recorded leaf number
- 226
- Current Reader position
- 217
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Continue exploring
Sacred & Legendary Locations ↗
Ayodhya
The royal city whose ideal order is broken by Rama’s exile and restored by his return.
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