Absurdities of the Mahabharata - The Kaurava births and their wierd explanations

To any normal and non-religious person, the tale in the Mahabharata of  the queen of the Kuru dynasty, Gandhari having 100 children, should strike as fanciful, fictitious and absurd.

But not so for the Hindu faithful, who are quite hardworking at finding excuses and rationalizations to make the absurdities of mythical tales look and seem very meaningful and profound.

I am reproducing below some examples of how the religious and superstitious of the Hindu stripe struggle with reconciling the patent nonsense of their myriad 'godly' tales and make a mockery of themselves and their ideologies.


The Question of a distressed faithful!!!

Gandhari and Dhritarasthra  had 100 sons, yet with their given lifespans it would be almost impossible to have that many children. Is it possible that Dhritarasthra had more than one wife and the so-called "100 sons of Gandhari" in the Mahabharata were actually children by many wives? (although Gandhari was the most senior, so she was entitled to have the label of a mother of 100 sons). Is there any such reference in the Mahabharata?

Answer 1 that reveals more nonsense on the mode of Kaurava birth

Dridharashtra's wife Gandhari gave birth to a lump of flesh which Vyasa cut into 100 pieces and kept each one in a pot. At the appropriate time, each piece was born as a son and thus a 100 sons were born to Gandhari. (Mahabharata, Aadhiparvam, chapter 114, sloka 17).


Answer 2 to this absurdity that has more drama and story-telling to it

Once Rishi Vyas came to visit Gandhari in Hastinapur. She took great care of the comforts of the great saint and saw that he had a pleasant stay in Hastinapur. The saint was pleased with Gandhari and granted her a boon.

Gandhari wished for one hundred sons who would be as powerful as her husband. Vyasa granted her the boon and in due course of time Gandhari found herself to be pregnant.

But two years passed and still the baby was not born. Meanwhile Kunti gave birth to a son whom she called Yudhisthar. After two years of carrying her pregnancy, Gandhari gave birth to a hard piece of lifeless flesh that was not a baby at all.

Gandhari was devastated as she had expected hundred sons according to the blessing of Rishi Vyas. She was about to throw away the piece of flesh when Rishi Vyas appeared and told her that his blessings could not have been in vain.

He asked Gandhari to arrange for one hundred jars full of Ghee (oil). He told Gandhari that he would cut the piece of flesh into hundred pieces and place them in the jar, which would then develop into the one hundred sons that she so desired. Gandhari told Vyas then that she wanted that she should also have a daughter.

Vyas agreed and cut the piece of flesh into one hundred and one pieces and placed them each in the jar. After two more years of patient waiting the jars were ready to be opened. When the first jar was opened Gandhari took the baby out and named him Duryodhan. But alas! As soon as the baby started crying all the beasts of the jungle started howling and many signs of ill omen were seen. Everyone was shocked and disappointed as this meant that the baby was not auspicious and would bring harm on the entire clan of the Kauravas. Vidur spoke then and said that the child would have to be abandoned as the omens at his birth spell doom for the Kuru clan. He said, "The scriptures clearly state that for the good of the clan an individual can be sacrificed, for the good of the village a clan can be sacrificed, for the good of the country a village can be sacrificed and for the development of the soul, even the earth can be sacrificed." So for the good of the clan and of the country and of humanity, please sacrifice this son of yours. But both Gandhari and Dhritrashtra were adamant that a baby could not cause any harm and much against Vidur's wishes kept the baby. At the same time Bheemsen was born to Kunti in the forest.  

The other children of Gandhari were taken out of the jars and now Gandhari had one hundred sons and a daughter called Duhshala. All the children grew up to be strong and powerful.

Now comes Answer 3 and the 'Piece de Resistance' of Hindutva revisionism 

"The scientific technique of Invitro-fertilization must have existed during that time although we don't have any records of all those they used in those times. What was mentioned as pots could be specialized culture flasks, similar to what we use in laboratory and the ghee could be the required nutrient solutions to sustain. The reason why I feel this as scientist is it took 10 months for them to open such pots to get those babies. That means it would have been somatic cell cloning technique or something similar to that which could have been a more advanced science in those days itself. Vyasa being a genius would have handled it."