{"podcast":{"title":"Sacred Hindu Stories for Sleep","slug":"sacred-hindu-stories-for-sleep-7682482","podcast_index_feed_id":7682482,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6973ec58283ec80e150c12be","website_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz47kt9NiPJXR5K_kFi5OUw/","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/cover/1769204659567-b881009f-379c-48d8-9413-ccea5a49b43c.jpeg","author":"ShaRhanda Lawson","episode_count":42,"summary":"🌙 Welcome to Sacred Hindu Stories for Sleep Fall asleep to the epic, profound, and beautifully human stories of Hindu sacred texts — told slowly, thoughtfully, and without interruption. Every episode is crafted for rest. Long-form storytelling (2–3 hours). A calm, steady voice that lets these ancient stories unfold at their own pace. Here you’ll find the complete Mahabharata, gentle philosophical teachings from the Upanishads, stories of dharma and destiny, and characters whose quiet choices have echoed across millennia. Whether you already know these traditions or are simply curious about ancient wisdom, this channel is a place to rest your mind. Subscribe and join us for stories that carry you into sleep. 🔔 “Sleep is the highest form of happiness for embodied creatures, and from sleep springs their waking life.” — Mahabharata, Shanti Parva May your nights be restful, and your mind be still. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-19T10:19:00.647140+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sacred-hindu-stories-for-sleep-7682482"},"episode":{"title":"Who Was Dhritarashtra? | The Blind King Who Let the War Happen","slug":"who-was-dhritarashtra-the-blind-king-who-let-the-war-happen","published_at":"2026-04-20T23:08:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sacred-hindu-stories-for-sleep-7682482/who-was-dhritarashtra-the-blind-king-who-let-the-war-happen","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sacred-hindu-stories-for-sleep-7682482","url":"https://youtu.be/IcgqpFPPjew","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/6973ec58283ec80e150c12be/e/69dbf30dcdaa3e377c4b5a8d/media.mp3","summary":"Fall asleep to the calm, in-depth story of Dhritarashtra from the Mahabharata. Dhritarashtra is one of the most recognized names in the Mahabharata — the blind father of the Kauravas, the king sitting on the throne when everything collapsed. Most people know his role. Almost nobody knows the full story — how blindness shaped him from birth, what it cost to be passed over for the crown, and why, when the dice game destroyed his family, he kept asking what happened as if he didn't already know. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 - The Throne That Waited in the Dark 10:23 - The Boy Born in Darkness 37:09 - The Crown That Fell Into His Lap 01:10:50 - The Afternoon the Dice Fell 01:46:03 - The Eighteen Days He Listened To 02:16:07 - The Embrace That Almost Killed 02:42:38 - The Forest and the Fire 03:06:18 - After All of That 03:17:53 - Outro: Ash and Starlight 📖 IN THIS EPISODE In this documentary-style exploration, we cover: • Dhritarashtra's birth, blindness, and what it meant to grow up in a palace that had already decided what he could never be • How he was passed over for the throne — and what that wound became over decades • The dice game through his eyes: a man who knew what was happening and kept asking what happened • The eighteen days of Kurukshetra — listening to the war through Sanjaya's voice as a hundred sons fell one by one • The iron statue, the forest exile, and the strange peace that finally found him at the end This is the Mahabharata's most honest portrait of how good people enable terrible things — not through cruelty, but through the quieter choice of looking away. Perfect for falling asleep, relaxation, study, or anyone curious about Hindu sacred texts and ancient India. Based on the authoritative Kisari Mohan Ganguli translation of the Mahabharata. 🔔 Subscribe for m…","meta_description":"Fall asleep to the calm, in-depth story of Dhritarashtra from the Mahabharata. Dhritarashtra is one of the most recognized names in the Mahabharata — the…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":12307,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/sacred-hindu-stories-for-sleep-7682482/episodes/who-was-dhritarashtra-the-blind-king-who-let-the-war-happen/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sacred-hindu-stories-for-sleep-7682482/who-was-dhritarashtra-the-blind-king-who-let-the-war-happen.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}