Mahabharata Episode 23: Arjuna’s Quest for Divine Weapons

[Music] The stories of Mahabharata, retored by Shuddhipta Bhamik. [Music] Welcome dear friends to another episode of the stories of Mahabharata. In the last episode we heard how Krishna killed Salwa and destroyed his airship Savanagar. We also heard Yudhishtira being subjected to some difficult questions by Draupadi about Tharma and its practice. Draupadi's argument hit a cord in Bhima's heart. The angry Pandava looked straight into Yudhishtira's eyes and said, "Brother, Yudhishtira, tell me, tell me why should we always have to sacrifice? Why should we have to suffer?" Like a shackle who steals from a lion, Turyodhana stole our kingdom from us and you, in the name of Dharma, accepted it as a destiny and a great to this hardship. Tell me, tell me what has this Dharma of yours given you? It has only made you a spineless coward. And we, your brothers, are falling you like blind men. Our inaction has made our friends unhappy and our enemies happy. Shame on us! Brother, one should not pursue Dharma as their only goal. Shame there should one pursue wealth or fulfillment of desire as their only goal. Dharma, wealth and desire one should pursue them all in their life. The scriptures say that one should fulfill their desire and enjoy the pleasures of life during their youth. Perceive and accumulate wealth during their midlife and practice religion and righteousness during their old age. And those who want to lead the life of an ascetic should give up all three practices. So you should either practice all three or give up everything and become an ascetic. But for a shattrya, their strength and energy is their religion. Shrug off your weakness and pick up your arms, fight for what is yours even if that requires you to give up your righteousness a little. Just as a farmer shows a small amount of seed to harvest a bountiful, you should also give up little of your Dharma to achieve something greater. Let us join hands with Krishna and other allies to attack the Kauravas and win back our kingdom. Yudhisthira was listening to Bhima with all his patience. Bhima's accusations hurt him to the core, but he was not angry. He turned away from Bhima as if to hide his painful eyes. He looked at the distant stars and said, "My brother, your words strike me like sharp arrows, but I can't blame you. You are right. It is because of my improper behavior and action you suffer this horrible punishment. I had taken part in the game of dies with the desire to win Duryodhana's kingdom and wealth, but Shakuni exploited by Niva Teh and used unfair means to defeat me. Duryodhana made us all his slaves, thanks to Draupadi for rescuing us from that humiliation. But I played the game again and lost again. And now I cannot get out of my obligation as a loser. I must keep my promise to live in exile for 13 years." Yudhisthira then turned back to Bhima and said, "You wanted to burn my arms that played the holy game, but you not stopped you. You picked up your iron maize to strike, but you stopped again. Why? Why didn't you use it then? Why didn't you stop me from accepting the challenge the second time? You didn't take action when it was needed. So what's the point in complaining now? Just as one plants a seed and waits for the tree to bear fruits, Yudhisthira should wait for the happy days to come after 13 years." Bhima was not pleased to hear this at all. He said, "My brother, too much patience of Dharma has robbed you of common sense. You have become soft and weak like a brammin. I'm surprised. How could you be born a shatriya? 13 years is a long time. We will all die in this forest before this long 13 years come to an end." As the scriptures permit, you should consider 13 months as equivalent to 13 years and claim your throne back. If that doesn't satisfy you, then maybe you should perform the penance ritual by feeding a bull and absolve yourself of your sin to break your promise." Hearing Bhima, Yudhisthira realized that words of righteousness and Dharma, "Don't please a warrior like Bhima." He must speak the language of valor and warfare for Bhima to comprehend his strategy. He said, "Brother Bhima, one should think of using force only after proper planning and after accumulating adequate resources." Without a strategy, you're doomed to fail. Remember, Duryodhana and his brothers are valiant warriors and are skilled in the use of deadly weapons. The kings we conquered before the Rajsva sacrifice are not happy with us either, and they will join the Kauravas when called for Bhima, Drona and Kripa. They may be neutral in principle, but they are royal to the throne of Hastinapur and they would never hesitate to protect their provider, King Dhritarastra. The mighty warrior Karna is also against us. You cannot destroy Duryodhana unless you destroy this powerful man. But to do that, we need adequate preparation. This time Yudhishtira's words hit home. Bhima, though sudden, realized that they cannot win back their kingdom overnight. He went back to his room and sat down to meditate and calm his mind. But Yudhishtira's mind was still disturbed. He thought, "How could he gather the resources needed to win back the kingdom?" Arjuna's Gandhiva alone cannot fight the mighty Kauravas. They must acquire a huge arsenal of powerful weapons. And then they would have to build alliances with powerful kings who would join them to fight the Kauravas. He went back to his hut and with closed eyes summoned Rishi Vyasa. Within moments Vyasa arrived, he smiled at Yudhishtira and said, "I understand your predicament my dear Yudhishtira, but don't worry. I will give you a special mantra called the Pratismriti. With this knowledge, Arjuna should be able to acquire the deadliest weapons from the gods." Yudhishtira knew that Arjuna would have to travel far to collect the weapons from the gods. It may take years before he could return. Without Arjuna, they would be weak and vulnerable to attacks from their enemies. But acquiring weapons is only half the job. One must also learn how to use them. And for that, Arjuna is the best person with Yudhishtira knew. He had no option and had to take a chance. He called Arjuna and said, "Brother, you know to defeat the Kauravas and win back our kingdom, we need to acquire powerful weapons and I want to entrust you with that job." Few days ago, Rishi Vyasa taught me the special mantra, which I want to pass on to you. Learn it by heart and then travel to the North. Use this knowledge to collect the most powerful weapons from the gods. After completing the customary fire ritual, Arjuna picked up his weapons to begin his long trek. Draupadi marked his forehead with the holy ashes from the extinguished fire. She said, "Bartha, our well-being, our happiness, our life, our kingdom and our wealth now depends on you. May you succeed in your endeavour and come back victorious. May the gods protect you in your journey." Arjuna traveled north and crossed the Himalayas. Then he passed by the Gandhamadhan Peak to reach the foothills of the Indrakeel Mountains. There, he heard a voice ring out. "Stop! Don't move!" Arjuna turned around and saw a frail-bodied copper-tone, dacetic sitting under a tree. The man was covered with dirt and his head covered with matted hair. The man looked at Arjuna and said, "Who are you, my son? Why are you carrying those dreadful weapons? You don't need them in this peaceful hermitage. Abundant your weapons and enter these hallowed grounds in peace." But Arjuna didn't care to put down his weapon. He stood in defiance in front of the ascetic and tried to anticipate his next move. The ascetic said, "You look worried, relax, relax, my son. I am your father, Indra. I was waiting for you. Tell me, what do you want?" Arjuna bowed in front of Indra and said, "Father, I am in search of divine weapons." "You possess some of the deadliest weapons on heaven and earth. Would you be kind enough to share some of your weapons with me? I need them to win back our kingdom. You must prove yourself worthy of such weapons." Indra said, "Worship Lord Shiva. If you can please him, I will give you the weapons." Arjuna walked farther down the valley till he reached a dense forest. There, he picked a spot under a huge panion tree and sat down to worship Lord Shiva. When Shiva came to know of Arjuna's worship and his strict austerities, he took the guys of a tribal hunter kerat and appeared in the forest with his bow and arrows. As Shiva walked towards the meditating Arjuna and eerie silence engulfed the forest. The rivers and waterfalls stopped their flow. The birds stopped chirping. The animals hid in their burrows as if the new something ominous was about to happen. At that moment, a demon named Muk, taking the form of a wild boar ran towards Arjuna to attack him. Hearing the sound of the charging boar, Arjuna woke up from his meditation. He engaged an arrow to his boar to shoot the animal. But before he could release the arrow, Shiva disguised as kerat said, "Leave the boar. I desired to shoot the animal before you did." Arjuna didn't bother to pay attention to a tribal hunter and shot his arrow at the boar. But the kerat had also shot his arrow and the two arrows struck the boar at the same instant. The boar returned to its dreadful demonic form and crashed to his death. His loud death cry ran shivers down the spine of the forest dwellers. Angri Arjuna looked at the kerat and said, "Who are you young man? Why did you shoot my target? You have violated the rules of hunting and insulted me. I will kill you for your insolent behavior." The kerat laughed and said, "Don't be scared. I won't harm you. We live in this forest. But who are you? And what are you doing in this God-for-second land?" Arjuna said, "How dare you ignore my question. Apologize else, I will kill you right now." The kerat kept on laughing. Arjuna raised his gun diva bow and shot at the man. But to his surprise, the arrow bounced off his body. Arjuna kept on shooting arrows at the hunters but they all struck him and fell off like straws. Soon his kivers ran out of arrows. Arjuna couldn't believe what he saw. But he was too angry to come to his senses and realize that this tribal man was not a normal human being. He raised his bow and struck a fierce blow to the kerat's head. The kerat laughed and snatched off the bow from Arjuna's hand and threw it aside. Arjuna attacked him with his sword. But the blade bounced off the hunter's skin and shattered into pieces. Despite Arjuna threw stones and three branches at the man. But they had no effect at all. Arjuna then attacked the hunter with his bare hands. He threw punches at him and tried to wrestle the hunter down. But the hunter grabbed him by his neck and cut off his hair. Arjuna gasped and fell unconscious. When Arjuna regained his senses, he saw the hunter sitting at a distance and smiling at him. Insulted and humiliated, Arjuna prayed to Lord Shiva. He picked up a flower garland from his place of worship and offered it to the clay idol of Shiva he had built. But to his amazement, he saw the garland fly off and settle on the kerat's neck. And then Arjuna realized the hunter kerat was none other than Lord Shiva himself. He knelt down before him and asked for his forgiveness. Shiva took off his kerat disguise and pulled Arjuna to his chest in warm embrace. He said, "Partha, I am pleased with your worship and your valor. Tell me, what can I offer you?" Arjuna bowed in front of Shiva and said, "Lord, you have the greatest and the most powerful weapon in the heaven on earth. The Brahma-shair Pasupat, I pray you give me the Pasupat to fight the Kauravas." Shiva agreed and gave Arjuna the deadliest weapon of all the Pasupat. He taught him how to release the weapon and how to retract it. He also warned Arjuna of its disastrous effect and said, "Use this weapon responsively and only as a last resort." And then he disappeared. Soon after, the gods Varuna, Kubera, Yama and Indra visited Arjuna and gave him their best weapons. Indra said, "My son, you should visit the heavens for a great task awaits you there. There I will also give you several other divine weapons that will make you invincible. Wait here. I will send you my chariot to fetch you to the heavens. The gods then left the forest and Arjuna waited for the divine chariot to arrive and take him to the heavens." The stories of Mahabharata is written and directed and told by Shirdi Ptabhamek, audio engineering, original music and sound design by Avi Zeev. Find us online at facebook.com/mahabharatapodcast. Join the group for updates and news. Subscribe to the podcast using iTunes or any other podcast catcher. On Twitter, we are at Mahabharata Audio. The podcast is distributed under the Creative Commons non-commercial license. And now for some late breaking news, the podcast is also available as a book, Dwaparakatah, the stories of Mahabharata, published by Harper Collins, India.