Arjuna

Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, "bright", "shining", or "silver"), also bearing the epithets Phalgun, Jishnu, Keeriti, Shewetvaahan, Vibhatsu, Vijaya, Pārth, Savyasachinn, and Dhananjaya, among others, is one of the major heroes of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. The third of the five Pandava brothers, Arjuna was a master archer and played a pivotal role in the conflict between the Pandavas and their adversaries the Kauravas. He is most famous for his internal conflict described in the Bhagavadgita, a poem within the Mahabharata in which he is counselled by his charioteer Lord Krishna concerning the nature of the universe. His role in this text as well as the larger Mahabharata has marked Arjuna as a central mythological and theological figure in Hinduism.

Arjuna in the Mahabharata

Birth

Before Arjuna's birth, Pandu, putative father of the Pandavas, was unable to sire a child because of a curse which rendered him unable to have sexual relations. He and his first wife Kunti decided to make use of a boon she had been given by the sage Durvasa much earlier on in her maiden days, which enabled her to invoke any god of her choice in order to beget said deity's child. Kunti invoked the gods Yama, Vayu and Indra in turn and gave birth to three sons. Arjuna was the third son, born of Indra, the warrior king of the devas. As the son of Indra, Arjuna is said to have been well-built and extremely handsome, with a proclivity for combat no doubt acquired from his father.

Accordingly, the foundation for Arjuna's career as a warrior was laid at a young age. He was an diligent student of the combative arts, learning everything that his guru Dronacharya could teach him, and attaining early on the status of "Maharathi" or outstanding warrior. He was particularly skilled in archery, with much of his proficiency attributable to his habit of practicing in the dark. As Dronacharya's best pupil, Arjuna received instruction in the use of the Brahmasira, an immensely powerful weapon of mass destruction. Despite his skill, when Arjuna tested his prowess in a competition, he was defeated by Karna, who, unbeknowingst to Arjuna, is the sixth Pandava brother, abandoned by Kunti at birth.

Marriage

Arjuna's skill in archery proved to have an unlikely utility when it won him the hand of Draupadi, his first wife. Draupadi was the daughter of Drupada, king of Panchala, who held a contest for the purpose of choosing a suitable match for his daughter. Contestants were required to string a heavy bow and then use it to hit the eye of a wooden fish rotating above a pool of water. They were allowed to take aim at the eye of the fish only by looking at its reflection in the pool of water. Many princes and noblemen vied for the hand of the princess of Panchala; Some, including Karna, were disqualified on grounds of supposedly low birth. However, Arjuna avoided this stipulation by dressing prudently as a high-caste Brahmin and was allowed to compete, going on to win the hand of Draupadi.

All five Pandava brothers had attended the tournament without informing their mother about it. As they returned home in triumph, princess Draupadi in tow, they shouted to their mother from outside the house so she could observer their winnings. Busy with her work, Kunti refused to be baited and dismissed them by saying "whatever it is, share it between yourselves equally, and do not quarrel over the matter". So seriously did the brothers take the command of their mother that they agreed upon making Draupadi their common wife. In spite of the fact she had marryied all five brothers, Draupadi loved Arjuna the most and always favoured him over the others; likewise, Arjuna loved Draupadi more than his three other wives Chitrangada, Ulupi and Subhadra whom he would accumulate later in life.

The brothers agreed upon a number of protocols governing their relations with Draupadi. One of the foremost points of this agreement was that no brother would disturb the couple when another brother was alone with Draupadi. The penalty for doing so was a year of exile. Once, when the Pandavas were still ruling over a prosperous Indraprastha, a brahmin came in great agitation to Arjuna and sought his help, informing him of a pack of cattle-thieves had seized his herd. Arjuna was thrust into a dilemma: his weaponry was in the room where Draupadi and Yudhishthira were alone together for the night, and disturbing them would incur the penalty he had agreed upon earlier. Arjuna hesitated for but a moment; for in his mind he knew that coming to the aid of a subject in distress, especially a brahmin, was the raison d'etre of a prince. The prospect of exile did not deter him from fulfilling the duty of aiding the brahmin, and so he disturbed the conjugal couple, took up his weaponry and rode forth to subdue the cattle-thieves. Once he had finished the task, he insisted upon going away on exile, despite opposition from his entire family including the two people whom he had disturbed.

Obtaining the Gandiva

Arjuna was banished to exile for twelve years. Over the course of this time he travelled, and, in addition to meeting his three additional wives during this time, he also consolidated his relationship with his cousin Krishna. Shortly after his return to Indraprastha, Krishna accompanied Arjuna on his visit to the Khandava forest. Here they encountered Agni, the fire-god, who was faced with the task of burning down the forest in order to relieve a sickness from which he was suffering. Agni asked for their help in consuming the forest in its entirety, since he had failed repeatedly at the task because Takshaka the serpent-king, a friend of Indra, had been residing in it. In each of the fire-god's previous attempts to burn down the forest, Indra caused rain to fall. Arjuna told Agni that although he has been well-trained in the divine weapons, he must possess an exceptionally powerful bow to withstand the power of his father. Agni then invoked Varuna, who gave Arjuna the Gandiva, an unbreakable bow, which affords its user sure victory in battle and plays a significant role in Arjuna's later battles. Additionally, Varuna also gave Arjuna a divine chariot, with powerful white horses that never tire and can withstand wounds by earthly weapons. Arjuna instructed Agni to proceed, and meanwhile took up a duel with his father Indra. The ensuing battle lasted several days and nights, until finally a voice from the sky proclaimed Arjuna and Krishna the victors, and told Indra to withdraw. And so, the forest was burnt and Agni was sated.

In Exile

While the forest burnt, Arjuna chose to spare one asura by the name of Maya, a gifted architect. Once Yudhisthira, eldest of the five Pandava brothers, was crowned emperor of India after conquering the country in its entirety, it was Maya built him a magnificent royal hall as a token of his gratitude. This hall triggered Duryodhana's envy, and seeing this Duryodhana’s uncle Shakuni concocted a ruse to destroy the Pandavas. Shakuni invites over the Pandavas to his abode and he wins everything from Yudhishthira in a game of dice, including himself, his brothers and Draupadi, through the use of a trick. In the wake of their victory, the Kauravas dishonoured their cousins and even attempted to disrobe Draupadi in front of the entire court, an embarrassment from which she is saved only by the grace of Lord Krishna. When the elders intervene and order that everything be returned to the Pandavas, Shakuni forces the brothers into another game of dice, and he wins again. This time, the Pandavas and their common wife are forced into exile for 13 years as a condition of their loss, and on the 13th year they must remain hidden. Had they been discovered by the Kauravas during this time, the Pandavas would be forced into exile for another 13 years.

Arjuna's training during this period prepared him for the war to come. During the fifth year of their exile, Arjuna left the others and ventured to the Himalayas to do penance to Lord Shiva for purposes of obtaining the Pasupata, Shiva's personal indefensable weapon. Arjuna's penance is stretched over a long period of time until finally Shiva is satisfied and appeared before him as a motley hunter. The hunter challenged Arjuna to a duel, which he accepted, and an intense battle followed, during which Arjuna realized the hunter's true identity. Immediatly, Arjuna fell before Shiva's feet, and the god subsequently granted Arjuna knowledge of the Pasupata.

After obtaining this powerful weapon, proceeded to the heavenly realm of Indraloka to spend time with his biological father, and also to acquire further training from the devas. Additionally, he suppressed the Nivatakavachas and Kalakeyas, two powerful asura clans which had obtained boons from Brahma so as to be undefeatable by the gods. Arjuna, being a mortal man, readily destroyed them with his training. During his time in Indraloka, Arjuna was also propositioned by the apsara (nymph) Urvashi. Because Urvashi had once borne a son named Ayus who was a distant forbear of Arjuna, he regarded Urvashi as he would his mother and reminded her of this connection while rejecting her advances. Urvashi grew annoyed at this rejection and in her chagrin cursed Arjuna with impotence. Upon receiving rebuke from Indra, Urvashi modified her curse so it would last only one year, a year of Arjuna's choosing, at that.

This curse proved fortuitous, and Arjuna used it as a very effective disguise for the duration of the thirteenth year he spent in exile along with his brothers and Draupadi in the court of Virāta under the pseudonym Brihannala. At the end of this year, Arjuna single-handedly defeated a Kaurava host that had invaded Virāta's kingdom. In appreciation of this valour, and having been appraised of the true identity of the Pandavas, King Virāta offered the hand of his daughter Uttarā to Arjuna. Arjuna demurred on grounds of age as well as the fact that Uttarā had become like a daughter to him while he tutored her in song and dance. He proposed that Uttarā should marry his young son Abhimanyu instead, and the wedding duly took place.

Arjuna at War

Upon finishing the period of their exile, the Pandavas sought the return of their kingdom from the Kauravas, who refused to honour the terms of their agreement. This caused a war to break out. However, Krishna in his personal capacity gives the warring sides a choice: they can be given the benefit of either his personal counsel or of his army. Arjuna chooses the companionship of Krishna while the Kauravas choose the mighty army. Thus, Krishna becomes Arjuna's personal charioteer during the 18-day war and protects Arjuna upon numerous occasions from injury and death.

The Bhagavad Gita

To begin with, Arjuna is reluctant to take part in battle, an internal conflict which provides the central problem of the Bhagavad Gita or "Song of God", a dialogical poem between Arjuna and Krishna self-contained within the larger body of the Mahabharata text. Riding into the Kurukshetra battlefield upon his chariot piloted by Krishna, Arjuna looks upon the faces of his Kaurava cousins and is filled with trepidation:

There saw Arjuna standing fathers and grandfathers, teachers, uncles, brothers, sons and grandsons as also companions.

And also fathers-in-law and friends in both the armies. When the son of Kunti (Arjuna) saw all these kinsmen thus standing arrayed

He was overcome with great compassion and uttered this in sadness;

When I see my own people arrayed and eager for fight O Krishna,

My limbs quail, my mouth goes dry, my body shakes and my hair stands on end.

The Gandiva slips from my hand and my skin too is burning all over. I am not able to stand steady. My mind is reeling.

Because of the slaughter he knew he would cause in the enemy ranks, including many of his own relatives, Arjuna lays down his arms and decides that he will not enter the battlefield. Krishna uses the following seventeen chapters of the Gita to counsel Arjuna and convince him that the difficulties he is experiencing are merely delusions, and that he has no choice but to fight. The godly charioteer explains that the nature of the soul is eternal, and while Arjuna may kill the fleshly bodies of his relatives, their souls will live on forever. In addition, Krishna also expounds for Arjuna the importance of following caste duties without consideration of personal loss — since Ajuna is a member of the warrior caste, it is his duty to fight without question. The discharge of one's moral duty, Krishna says, supersedes all other pursuits in life, whether spiritual and material. Later on in the dialouge, Krishna reveals that he is indeed an incarnation of God, and manifests his full divinity to Arjuna. By the conclusion of the dialouge in the eighteenth chapter, Arjuna has accepted his duty and enters the battle to fight, essaying a vastly important role in the winning of the war by the Pandavas. Distilling virtually all the major teachings of the various Hindu schools, the Gita has been and is one of, if not the most important scriptures in the entire Hindu canon.

The slaying of Jayadratha

Another memorable battle came about after the strongest warriors of the Kaurava Army collaborated to attack Abhimanyu when he was exhausted and weaponless. Arjuna held the Sindhu king Jayadratha, husband of Dushala, the sister of the Kaurava brothers, principally responsible for the attack, and pledges to end his own life if he fails to kill Jayadratha by the end of the day. Arjuna goes on to kill an entire platoon comprised of more than 100,000 of Jayadratha's soldiers. In the climactic moment of this battle, the sun is close to setting and thousands of warriors still separate Arjuna from Jayadratha. Seeing his friend's plight, Lord Krishna raises his Sudarshana Chakra into the sky and covers the Sun, giving everyone on the battlefield the impression that the sun has set. The Kaurava warriors prematurely rejoice over Arjuna's defeat and imminent death, and Jayadratha is exposed. Upon the Lord's urging, Arjuna lets loose a powerful arrow and decapitates Jayadratha, avenging the death of his son.

Showdown with Karna

Karna, Arjuna's childhood rival and uterine brother, also grew to become a formidable warrior, although he aligned himself with the Kauravas. Their rivalry only grew when Karna played an indirect albeit significant role in the murder of Arjuna's son Abhimanyu upon the battlefield. Their personal vendetta reaches its climax when they meet in a battle of immense proportions on the seventeenth day of battle. For hours and hours powerful weapons are discharged by the two warriors at terrifying pace without relent. Looking on, millions of other soldiers marvel at the prowess of the combatants. Realizing that he cannot kill Arjuna by any means, Karna takes out his powerful snake arrow in order to gain the advantage. However, Lord Krishna intervenes and rescues his devotee Arjuna at this crucial juncture, allowing Arjuna to send a barrage of arrows at Karna and wound him severely. Krishna urges Arjuna to kill Karna, reminding Arjuna of Karna's ruthlessness against Abhimanyu, and Arjuna complies.

This act of fratricide was committed while still in ignorance of Arjuna's true relationship with his fifth brother. After Karna's death, Kunti informs the Pandavas of the long-kept secret that she was Karna's mother, and that he was actually the eldest of the Pandava brothers. This elicits much grief from the Pandavas. Yudhisthira is particularly incensed upon learning that his mother had kept Karna's true identity from him and his brothers, and he cursed all women, stating that from that day forward they would never be able to keep secrets.

Later Years

After the conclusion of the war, the Pandavas take charge of Hastinapura, the undivided realm of their ancestors. Their great victory and the political power it affords them gives them the confidence to hazard a further venture: the performance of the Asvamedha Yagna, or "horse sacrifice", whereafter one of them may assume the title of Chakravarti or "Emperor". The sacrifice required that after preliminary rituals, a horse is let loose to wander where it will. The kings upon whose lands the horse wanders have a choice: they may either accept the master of the horse (in this case, Yudishthira, eldest of the Pandavas) as their own lord and offer their submission to him, or they may offer resistance and wage war. Arjuna leads the armed host which follows the horse around its random wanderings. Over the years, he has occasion to receive the submission of many tribes and kingdoms, sometimes using armed force, sometimes using none. Thus, he was instrumental in the expansion of the Pandava domains. In course of time, the aging Pandava brothers including Arjuna decide to renounce the world. They entrust the kingdom to Parikshita, the son of the deceased Abhimanyu and grandson of Arjuna who represents the sole surviving dynast of the entire Kuru clan, then they retire to the Himalayas and eventually depart the world.

Significance

Arjuna is perhaps the most important human figure in Hindu mythology. Wholesome, devoted and magnanimous, he bears all the most valuable qualities of a human being. His theological significance is also immense. In his dialouge with Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, wherein the nature of the universe is unravelled for him, Arjuna embodies the qualities of the ideal student. His willingness to accept the word of Krishna, even though it involves raising his weapons against his kinfolk, illustrates his ideal devotion to God. Together, the inseperable friendship between Krishna and Arjuna represent the cosmic inseperability of Brahman and atman, or the essence of the universe and the soul, one of the fundamental ideas of Hinduism. In a more general sense of comparative myth, Arjuna also stands as the archetypal reluctant hero, who is called to a task of great import and initially shirks his duty, only to reconsider and perform his task with unmatched effectiveness. As such, Arjuna is a hero not only for Hindus but also for the entirety of humanity.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Hiltebeitel, Alf. "Arjuna" in Encyclopedia of Religion. Edited by Mercia Eliade. New York: MacMillan Publishing, 1987. pp. 412-413. ISBN 0029098505
• Katz, Ruth Cecily. Arjuna in the Mahabharata: Where Krishna is, There is victory. Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press, 1989. ISBN 0872495426
• Segal, Robert A. "Arjuna (India): Reluctant Hero". In Hero myths: a reader. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 2000. 168-172. ISBN 063121514X
• Theosophical Publishing. The Weakness of Arjuna. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2005. ISBN 1425459137

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