Mahabharata Characters 43 – Arjuna 05 – Heaven hath no fury like a woman scorned

This talk is a part of the “Fascinating Mahabharata Characters” series. To know more about this course, please visit: bhakticourses.com

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. Welcome back to the Mahabharata character series. We are now discussing about Arjuna’s ascent to the heavens.
Arjuna got blessings from Lord Shiva and Lokpala has also blessed him and Indra told him that Maithili will come. And Arjuna ascended the chariot which Maithili had brought and started moving up towards the sky and as he was going upwards he saw many of the kings, famous kings from the past who had lived dharmic Kshatriya lives and had died. They had attained shining celestial bodies and abodes in the heavenly planets.
And then he marched upwards as he was going. Nandharvas and Apsaras were singing the glories of Arjuna welcoming him to the heavens. And then he was as he entered into the heavens he saw Amravati, a splendorous abode with such prosperity of the likes which had never been seen by human eyes.
Magnificent palaces with jewels and lapis lazuli and other kinds of precious stones laid everywhere. And he went right into the palace. When he went into the palace Indra was there waiting and Indra welcomed him and Indra took him and sat him right on his own throne next to him and then he put his hand on his shoulders and gently massaged his back proud of his son and his heroic accomplishments.
And as Indra invited Arjuna to stay there and he told him that one by one I will give you the knowledge of all my celestial weapons and with these celestial weapons you will be able to become undefeatable. As Arjuna lived over there in the heavens taking in the opulence, the heavenly atmosphere, his thoughts often went back to his brothers who were still living in the forest in austerity. And then he remembered the insults that the Kauravas had done and despite being in the forest he still felt, despite being in the heavens he still felt no joy.
He was longing for the time of the exile to end so that he could get back the kingdom. If the Kauravas did not give it fairly then he would fight and get it. And as he learned the skills one by one, every single weapon that he learned to fight his joy increased and with that his confidence, his anticipation increased.
And Indra had an assistant Chitrasena and Chitrasena became a friend and mentor of Arjuna in the heavens and he told Chitrasena, Indra told Chitrasena that train Arjuna in dancing and singing. He was a Gandharva, a Gandharva was an expert at dancing and singing and so Arjuna did his will although he wondered why Indra was asking him to learn such a thing. He had come to heavens to learn fighting.
Why would he need to learn dancing and singing? But he knew that Indra as the head of the gods knew far more than what he needed, what he knew and he must have some plan so he accepted it. So in the Mahabharata we will see that Indra is portrayed in a very respect, in a very positive and respectful way. In the Bhagavatam for example Indra’s portrayal may be of a person who is very proud and because of his pride he challenges Indra, he challenges Krishna and he tries to destroy the Vrajavasis through torrential rains at Govardhan.
In the Bhagavatam is primarily a scripture about Bhakti and with respect to Bhakti, Karmakanda is not at all important and therefore those characters who signify success in Karmakanda they are not considered very important and one such character is Indra. So the Bhagavatam’s depiction of Indra will be from the point of view of how Bhakti is far superior to Karmakanda and therefore even the greatest successes in Karmakanda are of not much value from the point of view of Bhakti. So now Indra is in one sense the ultimate success in Karmakanda because one who follows Indra, such a person or one who does a lot of Karmakanda sacrifices and does them very very well, only such a person can become Indra eventually.
So in fact Indra, just attaining the abode of Indra is considered to be the highest, is one of the greatest aspirations of those who are Karmakandis and Krishna also talks about him, about them in the 9th chapter 20th verse and he says that, that he says that that they desire Swarga and then Ashnanti Divyan, Divideva Bhogan, Divyan, they enjoy divine delights. It says this is divine doesn’t necessarily refer to transcendental. It refers to, here it refers to higher, heavenly.
So Divideva Bhogan, they enjoy in this way and by this enjoying they delight. So as they delight in this way, now the Mahabharata is simultaneously a Karmakandi scripture at one level where it depicts the progress of success of Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha and at the same time when we see the Pandavas as pure devotees, it can also be seen as a Bhakti scripture. But within the Mahabharata’s own storyline, Indra is portrayed in a very respectful way.
Arjuna is very deferential to Indra. He says Indra is the head of the gods and he knows much better than what is best for me. So he must be having some plan.
And here we see Arjuna’s trust in Indra and Indra’s farsighted plan in another dramatic incident which also reveals the glory of Indra. So actually, Arjuna stayed in heaven accepting the hospitality of Indra and learning various celestial weapons from him for five years during the exile. During this time, the Pandavas, the remaining Pandavas went to Badrik ashram and they were staying in Badrik ashram.
And Bhima had his various adventurous encounters with the Yakshas and with Kubera also. So, towards the end of this period, when Indra knew that Arjuna would return, he called Chitra Singh and he said that, I have seen that whenever there are the Apsaras, the celestial dancers who dance in the courtyard, court of Indra for his pleasure, so the chief among them is Urvashi, extremely captivating, very, very beautiful. And he says, I have seen that whenever she dances, Arjuna watches her with a special eye.
So I would like you to go to Urvashi and speak words in praise of Arjuna to her and then ask her to go and see Arjuna at night. And Chitra Singh immediately departed and he told Urvashi, I have come, been sent by Indra and there is one male who is presently in the heavens as a guest whose fame is spread far and wide, his valor, his handsomeness, his chivalry, though the glories of that are sung far and wide. And Indra has said that he is also attracted to you.
So he requests that you go and attend to him. So Urvashi heard this, he says, yes, I have seen how Arjuna looks at me and I have heard about his glories. Which woman will not be attracted to such a man? Oh, Chitra Singh, you can go wherever you like.
For tonight, I will go to Arjuna’s place. Saying this, Chitra Singh departed. Hearing this, Urvashi, Chitra Singh departed thinking that his mission was successful.
And that night, Urvashi bathed herself and decorated herself with garlands and ornaments and perfumes and then dressed herself in diaphanous clothes in which her beauty was partially concealed and partially revealed in a way that would take away the minds even of the rishis. And as she went through the various celestial roadways from her own residence to the palace where Arjuna was living, her beauty seemed to surpass the beauty of the moon in the sky. And she had the capacity to drive even the most austere people crazy just by her captivating beauty.
So she went and knocked at Arjuna’s chambers and Arjuna himself came out and he saw that Urvashi had come. He was anxious and he immediately invited her in and he asked her, Oh celestial lady, what can I do for you? He saw her and he saw the way she was dressed and immediately he turned his eyes away out of modesty, closing them. And he said that, Oh lady, whatever you tell me, I will do.
I am your servant. Urvashi was delighted. She figured out that my mission is already successful.
He said that, you know, ever since I saw you, my heart has been captivated by Cupid. With a desire for you. And Indra has told me that you have also been looking at me and I have noticed that also.
So Indra has asked me to come and attend to you. So please relieve me of the longing of Cupid and unite with me. Arjuna became grave.
He says, Oh no, he says, you are like a mother to me. I cannot even conceive of such a thing. So Urvashi became annoyed and she said that how can you speak such a thing to me? He says, do not be such a prude.
Actually, you are attracted to me. Why are you denying this? Even Indra has seen, even your father has seen how you look at me. And that’s why he has sent me here.
So Arjuna, he remained grave and he said that, actually, yes, I did see you in a special way. But you misunderstand the specialness. He said, long ago, I know my ancestor Pururava was attracted to you.
And your beauty charmed him so much that he was completely lost in affection for you. So and it is from his union with you that our dynasty was eventually born. So I saw you as one of my ancestors.
And as a mother of my ancestors, I look at you with keen interest. But you should not think of me in any other way. So he said, I think of you just like a mother.
In fact, a mother of my ancestors. So Urvashi said that, we heavenly beings are not bound by such morality. In the past, I have consorted with others of the Kuru dynasty and there is no sin involved.
So when you are in heaven, there are no such rules. So actually, the rules of morality vary according to time, place, circumstance. And although in heaven also there is dharma, but because people have done a lot of punya and after that they have gone to heaven, so there is greater freedom and facility given to people over there for their bhoga.
So for their bhoga, they have greater facility. And one of those greater facilities is the facility to have relationships with beyond what are allowed or sanctioned according to dharma on earth. So that just punya gives a falla of having greater bhoga.
So there are limits, but the limits are much broader. So Arjuna said, oh no, gentle one. He said that, I have looked at you as a mother and that is how I will always look at you.
Please, as you protect your own son, please protect me. Indeed, as I see Kunti or Madri or Shachi as a mother, so I do see you. And he became firm and he said, hear this as I speak this clearly and let the walls also hear this that there is no other way I can see you.
And I seek your protection as a son seeks the protection of his mother. When Arjuna spoke so firmly, Urvashi became wild with anger. There is a saying by English playwright, he says that, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
So that means that a woman who feels that she has been rejected by a man for a woman to offer herself is itself a difficult thing for a woman to do. And when she does that and then when a man rejects her advances, then it is extremely demeaning for a woman feels extremely demeaned, humiliated and she becomes enraged and she wants to take revenge. For that mortification.
So normally women feel that men should woo them to attract them so that they can have a relationship with them. And that is the normal way of the world. But if a woman who offers herself and then is not accepted, that is intolerable often for the woman.
So now it is not only hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but even in this case, heaven had no fury like a woman scorned. So she became angry and she said, Oh Arjuna, you are behaving in an extremely unmanly way. Even no man should reject a woman who has come to him in need.
An Indian Kshatriya should not do that. And I have come not just because of my desire, but also on the instruction of your father. And because you are refusing me and you are acting in this unmanly way, I curse you that you will lose your manliness.
You will become a eunuch and you will have to live among women as a dancer who without your manliness. So saying this, she turned and walked away in a huff. Now Arjuna was shocked.
In one sense for a man to lose his manhood is among the worst nightmares. Now many people, if they become in any way sexually impotent, they can go to any extremes to try to regain their potency. Somehow or the other, take some medicines, do some surgeries and so many things people try to do.
So Arjuna, it may seem that he had acted according to principles and it was such a difficult thing to do. Not just any woman, but the most beautiful Apsara in heavens offers herself and to say no for the cause of dharma, one would expect that one would be rewarded for such an act of sense control. But far from being rewarded, Arjuna is punished and punished in the most mortifying way.
So when this happened, Arjuna started thinking gravely about it. Surely Indra must have known about this. And yet he allowed this to happen.
There must be some plan behind it. So Arjuna quickly went to Chitrasen and he told him all that had happened. And Chitrasen went to Indra and conveyed everything.
And Indra summoned Arjuna. When Arjuna came there, Arjuna said that, indeed, he says, your mother Kunti is always proud to have a son like you who never deviates from the path of dharma. Indeed, your sense control, oh Arjuna, is greater than that even of the great rishis.
What you have done today is extremely difficult to achieve for anyone. And now Arjuna, he did not want to hear all this glorification. He was more concerned about the curse that had come about.
So seeing his anxiety, Indra said that do not worry, Apartha. Whatever has happened is for your good. The curse that Urvashi has given, that will be temporary.
And towards the end of your exile in the last one year, you have to stay as incognito. And for you who have been a world defeating world champion archer, it will be very difficult for you to stay unrecognized. Therefore, this curse of Urvashi will act as your concealing device.
So your arrangement for concealing your identity will be through this, facilitated by this curse. So you will act as a eunuch and you will serve the daughter of King Virat as a dance teacher and live without your manhood for one year. And at the end of the year, when you come out of the Gyanatvas, your manhood will appear once again.
So do not be in anxiety. And Indra told Arjuna, actually, the feat that you have accomplished is extraordinary. And you should be proud of it, not disturbed by it, not ashamed of it.
And he said, now it is time for you to return back to the earth. And he called Maithili, he told Maithili to take Arjuna back. But he told Arjuna that… Arjuna asked actually before that, he says, can I do something for you? I have learned so many celestial weapons from you and you are my Guru.
So I would like to offer some Guru Dakshina to you. Please tell me what Guru Dakshina can I offer to you? So when Arjuna heard, when Arjuna spoke thus, Indra said, yes, there are certainly many Zanivad Kavachas who are actually troubling us for a very, very long time. And Arjuna, no one but you can defeat them.
So please go forth with Maithili, will go with you. And this will be an opportunity for you to use to your fullest extent the military skills that you have learned. And with these military skills, when you exhibit to do the work of the Gods and kill the Zanivad Kavachas, then by that, you will have repaid in full the debt that you owe to me as your teacher.
So Arjuna immediately bowed down before Indra and grateful that he would have this opportunity to do this service, he departed. His mind which had been in anxiety since the incident with Urvashi became calm with the reassurance of Indra. So the battle with the Zanivad Kavachas is also one of the stupendous battles in the Mahabharata.
But before that, let’s look back at Arjuna’s stay in heaven. The Kshatriya morality may seem a little confusing for people. If you say that Kshatriya can marry many women, can have polygamous relationships, is not meant to refuse a woman when she asks for shelter.
This might seem to be a very convenient arrangement for enjoyment. But there is responsibility within it. And Arjuna, he had many wives and we discussed how Draupadi, then Subhadra, then Udupi, then Chitrangada.
So he had many wives, but although he had many wives, all those wives were taken within the principles of Dharma and he provided for all of them also adequately, whatever is expected to do. So he took a decision based on his understanding of Dharma that Urvashi was not someone he could unite with. Despite all temptations, he stood by those principles.
He did not weaken his resolve just because of some temptation or just because of some justification, rationalization, which was actually offered by Urvashi to give in to that temptation. So Arjuna was not only a great hero in terms of fighting the outer war against enemies, but he was also a great hero in terms of fighting against the inner war within. The inner war actually is the bigger war.
The outer war, some of us have to fight as soldiers and metaphorically, all of us have to fight against worldly problems. But the inner war is something which all of us have to fight. We all have our lower side, the lust, the anger, the greed within us and it all causes us to do things which we know are wrong.
And when Arjuna asked this question in the Bhagavad Gita, he asked, by what is man impelled to do wrong activities as if by force? So at that time, Krishna says it is 3.36 Arjuna’s and 3.37 Krishna answers. It is lust only. So Arjuna, when we think of Arjuna as a shivaloka kshatriya and we may think of him as a pure devotee, is it that he has no desire? When a person is in a bodily state, naturally there is desire.
So Arjuna, he felt desire when he saw Subhadra. He felt desire when he saw Chitrangada. But that desire, he never allowed it to cross the limits of dharma.
And naturally, when he saw Urvashi, it was his educated vision. So this is an excellent example of Matravata Paradhaar issue that actually women other than one’s wives are meant to be seen as mothers and mothers are not meant to be exploited for one’s sexual pleasure. So Arjuna, he sets the standard of not succumbing to temptation.
And because of not succumbing to temptation, he develops great power. So sometimes it may appear to us that because sometimes when we resist temptations and we may expect that we’ll be rewarded, but to the contrary, because of resisting temptations, we get into trouble. But actually, we should know that in the long run, things will work out better for us.
Maybe we may be working in a company somewhere where everybody drinks, everybody does wrong activities, and somebody who doesn’t join in those activities, that person may be called as a prude. You know, a person who is too stuffy to socialize with. And we may feel that I’ll become isolated by this.
But actually, many people who indulge in drinks or indulge in other activities, they know that through these they’re wasting their time, they’re wasting their life. And but somehow, when the desire comes, they’re not able to say no. They may portray externally as if, oh, we are enjoying this and we are choosing to enjoy life this way.
But internally, repeated enjoyment, especially unrestricted enjoyment, which is not governed by the principles of dharma, that chips away at the meaningfulness of life. No, just enjoyment, enjoyment, enjoyment. When enjoyment becomes the purpose of life, life becomes purposeless.
When enjoyment becomes the purpose of life, it becomes the sole purpose of life. And by enjoyment, I mean material enjoyment. Then life eventually becomes purposeless.
A person thinks, I’ll take one drink, I’ll take second drink, I’ll take third drink, or somebody says, I’ll watch TV. The person says, I’ll watch, there’s so many enjoyable programs, I’ll watch TV for the rest of my life. This person becomes bored with it.
So the enjoyment as the purpose of life will make life purposeless. So, but still the enjoyment keeps pulling a person, pulling a person and dragging the person down. Now, we can see this in a very gross way in somebody who becomes alcoholic or a drug addict, somebody for whom the attachment to pleasure becomes an addiction.
And such a person just can’t break free from it. And then we can see that how a person is wasting time, wasting money, and wasting the, destroying the health and wasting the life actually. You can see how life is becoming purposeless.
But that happens at some level with others also. So that’s why there is a regulation of dharma. And enjoyment is not denied in the Vedic culture.
Dharma artha kama moksha. All four are important. And kama is also given its due place.
But kama has to be regulated according to dharma. And Arjuna exhibits through his example how the regulation should be there. And so even in a society where if we have to refuse someone because of our principles and that person becomes angry and that person has the power to harm us, but still if we stay according to our principles, eventually things will work out well for us.
Just as initially when Urvashi cursed Arjuna, Arjuna would have felt it was a reversal. But then eventually that reversal worked out to be a benediction for him, which enabled him to stay incognito in the last year. So people, even if they call us names when we live according to principles, they will actually internally respect us.
Respect us because they know this person is a person of principles and this person lives in a way that we can’t live. You know, pleasure drives are too strong in pulling us away. So they will respect us.
And eventually they will, if we stay principle centred, they will follow us. So initially they may deride us, they may neglect us, but they will respect us and they will eventually follow us. So giving up principles for the sake of pleasure is the formula to a purposeless life.
And giving up pleasure for the sake of principles is the pathway to a purposeful life. And Arjuna shows through his example how such a purposeful life is to be led. His purpose was to live according to dharma and to assist his brother Yudhishthir in establishing a kingdom based on dharma for the glorification of Krishna.
So how Arjuna continued in this illustrious course of life by serving Indra and ridding the universe of the nivāt-kavachas, we’ll discuss in our next session. Thank you.