Mahabharata Characters 44 – Arjuna 07 – Singlehanded triumph over the Nivatkavachas and Kalakanyas

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.
Hare Krishna. Welcome back to the Mahabharata character series. We’re discussing the character of Arjuna.
And Arjuna is Indagāvaprihanalla. In the last year of their exile, Arjuna, Vihanala has taken the role of Bhuminjay, Virata’s son’s charioteer, and they have marched out to fight with the Kurus. So as Bhuminjay marched out, he was bragging to everyone about his power.
But as the battle went on, as he marched towards the battle, he just went straight, straight, straight. Now this battle would never take place in the main city because civilians would not be wounded. And it was outskirts.
And that was the same area where the Pandavas had kept their weapons. Now Bhuminjay, as he approached the war field and he saw in the distance, his mouth fell open. He said, these warriors look like elephants and their army is as far as the horizon goes.
I can barely see the end of the army. He says, I am but a boy. I have not fought in wars.
I’m not trained for this. I’m all alone. And I cannot fight such a war.
He said, oh Bhrunala, turn around. Let us go back. I cannot fight like this.
So when he spoke, Sarjana said, oh before men and women, you have spoken that you will fight and you will attain victory. Your duty as a Kshatriya is to fight and to never turn away from battle. What face will you show to your relatives and family members? Bhuminjay was frantic.
And he said, let men and women laugh at me. Let my father chastise me. Let everyone else criticize me.
He says, I don’t care. First, when he expressed his fear, when he saw that Duryodhana was not ready to change then his mind, then he said, oh take me back immediately and I will give you profuse awards. I’ll give you horses, elephants, gold.
Just take me away from here immediately. And when he saw still his charity was not ready, Bhuminjay became so frantic with anxiety that he just jumped off his chair and started running away. And as he was running away, Arjuna told him, oh hero, what will happen to your fame if you run like this? He says, fame is useful only for a person who is living.
Prosperity and wealth and every pleasure, all are possible only where there is life. He said, what is the point? And he started running away. So seeing this, Arjuna jumped down from his chariot and ran after him and he caught him firmly and dragged him back.
And as he dragged him back, he caught him under the chariot and he said, what are you doing? I cannot fight with them. So Arjuna was firm and he said, if you cannot fight, then let us swap positions. You become the charioteer, I’ll become the warrior.
So this was even more shocking for Bhuminjay. He said, you, how can you fight? Hero, you look. So Arjuna did not speak anything.
He just called him. He said, I’ll fight, don’t worry. And seeing, you know, he saw that now when he saw Arjuna’s courage and then look at his physical dimensions, his physical, his confidence, he said, OK.
He just did not say anything. He just took the chariot along and then Arjuna took him right next to the tree, part of which the weapons were kept. And then he said, climb up.
Climb up and there are weapons. And there, there is a Pandava weapon. And among them, there’s a bow as big as the man.
And that can withstand even celestial weapons. He says, the kind of fight that we will be having, your bow will not be able to withstand the weapons that I’ll be using. So get that weapon, get that Gandiva bow.
So Bhuminjaya looked up at the tree and he said, I’ve heard that the local people say that there is actually a corpse over there. How do you expect me to climb up and touch a corpse? So he said, it’s not a corpse. It’s actually the Pandava’s weapons.
So he went up and when Arjuna said like this, he finally went up and he got and he saw the weapons. He was stunned. He said, I’ve never seen weapons like this.
What effulgence, what style, what grandeur. Are these really the Pandava’s weapons? Then where are the Pandava’s? Indeed, why have they left their weapons like this over here? And as he was speaking this, a thought was entering into his mind, this feeling, that question going deeper, bigger. And then he turned around and he said, where are the Pandava’s? And Arjuna smiled and he said, he identified, he said, Kanka is Yudhishthir, Vijaya is Bhima, and he told who Nakul, Sahadeva are.
And he says, I am Arjuna. Stunned, he said, you are Arjuna. You certainly have the body, but how is it possible? How can I believe that you, who are the greatest of Kshatriyas, would take the role of a eunuch? He said, if you really are Arjuna, tell me the ten names of Arjuna.
And then Arjuna told all those ten names with their meaning. And then he was stunned. He said, oh, you are Arjuna.
He fell at his feet. He says, how have you acted like a eunuch? Indeed, you deserve to be worshipped by me. And Arjuna said, get up and help me in this war.
If you act as a charioteer, then I will exhibit my prowess and I will protect your kingdom. So he said, he was so confident. He said, if you are there, then surely victory is assured.
And as he started moving towards the war there, he said, are these horses capable of fighting such a formidable war? He said, these horses are as good as the horses that drive Krishna’s chariot. And he says, I am also a great charioteer. Do not fear.
So now the charioteer was although not respectable as a Kshatriya, but still charioteer was also a respectable post. And for a Kshatriya to act as a charioteer was not unheard of because Kshatriya has to fight war. And what will the Kshatriya do if the charioteer is killed or dies, is unavailable.
The fight cannot be put off. So he said, yes, I can drive expertly as good as any charioteer in the world. And he says, I will lead you into the Kaurava army and you will streak through it.
Wrecking havoc to them. So then they marched towards. Now all this the Kauravas were observing.
And when they saw this eunuch-like man, they started suspecting, is this the bodily shape, the gait, the manner? It looks like Arjuna. Could it really be Arjuna? And when they saw Bhuminjaya running away, they understood what was happening. This prince had come out of foolhardiness and now has been overwhelmed by cowardice.
And so was going away. They started laughing. But when they saw Bhuminjaya being dragged back and then the swapping of the positions and they saw the giant bow from the distance.
Now the distance was, the arrow fight distance is quite significant. That thing is Arjuna. And then the detailed discussion that happened, we will discuss about that when Ashwathama’s character we discuss.
But here when he said, when they started suspecting who this might be, so then Arjuna twanged his bow and that twanging of the Gandiva was such a thunderous sound that the horses which were in front of him, the horses just collapsed on the ground and Bhuminjaya almost got knocked off his seat. And Arjuna told him, you are a heroic charioteer. You are born in a heroic family.
How can you get frightened by such sound? He said, I have many conches but nothing like this. So Arjuna told him, take heart. You will hear much more now.
You will see a battle, the kind of which has never been seen before. He felt enlivened and became ready to fight. And hearing that twang, the Kauravas understood that this is Arjuna.
And Duryodhana, actually some of the other Kauravas became anxious but Duryodhana started smiling. He said, if this is indeed Arjuna, then my work is done because you have detected him within, before the period of Ajnata or incognito exile is over. So he went over to Bhishma.
And Bhishma said that, actually, according to my calculations, the 13th year is over. And Arjuna had also calculated. That very day, their 13 years of exile had got over.
Now Duryodhana and Karna did not agree to this. Bhishma said, oh, Duryodhana, oh, now the Pandavas have lived in exile and they are always virtuous. And they will not fight unfairly.
So now you should give their kingdom back to them or that they appear. So Duryodhana was infuriated. He says, I will not give the kingdom.
I don’t believe that the period is over. Then you should be ready to fight. And then they all got ready to fight.
And then Kripa, Dronacharya suggested that, Duryodhana, there is no battle that is sure that you will, one side will be victorious. So better that you go away with half the army and you take the cows. And then we will fight with Duryodhana, with Arjuna.
So Duryodhana agreed and started going away. When Arjuna saw what was happening, Arjuna charged his chariot here, chariot right towards the Kaurava army. But as he was charging towards the Kaurava army, last moment, he turned and had his chariot charged towards Duryodhana.
And initially the Kauravas couldn’t understand. But Kripa was the first to understand what Arjuna was doing. And he said, oh, save the king.
He said, what will be the use of our whole army if the king is arrested or killed? And Arjuna is targeting right the king. Now Duryodhana was de facto the king. He was a prince, but he was de facto the king.
His rule was supreme and Duryodhana was like a nominal head. So immediately the army broke into two formations. It started reuniting.
Arjuna started shooting arrows at Duryodhana and then they all joined together. Now on the other side, Bhuminjaya first asked, who are all these warriors? And Arjuna introduced all of them, pointing out their flags and telling which flag belonged to whom. And he told them that whom should attack and whom should not attack.
So initially as Arjuna was ready to fight, so the most inimical towards him were the Kauravas headed by Duryodhana and Karna. So they were the first to attack. So the Kauravas attacked him and they attacked with such ferocity.
Now they were not the only person who were attacking. Other warriors were also attacking him simultaneously. But they were the head of the attack.
And as they attacked, Arjuna fought with them fiercely and he just overpowered them, wounded them and he would have killed them. But remembering Bhima’s vow that he would kill the hundred Kauravas, he spared them. And he kept fighting and checking the whole army and wounding them severely.
Seeing this formidable Maharatha on their side, Kshatruntapa came forward and he shot Arjuna with such force. For some time Arjuna was covered over by the arrows completely and he shot an arrow which pierced into Arjuna’s body and wounded him. Arjuna got enraged on seeing this.
And then he targeted his bow and arrow right towards Kshatruntapa and shot a series of arrows. He broke his chariot, killed his charioteer, killed his horses. And finally shot him dead.
As Kshatruntapa fell, a wail arose in the army and he started fleeing. Seeing this, Karna came forward to fight. And as Karna came forward to fight, he shot arrow after arrow after arrow at Arjuna.
Arjuna counted all his arrows and it seemed like this was a fight which would go on and on. Both of them were equally matched and sometimes Karna seemed to be getting the upper hand, sometimes Arjuna seemed to be getting the upper hand. And seeing the duel happening between the two of them, the other Kurus withdrew and watched the fight.
And at one particular time, Karna shot a series of arrows so fast that it penetrated and he wounded Arjuna. And seeing Arjuna wounded, the Kauravas started cheering Karna and jeering Arjuna. Arjuna hearing this became enraged and he attacked Karna fiercely.
And the ferocity and the velocity of the attack was such that Karna got wounded. Now gradually, now Karna had not taken the Shakti weapon and he had also lost his armor to Surya, we’ll discuss that later, to Indra. And he just could not counter it and he bit the whole, his chest, his arms, his face.
He became wounded and he just couldn’t, he was collapsing on the chariot and he withdrew and he fled. Just like one elephant who is defeated flees from another elephant. And then seeing this, getting angry, Duryodhana charged on Arjuna and Duryodhana fought fiercely and he was assisted by Dushyasana and others.
But Arjuna was in such an angry mood. Thirteen years he had been waiting for this fight. He had been waiting, waiting to vent out his anger at the Kauravas and he attacked them with full force.
And as he attacked them, Duryodhana got wounded and he fell back and other Kauravas also fled. As they fled, nobody could face him. And finally, as Arjuna shot his arrows and drove everyone away, one by one, Drona came over.
He saw the train in front of Drona and Arjuna offered his respects to Drona. Actually, right before the war had started, Arjuna had shot arrows right at the feet of Bhishma, Drona and Kripa. And Drona recognized, he says, Partha, on seeing his elders after a long time, is offering his respects to them.
And he said, beware of soldiers because the future arrows will not be offering respects. So Arjuna again offered his respects to Drona. And he said that, you know, we have, O preceptor, I offer my respects to you.
He says, we have honestly lived the sentence of our exile and now do not wish to fight unnecessarily. I will not attack you unless you attack me first, for such is the Kshatriya code. So Dronacharya did not reply, started shooting arrows.
Arjuna shot arrows. They fought and fought and fought. So the fight between the teacher and the disciple was extraordinary.
But Drona, feeling affection for Arjuna, exhibited only a part of his power. And Arjuna, while fighting with Drona, also was attacking, wounding and slaying many, many Kuru soldiers and warriors. Arjuna was unstoppable.
And as the fight went on between the Guru and disciple, it seemed as if it would just go on. But slowly, Arjuna started, Arjuna’s speed was such that Drona started becoming overwhelmed by arrows. And as he became overwhelmed by arrows, he became completely covered and he started getting wounded and he fell back.
And a roar of dismay arose inside of the Kauravas to see Drona fall back wounded and retreating. Seeing his father being bested, Ashwathama got enraged and he rode out a challenge. And Arjuna turned and started fighting with him.
Ashwathama was also a formidable warrior and he knew about Arjuna’s skill. But still he fought fiercely and fearlessly. And he shot arrows with such speed that it broke Arjuna’s ever twanging bow string.
And seeing this feat, because for an arrow to penetrate through Arjuna’s steady onslaught of arrows and actually get to the string itself was a significant achievement. Seeing this feat, the Kauravas cheered. Arjuna just laughed and quickly strung his bow again and he withstood Ashwathama’s assault.
And the fight went on and on and on. But after some time, Ashwathama, although he was an excellent warrior, he was no match to Arjuna. And his quiver got exhausted.
Arjuna’s quiver, by the grace of the gods, was inexhaustible. And Ashwathama, realizing that he was no match and his weapon had run out, he fell back and retreated. Karna, who had recovered from his wounds, came back again.
And again they had a fierce fight. Karna attacked Arjuna and he wounded him. But Arjuna kept fighting, fighting.
And then eventually he shot arrows with such force that they penetrated through Karna’s defences and he fell on his ground, fell on his chariot, almost unconscious. And he had to withdraw. And then Duryodhana came and along with him Vishasana and Karna also came.
So the Kauravas started coming one by one. But Arjuna overpowered all of them. And then eventually, as seeing this, everybody was being bestowed.
They all attacked him simultaneously. So as Arjuna turned towards Bhishma, seeing Bhishma in the distance, waiting for him, he smiled. And as he was about to attack Bhishma, simultaneously, so all the Kaurava warriors, Duryodhana, Karna, Kripa, Shalya, Ashwathama, all of them attacked.
Actually, Kripa had also been bested by Arjuna before. So they all attacked. And Arjuna, seeing this, he used Ayindrashtra.
And from one missile, hundreds of missiles came and they just became so forceful that all the other Kaurava warriors fell back. And then Bhishma alone remained. And Arjuna offered his respects to Bhishma.
And Bhishma smiled and he started shooting arrows. And then Arjuna and Bhishma fought fiercely. And as Arjuna and Bhishma kept fighting, fighting, fighting, then the fight seemed unending.
Arjuna wounded Bhishma. And Bhishma was initially fighting with some of his prowess only. But then he got angry and he started using mystical weapons.
And the mystical weapons were almost unstoppable. They came and started hitting Arjuna very fiercely. Arjuna fought.
And it seemed that the fight would never end. But then Arjuna used the Sammohanastra. Sammohanastra was such that from one weapon, it came hundreds and hundreds of weapons.
And not only hundreds and hundreds of weapons came, the weapons kept coming and coming and coming. And there was no ending. So Bhishma, although he used celestial weapons, this was a special weapon that Arjuna had got from the heavens.
So Bhishma had no such weapon. And Bhishma kept fighting against all the onslaught of the arrows that was coming, coming, coming. But still, this onslaught was just unending.
And eventually, the arrows were hitting Bhishma and piercing his body and wounding him. And as he fell back on his chariot and realizing that his chariot, realizing that he had almost lost his consciousness, he turned around and took him away. And Duryodhana saw actually that Bhishma himself had been humbled.
Just before this, when Arjuna had told, he had defeated all the other warriors and Bhishma was the last warrior was remaining. He told Bhuminjaya, take my chariot towards Bhishma. So Bhuminjaya said, oh, this fight is so fierce.
I have never seen anything like this. This is my mouth is drying. My limbs are completely exhausted.
I have no more strength remaining. I cannot keep fighting anymore. Even the sound itself of the twanging and the sound of the screams is all such that I have lost all my composure.
I cannot handle these choices anymore. So Arjuna solaced him and he said, oh, Bhuminjaya, you are a great prince. Remember God and by that remembrance, you will get strength.
The Lord is very pleased when even amidst difficulties, we do our duty. You already fought a formidable war and you handle chariot expertly. Yes, for some more time and then victory will be ours.
Persevere and you will get strength by remembering God. So when challenges seem very difficult and if we pray to God and remember Him, then He gives us strength. So that’s what happened.
Bhuminjaya kept fighting. Now Bhuminjaya was expertly wielding Arjuna’s chariot and seeing Bhishma also bested, Duryodhana was besides himself with rage and he charged upon Arjuna. And Dushyasana also had come earlier and he had fought fiercely just before Arjuna was about to attack Bhishma and Dushyasana had also been bested completely.
Four or five other Kaurava brothers came. They were also no match to Arjuna. And then as Arjuna fell, as Duryodhana finally came, Vikarana came on an elephant and his plan was to just, a giant elephant, it was his plan was to just charge on the elephant and crush Arjuna under his feet.
But Arjuna trained his arrows towards Vikarana and his elephant and shot them so fiercely that the elephant was just stopping its track and it fell dead. Vikarana was so mortified, he just leapt off his chariot, so fear struck by Arjuna’s attack that he ran several yards away onto the chariot of one of his brothers. Duryodhana was enraged to see his whole army routed and he charged towards Arjuna and he fought and fought to the best of his capacity.
Arjuna laughing countered all his arrows and he shot an arrow right into the body of Duryodhana. Duryodhana fell on the ground senseless, in a swoon and when he got up and he saw that Arjuna had been, that he was all alone facing Arjuna, the whole army had been routed, he told his charioteer, turn around and go away from here. And they all departed and as they all departed, Arjuna blew his conch shell and he says, oh Arjuna, what you have attained is extraordinary, single-handedly you have defeated an army consisting of the greatest warriors on the earth.
And Arjuna told him that the time is not yet right for my identity to be revealed to everyone. I feel that, I know the time of exile is over, but still let Yudhishthira decide that when we should reveal our identity. So do not tell anyone that it was I who defeated the army.
He said that, you know, I could not have possibly defeated the enemies like this. It is impossible for me. How can I take credit for this? So he said, do not tell my identity.
Then they decided a plan that, he said that Gandharva came and helped me. It was he who defeated. And then they departed back and remembering the request of the ladies, Arjuna went right up to the fallen Kaurava warriors.
Now, most of the maharathas, they had been wounded and they had retreated, but there were many other warriors who had fallen and he went and took the headdresses and other dresses as mementos of this extraordinary victory. And then Arjuna leading the chariot, Arjuna marched back. Then he went back to the shamik tree and arranged to have his Gandiva put over there.
Again, Arjuna had taken off his garb as a eunuch and had drawn himself as a warrior for the war. But now he again put on his eunuch’s garb and went back. And then this was how Arjuna attained a glorious victory over the entire Virat army.
And as he returned back, he again took slip back into the role of a Abhirayanala, of a eunuch. So Arjuna, this was one of his greatest solo performances, where single-handedly he defeated the whole Kuru army. If there are any doubts about Arjuna’s skills, so we discussed how if we keep a score between Arjuna and Karna.
Now Arjuna had best defeated Drupada, who had defeated Karna, so that was 1-0. Arjuna and Karna at the martial exhibition were equal, so it was 0-0. But in Arjuna at Draupadi Swayamvar, they were also equal, so it was still 1-0.
But in Arjuna had defeated the Gandharvas, who had defeated Karna, so it was 2-0. Then Arjuna defeated Karna directly in the Virat yatra, so it’s 3-0. So if we look at Arjuna, he exhibited his military prowess in a way that was undeniable, it was extraordinarily unparalleled.
And this gave the Kauravas a prelude. Just like Hanuman, he devastated Lanka single-handedly and gave Ravana a prelude of what was going to come in the war later. So Arjuna also devastated the Kaurava army single-handedly and gave the Kauravas a glimpse of what was going to come later.
And just as Ravana was too obstinate, too stubborn, actually too stupid to learn a lesson, similarly Duryodhana was too obstinate to learn a lesson. But in Mahabharata, we will see something even more significant, that although Hanuman was sent as a messenger and he did the devastation also, actually here Krishna himself went as a messenger. So how things unfolded hereafter and how it eventually led to the battle of Kurukshetra, we will discuss in our next session.
Thank you.