Arjuna: Epic Characters of Mahabharatha

By Sri Hari

Arjuna was Kunti and Pandu's son born when Kunti invoked Devendra. At the time of his birth, a loud thunder proclaimed that he would be equal to Vishnu in courage, to Shiva in prowess and would uphold the name of the Kuru clan. He was Drona's best student who learnt the use of Brahmastra upon saving his teacher from the fatal grip of a crocodile. He was able to fulfill his guru's wish and thus brought King Drupada to Drona. He agreed to fight against his own guru and proved that he was superior even to him. He was the only one to take Drupada's challenge and win Draupadi's hand. He won the divine Pashupatha from none other than Lord Shiva. Not satisfied, he went to Amaravathi and got many more divine weapons and Vajrayudha from Devendra. Under Urvashi's curse, he became Brihannala for a year. When he was asked to choose between Krishna and the huge Narayani army, he chose Krishna. Karna considered him his greatest enemy and it was but natural that Karna's end came at the hands of Arjuna. Throughout the Kurukshetra war, he fought valiantly though he was sad at the people against whom he was fighting. He received unforgettable advice from Krishna when he was confused about his role in the war – this has come to us as the great Bhagwad Gita. Arjuna will remain in everyone's memory as the best archer, warrior and an upholder of dharma.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bharatha Samskruthi Prakashana
• Release date: May 21, 2019
• ISBN: 9788194018506

Book preview

EPIC CHARACTERS OF MAHABHARATHA

Arjuna

Written by

SriHari

Translated by

Prof. G. S. Mudambadithaya

© Bharatha Samskruthi Prakashana, Bengaluru. All rights reserved.

Published by:

Bharatha Samskruthi Prakashana

C/o. Bharatha Darshana,

163, Manjunatha Road, 2nd Block,

Thyagarajanagar, Bangalure 560 028,

Ph: [phone], [phone]

bharathasamskruthi.com

e-Book

051v1.0.0

Date: 28 February, 2019

ISBN: 9788194018506

Created by: Sriranga Digital Software Technologies Private Limited

srirangadigital.com

FOREWORD

Sri Srirangasadgurave Namah

Sri Vedavyasa’s immortal work, the Mahabharata, is our national epic reflecting like a golden mirror, the internal and external forms of the character and culture prevailing in the land of Bharata from times immemorial. It is hailed as the fifth Veda as it portrays the battle between the demoniac and the divine forces ending in the triumph of the latter, and announces to the whole world the universal truths of life. At places it orders with the tone and tenor of a paramount monarch. At some other places it teaches through stories and episodes and examples like a bosom friend and in some other places it brings home truths in the manner of a sweetheart. It is therefore a Sruti and Smriti and an Itihasa and a Purana and a Kavya, all embodied in one single work. It is an inexhaustible sourcebook for various literary works in Samskrit and local languages. On account of its extraordinary size of 18 parvas and the weightiness of its contents, it is appropriatly called the Mahabharata. Regarding the exhaustive teaching of the fourfold goals of life recommended by the founders of our culture, it has been rightly announced about this book as follows:

Whatever is found here is found elsewhere and what is not found here is found nowhere else.

We bless the efforts of Bharatha Samskrithi Prakashana to acquaint young minds with the prime characters of the above extraordinary work through these little vibrant volumes. It has derived inspiration from the 32 volumes of the Kannada version of the Mahabharata published by Bharatha Darshana, a premier publishing house, solely dedicated for the cause of the Bharathiya culture. The language of these booklets is very simple and lucid, so as to enter the hearts of the young minds and lead them on to the reading of the original. We hope that the younger generation will be able to analyse and judge these characters in the right perspective, elevate themselves and become good citizens of our nation.

We come across a large number of elderly people also who do not have a correct knowledge of the characters of the great epic. We hope that these little life-sketches based on the original Mahabharata, will serve very useful to them as well.

We fervantly hope that Bharata Samskruthi Prakashana will bring out many such useful publications in the future

With Narayanasmaranas

Sri Sri Srirangapriya Sripadasrisrih

Astanga yoga Vijnana Mandiram

Bangalore

Date : 09-07-99

ARJUNA

ॐ

In ancient times, kings of Kuru clan ruled from Hastinapura.