FIVE GOLDEN ARROWS

Om Sri Krishnah sharanam mamah

ॐ श्री कृष्णाय शरणं मम:

Shree Krishna is my Shelter

There once lived a King of the Bharata dynasty named Kuru. The families of the Kauravas and Pandavas were descendants of King Kuru. In Kurukshetra (the land of Kuru) dynastic rule prevailed. The eldest son of the king inherited the crown on his father’s death or abdication. Accordingly, the throne passed onto prince Dhritarashtra who was then the eldest of the Kauravas. However, Dhritarashtra was blind and hence deemed unfit to rule the kingdom. The crown was then passed to the next in line, the eldest of the Pandu brothers who was Dhritarashtra's younger cousin brother. King Pandu ruled for a short time but soon relinquished the crown and retired to the forests to live the simple life of a hermit. Pandu had no children at that time to succeed him. According to the Law of Inheritance, prevalent at that time, a person once denied the throne lost his right to succession and even his lineage was not permitted to succeed him. However, the blind king, Dhritarashtra, taking advantage of Pandu’s departure ascended the throne of Kurukshetra.

King Pandu’s wife, Kunti, had been blessed by sage Durvasa. He had taught her a secret mantra which enabled her to invoke any god of her choice to beget children by them. Kunti had five sons by using the magic mantra. They were the five Pandava brothers. After her husband’s death Kunti returned to Hanstinapur with her children. When the eldest among them, Yudhisthira, came of age he claimed his rightful place as King of Kurukshehtra.

His uncle Dhritarashtra wanted his own eldest son Duryodhana to be king. So the sly and wicked Dhritarashtra divided the kingdom into two. The rich portions of the kingdom he gave to his son Duryodhana and made him king of this wealthy kingdom. The wastelands he allotted to his nephews, the Pandavas. It was a very unfair division. Despite this the Pandavas accepted their share of land.

The mean minded Kaurava brothers, on the other hand, were not happy with the division as they wanted the whole kingdom for themselves. Their only consolation being that their father had allotted them the rich lands and the barren land he had given to the Pandavas. They felt that it was unlikely that their cousins would be able to do much with that wasteland.

The Pandavas worked hard on the land. It was not long before the land started yielding crops. Duryodhana was aghast with astonishment to discover that the Pandavas share of land had become fertile. Their kingdom had transformed into a land of plenty. This made the Kaurava brothers extremely jealous. They began to plot and scheme to devise a plan to drive the Pandavas right out of Kurukshetra.

Duryodhana and his brothers challenged the Pandavas to a game of dice. Through this game of dice they used trickery and deception to win the whole kingdom. The Pandava brothers were thus driven out of Kurukshetra. They lived in exile in the forests for many years.

Even this devious victory was not enough for the vengeful Duryodhana. He hated his cousins so much that he wanted to further humiliate them. He set up his camp on the opposite side of a pond near which the Pandavas were living. This way he could keep an eye on them and at every opportunity mock their pitiful existence.

One day, when Duryodhana stepped into the pond for his bath the heavenly Gandharvas (divine singers) came down to bathe in the waters too. The arrogant Duryodhana was affronted that anyone would dare to use the pond while he was bathing in it.

Enraged he shouted, “Leave the pond immediately. Do you not see that I, King Duryodhana, am bathing in the waters of this pond? How dare you enter the waters while I am here?”

The Gandharvas were in no way frightened by Duryodhana’s loud bluster. So they continued to swim and gambol in the cool waters. They were having fun and were not about to let anyone spoil it for them. For a while they ignored Duryodhana’s rants. Duryodhana was obstinate and accustomed to getting his own way and continued to threaten the Gandharvas and warn them of dire punishments if they did not clear out of the pond immediately. Finally, as the Gandharvas had had enough of Duryondhana’s tantrums they fought him, defeated him and took him captive.

Arjuna’s elder brother Yudhisthira had seen the whole incident. Yudhisthira was a loving, caring man who despite having been treated unfairly by Duryodhana was forgiving enough to wish to help him in his hour of need. He went to his younger brother Arjuna and requested, “Our cousin, Duryodhana, has been taken captive by the Gandharvas. Please go and save him.”

Arjuna being a dutiful brother immediately assented to his elder brother’s request. He helped Duryodhana and saved him from the Gandharvas. Duryodhana was set free.

Duryodhana felt rather ashamed that it was his cousin, whom he regarded as his enemy, who had saved him. In order to uphold his Kshatriya principles, he could not accept this help without offering something in return.

Turning to Arjuna he said, “Ask me for any boon and I will grant it to you for saving my life today.”

Arjuna who had saved Duryodhana on his brother’s request had no desire to be granted any boon. However, Arjuna not wanting it to appear as though he was brushing off Duryodhana’s gesture replied, “I have nothing to ask you presently. But should I require a boon from you at a later date, I will come to you for this gift of honour.”

Duryodhana agreed and without further ado returned to his palace.

As time passed both Arjuna and Duryodhana forgot altogether about the boon.

Many years later the Pandavas who had been living in exile in the forest returned with Krishna to reclaim the land that was rightfully theirs which the Kauravas had seized through deceit. The Kauravas were unrelenting and would not return the land. Krishna tried to mediate between the cousins. Duryodhana adamantly refused to negotiate. Even when Krishna requested Duryodhana to part with just five villages from his vast kingdom, Duryodhana, being a greedy and selfish man laughed scornfully and said, “I will not give even a needle point of land to the Pandavas.”

Having no other option, the Pandavas took the decision to fight to reclaim their kingdom. Thus began the great Mahabharata war. The war went on for eighteen days. Many lost their lives in this war.

In the first ten days of the war the Kauravas were unable to gain any advantage over the Pandavas. Bhishma, one of the greatest of warriors, though the grand-uncle of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas was fighting on the side of the Kauravas. In fact he was the general leading the Kaurava army. This was because he had made a vow to serve only the ruling family. As the crown was at the time on Duryodhana’s head, the Kauravas were the ruling family and Bhishma was bound by his vow to fight on their side. Bhishma knew that the Pandavas were in the right. He knew that he was fighting on the side of adharma or unrighteousness yet bound by his vow he fought sincerely and loyally for his king.

Duryodhana however being mean minded and suspicious felt that the reason his armies hadn’t already vanquished their opponent was because Bhishma, who he knew loved the Pandavas, was not putting in his best efforts. He felt that Bhishma was not using the best strategies or fighting as vigorously as he should. This was an unfair judgment of the great Bhishma, yet Duryodhana being so proud of his capabilities needed someone to blame for the fact that despite having a larger and more powerful army he had not even after ten days managed to defeat Arjuna’s far smaller forces.

One day when the Kaurava army had performed particularly poorly on the battlefield Duryodhana was fuming with rage. As prescribed by the code of warfare, the battle ended at sunset. Duryodhana stormed into Bhisma’s tent and angrily said, “Grandsire, you are reputed to be the greatest of all warriors yet we have not witnessed any of your prowess since the war began. I am ashamed of the way you are leading my army.”

Bhishma listened to Duryodhana’s tirade in complete silence.

Duryodhana had not quite finished. He continued, this time with even more animosity, “How can you be a great warrior when even after ten days you have not been able to kill five weak, pathetic men? I believe that you do not want me to win the war. You have always preferred the Pandavas and now here on the battlefield you are showing us all how much you favour them. You may be my general but you are actually fighting for the Pandavas.”

Bhishma still stood quietly before his king. Though very hurt by Duryodhana’s unkind words, Bhishma’s only thought was to stay true to his vow to serve the king. He took a moment to collect himself and then quietly picked up five golden arrows. He touched the arrows to his eyes as Duryodhana watched him with curiosity. All of a sudden, an incredibly forceful power seared through Bhishma . It entered the five golden arrows. The arrows now gleamed menacingly. The blades now emanated such a fierce power that Duryodhana quickly stepped back, startled.

Bhishma looked drained of all energy. He took a deep breath and slowly composed himself. He knew that what he had done would mean the death of the five Pandavas. However he felt compelled to do so because above all it was his duty to serve the king.

A rather subdued Duryodhana quietly enquired, “Bhishma Pitama, what is it that just happened?”

It was a few moments before Bhishma could speak. When he spoke it was haltingly and in between the words he gasped for breath. Looking at Duryodhana Bhishma said, “I have put my life force into these five arrows - one arrow for each of the Pandavas. These arrows have been empowered to kill the person that it has been made for. The Pandavas will not escape death tomorrow when these arrows are fired.”

Bhishma had deep sadness in his eyes but he knew that he had done his duty.

Duryodhana could barely contain his delight. He would be rid of his worst enemies. He commended himself for having spoken to Bhishma as he had done because he was now assured of victory.

Bhishma was about to put the arrows away when Duryodhana immediately snapped at him, “No, no you must not keep them in your tent. I will keep them safe with me. I will bring them back to you in the morning.”

Bhishma said, “I have created these incredibly powerful weapons and I think it is best that I keep them with me.”

In his convoluted, devious mind Duryodhana did not completely trust Bhishma. He was worried that his grand-uncle might have a change of heart. He spoke sternly, “They will be safest with me. I wish to keep them in my tent.”

Grabbing the five golden arrows from Bhishma, Duryodhana left. Once in his own tent he placed the precious arrows in a safe space. He smiled to himself as he began to imagine the Pandava brothers dead and his own glory at winning the war.

Before the commencement of the Mahabharata war the Kauravas and Pandavas were given a choice by Lord Krishna. He had offered one side his vast army and to the other he had offered himself. However he had also stipulated that he would not raise a weapon throughout the war even for the side that chose him. Duryodhana greedy for victory promptly chose the mighty army. He thought to himself, “What use would Krishna be to me when he is to be just a bystander and not fight the war? In a war it is the most powerful army that wins. The strength of my army will ensure my victory.”

The Pandavas, on the other hand, could think of nothing more blessed than to have Lord Krishna on their side.

On the night that Bhishma had given the five golden arrows to Duryodhana, the all-knowing, Lord Krishna though in the Pandava camp knew of Duryodhana’s treacherous deeds. He also knew that the power Bhishma Pitama had put into those five arrows would certainly mean the death of the five Pandava brothers.

Krishna devised a plan for the safety of the Pandavas. He went to Arjuna’s tent and said, “Arjuna there was a time when you had saved Duryodhana’s life. At that time he had offered you a boon of your choice for saving his life. You have yet to redeem that boon. It is time for you to do so now.”

Arjuna who had completely forgotten the incident and the boon that Duryodhana had extended to him had his memory jogged. Curiously he enquired, “You are right Krishna. I had forgotten all about this. What of it? ”

Krishna continued, “It is time for you to redeem your boon. Go to Duryodhana’s tent and ask him for the five golden arrows he has with him.”

Arjuna immediately set off for the Kaurava camp. Entering Duryodhana’s heavily guarded camp he asked to meet Duryodhana. Meeting Duryodhana he said to him, “You had once offered me a boon of my choice because I had saved your life when the Gandharvas had captured you. I have come now to ask you for a boon.”

Duryodhana recalled the incident vividly. He had been ashamed of the fact that a Pandava, his enemy, had saved him. He had tried then to clear the debt he owed Arjuna by offering a boon to him. Arjuna had not asked for anything but had mentioned he would come to him when he needed a boon. Now here he was asking for the boon. This was certainly unexpected and as far as Duryodhana was concerned a most inopportune moment to grant a boon. However, he had made the offer and felt compelled to honour his word.

He asked Arjuna, “What is it you wish?”

Without a moment’s hesitation Arjuna replied, “You have five golden arrows in your possession. I wish that you give them to me.”

Duryoshana was startled by the request. No one knew about the arrows. He had just a short while earlier brought the arrows to his tent. Duryodhana knew that there was no way he could refuse to grant the boon to Arjuna. It had been a promise made by him and he was bound by his word to honour it.

He enquired of Arjuna, “How did you get to know about the arrows? Who was it that sent you to me for the arrows?”

Arjuna guilelessly replied, “It was Krishna.”

Reluctantly Duryodhana picked up the arrows he had so safely kept away and handed them to Arjuna. Arjuna returned to his own camp with the arrows that were meant to kill him and his brothers. Krishna without lifting a weapon had saved the lives of the five Pandavas.

Duryodhana rushed back to Bhishma’s camp and said, “Bhishma Pitama I need you to give me five more arrows like the ones you created earlier.”

Bhishma laughed cheerlessly. Shaking his head he replied, “Child, there can be no arrows like the five I gave you. I put all the powers of my lifetime of tapasya and all my strength into those five arrows. I have nothing more to give.”

Duryodhana was devastated. For the first time he began to have fears that he might be defeated. Duryodhana knew his army was several times larger and more powerful than that of the Pandavas. He also had the wisdom and battle acumen of great warriors like Drona and Bhishma to guide his armies Yet, for the first time Duryodhana began to fear that even a large and strong army of valiant men and mighty generals may not be able to assure him victory. With Krishna on their side it looked like the Pandavas might be undefeatable.

Just as Duryodhana had feared the war though it lasted eighteen long days was eventually won by the Pandavas. The Kauravas were resoundingly defeated, the Pandavas regained their kingdom and Yudhisthira, the eldest of the Pandavas was crowned King.

LIFE LESSONS

1. Righteousness will prevail, evil will be destroyed.

2. Like the Pandavas we should always keep our faith in the Lord.

3. Just as Arjuna unquestioningly did as Krishna ordered, we too must always do as our conscience tells us.

4. Be assured that God will help us in all our good deeds.