THE BIG FIGHT

ॐनमः शिवाय

Om Namah Shivay

I Bow to Lord Shiva

The tranquil slopes of Mount Indrakila in the Himalayas were the abode of many holy sages. They would spend their time in deep meditation, prayer and penance in this peaceful and exquisitely beautiful, tree-lined hillock.

One day the sages noticed a tall, well built and handsome man dressed in saffron robes climb up Mount Indrakila. Though the stranger wore saffron robes his demeanor and carriage were that of a Kshatriya and not of a Brahmin sage. Besides, unlike any sage he carried weapons. Among the weapons he carried was a long sword. Curious to know who the young man was, the sages came closer and noticed the golden hilt of the sword. They knew immediately that this young man was none other than Prince Arjuna, the son of King Pandu.

Excitedly they began to whisper amongst themselves, “This is Prince Arjuna. He along with the rest of the Pandava brothers was exiled in the forest by his cousins, the Kauravas. What is he doing here in our midst and in this tranquil locale?”

Their curiosity getting the better of them they watched Arjuna quietly from a distance.

Arjuna looked around and then decided on a secluded spot. He walked directly towards it and sat down beneath the leafy boughs of a tree. The sages watched as he gathered some mud from the earth around him and built a mud lingam. Then sitting absolutely still in the lotus position, he closed his eyes and began praying and meditating on Lord Shiva.

Months passed and Arjuna remained in this manner relentlessly continuing his penance. His tapasya was so deep and sincere that after a while the earth around him unable to bear the intensity of his penance began to heat up. Soon dark smoke emanated from the earth around Arjuna. Arjuna remained undisturbed and continued his prayers to Lord Shiva.

It was not long before the heat began to spread. The whole of Mount Indrakila was now burning hot. The earth was billowing smoke everywhere. The sages were unable to bear the heat and smoke and fled from Mount Indrakila.

When Arjuna showed no signs of completing his tapasya, the sages became desperate to return to Mount Indrakila. It was an idyllic place perfectly conducive to their prayers and yajnas (sacrifice). As they could not come up with any solution to their problem they decided to go to Mount Kailash and request Lord Shiva for help. Prostrating before the Lord and Goddess Parvati the sages with folded hands requested, "Lord, we are unable to carry on our prayers and meditation on Mount Indrakila because Prince Arjuna has created a lingam and has been performing intense penance to invoke your presence. His vigorous penance has begun to generate so much heat that the whole mountain is radiating heat and emanating smoke. It has now become so unbearably hot that we have had to flee from our ashrams.”

As Lord Shiva remained silent the sages pleaded, “Lord, you are the only one who can help us. Please do consider our plea.”

Shaking his head in assent, Lord Shiva replied, “Go back to Mount Indrakila and I will resolve your problem. I assure you that you will be able to resume your prayers with no further difficulties.”

When the sages left, Lord Shiva noticed that Goddess Parvati seemed to look puzzled. He asked, “Parvati, is there something bothering you? What is it?”

Parvati replied, “Lord, I was wondering why Arjuna would be performing such severe penance.”

Lord Shiva replied, “He is performing penance to invoke me and to receive my blessings in the form of a boon of a powerful weapon that he will need in an impending war.”

Parvati looked troubled as she asked, “Lord would it be wise to grant him this request? Do you believe he will use the weapon wisely and judiciously?”

Lord Shiva smiled at his wife indulgently and playfully remarked, “We will have to wait and see, won’t we? ”

Then as Parvati looked at her husband with amused exasperation Lord Shiva continued, “Come with me. Let’s go and find out. We are going to test Arjuna. But for that I will disguise myself as a Kirata Chief and you and some others will be disguised as my followers.”

As the Kiratas were a tribe of mountain dwellers, Arjuna would mistake them as tribesmen of Mount Indrakila. This was what Lord Shiva wanted as he did not want Arjuna to recognize him or Goddess Parvati.

As they approached the mountain, Goddess Parvati saw a wild boar and pointed it out to Lord Shiva.

Lord Shiva immediately recognized the boar and said, “That is no ordinary boar, Parvati. That is the asura (demon) Muka. He is heading towards the sages to disturb their prayers. I will not allow him to do so.”

He then took aim with his bow and arrow but the clever asura sensed danger and shot off at full speed to escape. Lord Shiva chased him all the way to the sages’ abode. The holy men who had settled down peacefully were startled by the large boar and ran helter-skelter to escape the angry beast. As they ran the frightened sages called out loudly for help hoping that a passing hunter might save them.

Having frightened the sages Muka now headed directly for Arjuna who was still in deep meditation. Though steeped in prayer Arjuna sensed the presence of the evil boar. He opened his eyes and being a warrior instinctively reached for his bow and arrow. At that very moment Lord Shiva disguised as a Kirata chief also reached the same spot and he too took aim at the boar. Shiva called out to Arjuna and said, “Stop. Drop your bow and arrow. This is my prey and I will kill it.”

Arjuna did not recognize Lord Shiva and replied, “I will not put down my bow and arrow. If you are a true hunter go ahead, take aim and let us see if it is you or I that kill this boar.”

Both Lord Shiva’s and Arjuna’s arrows shot off at exactly the same moment and pierced the boar exactly at the same time. As the arrows struck the animal the guise of a boar fell off and the wicked demon Muka in his true form fell dead to the ground.

The Kirata followers of Shiva started rejoicing at the death of the demon and hailing their leader. Arjuna said, “Though you rejoice it is still unclear as to whose arrow actually killed the demon.”

The tribe’s people were annoyed at hearing this and retorted scornfully, “It is our Chief who killed the Asura and certainly not you.”

Arjuna renowned as the greatest warrior ever felt insulted and promptly responded, “If you are all so sure that it was your Chief who killed the asura then I challenge him to a duel. May the best man win.”

With absolutely no hesitation Lord Siva accepted Arjuna’s challenge. Within moments a barrage of arrows flew in both directions as the two marksmen aimed at each other. Yet neither managed to hit or hurt the other. Then all of a sudden as Arjuna reached for his arrow he discovered to his dismay that his quiver was empty. Seeing this, the Kirata tribe’s people began to cheer with jubilation.

Lord Shiva was not about to be declared a winner by default. So with a smile on his face he extended a handful of arrows to Arjuna and said “Here, you can borrow some of my arrows”

The Kiratas started to boo, jeer and mock Arjuna. Arjuna had had enough of these tribals and in anger he threw his bow across to Shiva who adroitly caught it. Then Lord Shiva tore the string of the bow and tossed it aside. This angered Arjuna even more. Arjuna grabbed his sword out of its scabbard and charged towards Lord Shiva. Arjuna had absolutely no inkling of the fact that the tribal hunter he was so fiercely attacking was none other than Lord Shiva himself. As Arjuna’s golden hilted sword was about to plunge into Lord Shiva’s chest it miraculously dissolved into beautiful, multi-hued, fresh flowers. All the onlookers gasped in astonishment. The tribe’s folk cheered and clapped at this amazing sight.

Arjuna though was unmoved and was still raging with anger at the loss of his self-esteem. He could not believe that a tribal hunter was getting the better of him and that he was now the butt of ridicule and jeers. Determined to salvage his reputation as a warrior par excellence he pulled out an entire tree with his bare hands and he hurled it at the hunter with all the force he could muster. The hunter stepped aside with agility and the huge tree fell heavily with a loud thud to the ground.

Arjuna was now completely at a loss as to what he should do next. Unwilling to concede defeat he decided that he would turn to Lord Shiva for help. He sat before the mud lingam that he had made. He shut his eyes and began chanting with deep devotion and complete faith, “Om Namah Shivaya.” When he had completed his prayers he placed a garland of flowers around the lingam as an offering.

All of a sudden he felt a surge of energy infuse his body. He knew that the Lord had once again restored his prowess as the greatest warrior of all. He arose and walked slowly towards the Kirata hunter. Arjuna said, “Lord Shiva has blessed me with strength and power. The Lord has made me undefeatable. Come; let us see who wins now.”

Once he had uttered these words he looked directly at his opponent. It was then in a flash that he noticed that the floral garland he had placed on the lingam was now around the hunter’s neck. Instantly Arjuna realized that the man he had challenged and attacked in anger was in fact Lord Shiva himself. Distraught at making such a terrible mistake Arjuna fell at the hunter’s feet and said, “Lord forgive me. I never knew who I was fighting. I am so ashamed for having challenged and attacked you. Please find it in your heart to pardon my mistake.”

Lord Shiva then took his original form. Having shed his hunter’s garb he blessed Arjuna and said, “Valiant prince you have won me over with your sincere devotion. I know that you want me to gift you the Pashupatastra, the sacred weapon. Here I present you with the Pashupatastra. Use it wisely. It will be of great value to you in the impending war."

Arjuna bowed before Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. After receiving their blessings he accepted the Pashupatastra from the Lord.

In a sudden flash Lord Shiva, the Goddess and their followers disappeared.

It was time for Arjuna too to return to the forest and join his brothers.

The Pashupatastra was a most destructive weapon that could be discharged by the mind, the eyes, words, or a bow. It was a weapon that was so powerful that it could destroy the whole universe. Arjuna armed with this weapon was well prepared for the Mahabharata War that was to ensue some years later.

Goddess Parvati had been concerned that Arjuna might not be able to use such a dangerous weapon judiciously. However, seeing Arjuna’s complete devotion to Lord Shiva she had been reassured that Arjuna would do exactly as directed by the Lord – use the Pashupatastra with caution and wisely. In fact Arjuna though armed with the Pashupatastra never did use it in the Great War.

After all, with Lord Krishna by his side and as his charioteer, how could Arjuna have needed anything or anyone else?

LIFE LESSONS

1. Just as Arjuna needed to perform severe penance for a long time before he was rewarded by Lord Shiva, we too need to work hard and persevere sincerely in order to achieve success.

2. Like Arjuna always remember even in defeat you can turn to the Lord and he will help you.

3. Like Arjuna we must have complete faith that with God by our side nothing can defeat us or harm us.

4. Like Arjuna we must use all the strengths and powers we have wisely.