Arjuna, ever gracious in speech and bearing, displayed a courtesy so rare that even the wandering celestials marvelled at his conduct and joined mortals in their praise. When the tale reached King Janamejaya, he turned to the sage Vyāsampāyana and said, “O treasure-house of wisdom, tell me how the sons of the sage Mandapāla were…
Agni, having enriched Arjuna and Krishna with his boundless favour, now unfurled himself into a blazing inferno and swept upon the Khandava forest. The roar of his flames rose like the crash of Mount Meru shattered into dust. At the forest’s edge Arjuna stood with the Gandeeva, his celestial bow strung and ready; at the…
The sun blazed with pitiless fury, scattering sparks like molten fire upon the earth. Rivers shrank into threadlike streams, their beds cracked and dry; beasts, tormented by the relentless heat, ran wild in search of shade or water; and birds, faint with thirst, fell from the sky like withered leaves. All lesser lives seemed doomed…
The mighty Arjuna, his sinews hardened in the discipline of war, rested awhile amid the quiet pasture of cowherds, where the grasses bent in soft bushes and the mango groves breathed their honeyed scent. There, in gentle mood, he spoke to Subhadra with words of tender counsel: “When we walk together, beloved, let no idle…
In a mood of quiet delight, Śrī Kṛṣṇa turned to Rukmiṇī and Satyabhāmā and said that the ascetic who had come in disguise was none other than the valiant Arjuna of the Pāṇḍavas. Meanwhile, the gentle Subhadrā attended to the hermit with dishes and draughts of sweetness, her every graceful movement awakening in him the…
Arjuna, having resolved to journey to Dwarakāvati, recalled the words of Gada, who had once spoken with delighted admiration of Subhadrā, the sister of Vāsudeva—more delicate and enchanting, he said, than the heavenly nymph Tilottamā; a treasure of gentle virtues, possessed of a gait full of grace and a conduct beyond reproach. These words, ringing…
After Arjuna sought leave to undertake the year-long pilgrimage of expiation, Yudhishthira spoke with calm discernment: “Arjuna, the act of restraining evil—even if stern or severe—when it shields the Brahmins and the sacred Kine, brings no taint of sin. When two virtues seem to stand opposed, wise men know that the higher law allows an…
In an age when ascetics and hermits gained splendour and renown through the fire of sacrifice and the discipline of ritual, there arose two mighty demons, Sunda and Upasunda, who delighted in breaking the calm of holy men. They came not with sword or spear but in the guises of lion, tiger, elephant and every…
When the Pandavas had been granted the forest of Khandava-prastha, Krishna urged Indra to ordain the raising of a peerless capital there. At his command, the celestial craftsman Vishvakarma descended to fashion upon earth a splendour mirroring Amaravati itself. The sage Vyasa and the priest Dhoumya chose the site and laid its plan according to…
The prudent counsel of Vidura pierced the crooked mind of King Dhritarashtra and forced from him a decision that his heart had long resisted. Bowing at last to reason, the blind monarch declared, “In obedience to your counsel I shall grant the sons of Pandu half the kingdom.” Before the gathered elders—Bhishma, Vidura himself, Drona,…
