My trials, tribulations, triumphs and more... - Arjuna.

Chapter 29: Journey to the kingdom of Panchala

By next morning, slowly the news of the killing of the terrible rakshasa Baka had spread throughout the town of Ekachakra nagari. After hearing the happy news, people of the town were really excited and were congratulating each other, exchanging sweets and were in jubilant mood, as the dangerous threat of Baka was no longer going to haunt them. A big party was organised by the chief of the town to celebrate the occasion and invited all the residents for a sumptuous meal, dance, songs and other cultural events. Finally, the fear of that dreaded rakshasa was no longer hanging over the heads of the people. Seeing the happy faces of the people brought us immense joy. As promised to us, the Brahmana did not reveal to the people of the town who exactly was responsible for the killing of the rakshasa. Brahmana simply said the ones who did that task were of divine origin and were passing by his home and when they saw him in distress they promised to help him out. After that explanation from the Brahmana, residents did not try to inquire further and instead were happy to have their trouble vanish forever.

After few days had passed by, a highly respected saint visited the town of Ekachakra nagari and was given shelter by the Brahmana in his place, Kunti maa got to know of this news and asked us to accompany her and seek the blessings of the saint. We took the blessings of the saint and sat to listen to his wonderful experiences which he had while visiting various places of pilgrimage, sacred rivers, and wonderful towns and cities. While recounting them, the saint told us about the spectacular preparations that were going on in Kampilya for organising the most wonderful Swayamvar of Maharaj Drupad's daughter. The saint then narrated a very intriguing story of the birth of Maharaj Drupad's two children Dhrishtadyumn and Draupadi. Maharaj Drupad's heart was burning with rage and was looking to take revenge for his insult at the hands of Acharya Dron, so he planned for a great yagna (sacrifice) with the help of two great rishis namely Yaja and Upayaja. By performing this yagna, Maharaj Drupad desired to have a son of great valour, energy and strength who would be the cause for the destruction of Acharya Dron.

Soon, a great yagna was planned on an auspicious day, and the yagna was being conducted by Yaja and was assisted by his younger brother brahmarishi Upayaja. Yaja while chanting sacred mantras poured the sacrificial offerings into the fire, then through the twin potent power of chanting of mantras and sacrificial offerings, rose a youth from the sacrificial fire who was in blazing form and resembled Agni (fire) himself, he wore a crown and his body was encased in shining armour which looked splendid in its design. The youth had a sword in his hand and also a bow and arrows and was roaring loudly. As soon as he arose from the sacrificial fire, a divine voice from the sky (aakashvaani) was heard saying 'This prince as desired by Drupad has been born for the destruction of Dron. He will bring great fame to the lineage and will remove the thorn in the form of Dron from his father's heart'. And, the prince was named as Dhrishtadyumn.

After the birth of the prince, a young maiden arose from the sacrificial fire. She was a breathtaking beauty who was dark in complexion, slender in form, with large eyes that resembled petals of a flower, with hair that was thick, long and curled, and sweet fragrances resembling those of blue lotuses emanated from her body. In short, she was truly a divine being born in human form. Her form and supreme beauty had no parallel on earth. Since, she was dark in complexion, was thus called Krishnaa. When she was born, the invisible voice from the sky proclaimed 'Supreme among women, this unparalleled beauty of dark complexion will bring about the destruction of Kshatriyas. In time, through great sacrifices, she will perform the objectives of the gods and bring about the destruction of evil and will result in a new dawn of light and hope for future generations'.

Listening to that wonderful story of the birth of those children of Maharaj Drupad, we all were in a bit of shock, awe and I guess fascinated too, specially after knowing about the beautiful Krishnaa. I was a bit taken aback at the prophecies concerning the two siblings though. Hearing the name Krishnaa struck me instantly, as one of my names was also Krishna even though I was seldom called by that name and more importantly the most magnificent cousin of mine whose name and fame was spreading rapidly all through Aryavarth and whose stories evoked great awe was also named Krishna. My heart started to beat faster than ever now and mind was wavering after listening to the wonderful tale of Krishnaa, who was also called as Panchaali (this particular name bears significance to the kingdom of Panchaal) and Draupadi (name which derives from Maharaj Drupad).

Usually I was able to control myself and was able to politely decline several proposals from some very beautiful women earlier on. Beauties till that time never created flutter in me. But, this woman Panchali seemed to be made completely different to all, of course she was fire herself which was not helping the cause. Even though I did not even had a chance to have a glimpse of her but she was sure making me run wild with imagination and making me sort of crazy and was seemingly pulling me to her by calling my name again and again. I thought to myself, if she was fire then I was thunder, fire may engulf all in its wake but will eventually be calmed by thunder. I thought to myself, Arjuna you are going crazy, that woman Panchali has really ignited your heart and mind. This should not happen to Acharya Dron's shishya Arjuna, who is known to have self-control.

My mind, heart and body were surely loosing the grip now and I quickly wanted to overcome such a feeling of desperation and anxiety. And, thanks to the time tested method, I rushed to the nearby river and took a dip by plunging deep into the cold water right at the stroke of midnight, the cold water of the river did help to calm my nerves to a great extent and thereafter I immersed in meditation. One thing I wanted to control all my life was the wavering of the mind, I always had a curiosity to learn new things, was never satisfied with a stagnant way of life, always wanted to pursue something new and thus my mind and body were always brimming with too much of activity which at times was not healthy at all. And, I wanted to tame the too active mind of mine with some practices of meditation to calm myself and instead go blank for sometime and start afresh. Outside world may feel surprised to know about my restlessness, since I was renowned to have great powers of concentration and high degree of motivation to accomplish goals in life, but behind that was a restless mind which at times had to be tamed.

Next morning, Kunti maa proposed that we leave the town of Ekachakra nagari, since we have been living here for many months now and it was better to move from this place soon to avoid detection from the spies of Duryodhan and thus suggested to proceed to Kampilya, the capital city of the kingdom of Panchal. As usual, mother's smart thinking always fascinated me. As we were preparing to leave the place, we were met by the great sage Vyasaji our grandfather, we prostrated before him and sought his blessings. The great sage recounted the story of a woman who was born to a great rishi, she was beautiful and was endowed with all great qualities. Despite being beautiful and of pure deeds, the woman did not get a husband. This was causing a great stress to the woman and she started to perform great austerities to please Lord of the Lords Mahakaal. Soon after, she was able to gratify Lord Shiv with her austerities, and the Lord asked her for a boon. She asked for a husband with all the qualities, then Lord Shiv told her that she will have five husbands. The woman requested the Lord and said 'Give me only one husband who has all the qualities and not five'. But, Lord Shiv addressed her again and said that since you have repeatedly asked me for a husband five times, therefore when you are reborn and take another body, you will have five husbands. And, Vyasaji said that woman was born as Krishnaa Panchali in this birth and is destined to be your common wife. One event after other, right from Panchali's spectacular birth rising from the blazing flames to the proclamation of the invisible voice from the sky regarding Panchali's destiny of causing destruction of Kshatriyas, then to the story of previous birth and boon granted by Lord Shiv not of one husband with great qualities but five husbands was simply overwhelming and too drastic for me to digest in a single go.

I thought to myself in my moment of weakness I suppose, does God really need to do all these complex stuff to make for a brighter future? If motivation is for a bright future for all, then will in that perfectly bright future does the role of karma finally cease to play a role and will there be no more the cycle of birth and death and all beings will be in a state of permanent bliss and no more of avatars, shrishti rachna and all? All these questions started to really haunt me and take a lot of mental toll on me, and I said to myself, 'Arjuna, just leave all those philosophical questions out of your mind now, you just try to be the best human you possibly could. Respect your elders, love your family, be passionate about your interests, excel at your skills, and just try your best to be a really decent human being. Philosophical questions at this point in life will agitate you even more, so better avoid them.'