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

Chapter 30: Preparations for Swayamvar (Part 1)

The capital city of Panchal kingdom was bustling with activity and preparing itself for the grand occasion of Princess of Panchal's Swayamvar. The city was well lit with designer lamps hung on the street poles, streets were decorated with fragrant flowers, roads were crystal clean and tight security was in place with guards monitoring the movements of people minutely. Numerous shops and fairs were established to attract the visitors to the city for the impending Swayamvar of the beautiful Raj Kumari Krishnaa.

People of the city were in joyous mood as plenty of food, gifts, business opportunities and so on were on offer during this period which was marked with great festivities. In fact, the arrangements to mark the occasion were made nearly a month ago and gradually as the day of Swayamvar was nearing, kings and princes of various kingdoms were arriving to the city to participate in the Swayamvar. Magnificent houses, places for refreshment, large play grounds, music/dance halls and so on were erected to accommodate the needs of numerous kings, princes and other dignitaries who were coming from all over the Aryavarth to grace the occasion. Wherever we went, people were discussing about the stunning beauty of the Princess Krishnaa and they were saying she is the most beautiful woman in the entire Aryavarth and how every king and prince have come from far off places to win her hand in the Swayamvar contest. Sometimes, hearing the same thing over and over wherever we went became a little overwhelming for me.

When I heard from the fruit merchant that a very difficult contest would be held to win the hand of the Princess, my excitement grew, and I was eager to know more details about the contest. Then to my delight he narrated that the contest would feature a divine bow and said he did not know much details other than that. I thought wow, it included my favourite weapon, actually no, the bow was instead I would call my passion. The day I was first gifted a small and wonderful bow by my father Maharaj Pandu when I was a little boy, from that day onwards the bow became not my weapon but a dear friend of mine. May be, because of that relationship with the bow, I always felt at great ease when I held the bow in my hand. In fact, Guru Dron used to say repeatedly to everyone that when rest of his pupils including Ashwathama would treat bow as a weapon whereas for Arjuna it was not just merely a weapon but extension of his body himself and he never saw anyone hold it so naturally and gracefully as Arjuna, even he himself and the mighty warrior Bhishma would come second to Arjuna when displaying prowess and ease with the bow. I was not much interested in comparisons though, as my primary goal in life has always been to excel in the skills I was passionate about. I always wanted to be an eternal learner. Learning and constant practice should not be ceased when you are passionate about something.

Maharaj Drupad wanted to make the Swayamvar occasion of his dearest daughter a grand one and wanted it to remain a memorable one in the lives of the people, he ordered for delicious food with plenty of varieties be prepared daily and be offered for free and for that numerous food stalls were opened to cater to the people. Needless to say, Bhim bhai was overjoyed to taste variety of sweets and dishes everyday and frankly during this time we even forgot that we just escaped with life from the deadly trap at Varnavat. I fell in deep sleep after thinking about Raj Kumari Krishnaa, somehow her thoughts failed to vanish from my mind and I woke up with a sudden jerk after I came out of a sweet dream I should say. In the dream, the beautiful princess of Panchal was coming towards me with a beaming smile and coming in ever gently and looking straight into my eyes with great affection and garlanded me and to my ill luck that is when my dream ended, I dearly wanted that dream to last far longer and desperate to make that a reality.

We heard from the people in the market that all the kings and princes from Aryavarth were coming in to try and win the contest of the Swayamvar and it was fascinating to hear from them the chances of success of various individuals. Each had their own personal favourite, some were betting on the powerful king Jarasandha would win the contest but others were questioning why Jarasandha was participating in the contest as he was too old to match the most beautiful princess of Aryarath, some were thinking that mighty king Shalya would be able to win the contest, whereas some of the others were confident that the excellent archer Karna or the powerful prince of Hastinapur Duryodhan might win the contest.

Some of the people were lamenting on the sad demise of the Pandavas with tears in their eyes remembering the fate of the Pandavas, it melted my heart to see that we were held with such love and affection in the hearts of the people. Some people though refused to believe that Pandavas were dead and questioned about the demise of the Pandavas, they said the Pandavas were brave warriors, noble people, sons of the celestial beings and as such they would not perish helplessly in a fire accident and they were confident that Pandavas were alive. Some were recollecting the incident of how fascinated and impressed Maharaj Drupad was with the handsome prince Arjuna who displayed such magnificent skills and impeccable behaviour that he vowed to beget a beautiful daughter who will be worthy of that great warrior and will make Arjuna as his son-in-law. Some others in the market concurred and said it was Maharaj Drupad's dream to have Arjuna as his son-in-law. Some people reasoned that Maharaj Drupad knows it well that the brave warriors such as Pandavas cannot perish in the fire accident and that is why he purposely devised a grand and mighty difficult contest which could entice Arjuna to come out of incognito and participate in the contest. 

Maharaj Drupad knowingly devised a difficult contest, so it could only be won by that mighty bowman Arjuna. Also, some people were gossiping that the princess of Panchal was already so enamoured of Arjuna, and always shown keen interest to hear about the stories of his valour, his charming personality and that the handsome prince Arjuna had a profound effect on her and she requested one of her close friends to secure a portrait of Arjuna. I quickly dismissed all these as gossip though, as people usually exaggerate such things, of course I would come to know what really was going on in the mind and heart of the Princess of Panchal only in the future.

I was a bit surprised and shocked at the revelation from the people about Maharaj Drupad's intentions and should say a pleasant surprise to hear that, probably for the first time in my life I was losing total control of myself and was immersed in the dreamy thoughts about the princess Panchali and was excited about the contest. I was thinking what could the contest be about, whether it would involve fighting with multiple warriors of Maharaj Drupad, or piercing some kind of a difficult target and so on. My youngest brother Sahadev who was an expert in gauging the emotions of the people was glancing at me with a naughty smile and questioning about the dreamy thoughts I was engulfed with in the last few days. I was embarrassed to say the least, and gave a glare to Sahadev and we ended it with a loud laughter.

Finally, it was time for the most awaited day and we brothers proceeded to the court of Kampilya to watch the most anticipated spectacle of the Swayamvar ceremony and of course watch with our own eyes the most beautiful princess, whose beauty so far we only heard from the people but never saw in reality and it was time to see her in real. We all brothers were still disguised as brahmanas but it was very difficult to conceal our real identities and fit in the guise of ordinary brahmanas, specially with Bhim bhai having such a magnificent and athletic personality, the spark in the face of Yudhi bhai, the aura exuded by Sahadev, the handsomeness of Nakul and finally the scars on my arms resulted from numerous hours of practice with my beloved bow and also it was difficult to conceal my face which people said was of of rare colour which resembled the clouds. Some of the brahmanas and priests who were passing by, remarked that looking at my gait and personality I would surely win the swayamvar contest and blessed me, I humbly bent my head with respect.