Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 1: “Creation”
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter Twelve
SB1.12.14
TEXT 14
hiranyam gam mahim graman
hasty-asvan nrpatir varan
pradat svannam ca viprebhyah
praja-tirthe sa tirthavit
SYNONYMS
hiranyam—gold; gam—cows; mahim—land; graman—villages; hasti—elephants; asvan—horses; nrpatih—the King; varan—rewards; pradat—gave in charity; su-annam—good food grains; ca—and; viprebhyah—unto the brahmanas; praja-tirthe—on the occasion of giving in charity on the birthday of a son; sah—he; tirtha-vit—one who knows how, when and where charity is to be given.
TRANSLATION
Upon the birth of a son, the King, who knew how, where and when charity should be given, gave gold, land, villages, elephants, horses and good food grains to the brahmanas.
PURPORT
Only the brahmanas and sannyasis are authorized to accept charity from the householders. In all the different occasions of samskaras, especially during the time of birth, marriage and death, wealth is distributed to the brahmanas because the brahmanas give the highest quality of service in regard to the prime necessity of humankind. The charity was substantial in the shape of gold, land, villages, horses, elephants and food grains, with other materials for cooking complete foodstuff. The brahmanas were not, therefore, poor in the actual sense of the term. On the contrary, because they possessed gold, land, villages, horses, elephants and sufficient grains, they had nothing to earn for themselves. They would simply devote themselves to the well-being of the entire society.
The word tirthavit is significant because the King knew well where and when charity has to be given. Charity is never unproductive or blind. In the sastras charity was offered to persons who deserve to accept charity by dint of spiritual enlightenment. The so-called daridra-narayana, a misconception of the Supreme Lord by unauthorized persons, is never to be found in the sastras as the object of charity. Nor can a wretched poor man receive much munificent charity in the way of horses, elephants, land and villages. The conclusion is that the intelligent men, or the brahmanas specifically engaged in the service of the Lord, were properly maintained without anxiety for the needs of the body, and the King and other householders gladly looked after all their comforts.
It is enjoined in the sastras that as long as a child is joined with the mother by the navel pipe, the child is considered to be of one body with the mother, but as soon as the pipe is cut and the child is separated from the mother, the purificatory process of jatakarman is performed. The administrative demigods and past forefathers of the family come to see a newly born child, and such an occasion is specifically accepted as the proper time for distributing wealth to the right persons productively for the spiritual advancement of society. SB1.12.15 TEXT 15 tam ucur brahmanas tusta rajanam prasrayanvitam esa hy asmin praja-tantau purunam pauravarsabha SYNONYMS tam—unto him; ucuh—addressed; brahmanah—the learned brahmanas; tustah—very much satisfied; rajanam—unto the King; prasraya-anvitam—very much obliging; esah—this; hi—certainly; asmin—in the chain of; praja-tantau—descending line; purunam—of the Purus; paurava-rsabha—the chief among the Purus. TRANSLATION The learned brahmanas, who were very satisfied with the charities of the King, addressed him as the chief amongst the Purus and informed him that his son was certainly in the line of descent from the Purus. SB1.12.16 TEXT 16 daivenapratighatena sukle samstham upeyusi rato vo ’nugraharthaya visnuna prabhavisnuna SYNONYMS daivena—by supernatural power; apratighatena—by what is irresistible; sukle—unto the pure; samstham—destruction; upeyusi—having been enforced; ratah—restored; vah—for you; anugraha-arthaya—for the sake of obliging; visnuna—by the all-pervasive Lord; prabhavisnuna—by the all-powerful. TRANSLATION The brahmanas said: This spotless son has been restored by the all-powerful and all-pervasive Lord Visnu, the Personality of Godhead, in order to oblige you. He was saved when he was doomed to be destroyed by an irresistible supernatural weapon. PURPORT The child Pariksit was saved by the all-powerful and all-pervasive Visnu (Lord Krsna) for two reasons. The first reason is that the child in the womb of his mother was spotless due to his being a pure devotee of the Lord. The second reason is that the child was the only surviving male descendant of Puru, the pious forefather of the virtuous King Yudhisthira. The Lord wants to continue the line of pious kings to rule over the earth as His representatives for the actual progress of a peaceful and prosperous life. After the Battle of Kuruksetra, even up to the next generation of Maharaja Yudhisthira was annihilated, and there were none who could generate another son in the great royal family. Maharaja Pariksit, the son of Abhimanyu, was the only surviving heir apparent in the family, and by the irresistible supernatural brahmastra weapon of Asvatthama, he was forced to be annihilated. Lord Krsna is described herein as Visnu, and this is also significant. Lord Krsna, the original Personality of Godhead, does the work of protection and annihilation in His capacity of Visnu. Lord Visnu is the plenary expansion of Lord Krsna. The all-pervasive activities of the Lord are executed by Him in His Visnu feature. Child Pariksit is described here as spotlessly white because he is an unalloyed devotee of the Lord. Such unalloyed devotees of the Lord appear on the earth just to execute the mission of the Lord. The Lord desires the conditioned souls hovering in the material creation to be reclaimed to go back home, back to Godhead, and thus He helps them by preparing the transcendental literatures like the Vedas, by sending missionaries of saints and sages and by deputing His representative, the spiritual master. Such transcendental literatures, missionaries and representatives of the Lord are spotlessly white because the contamination of the material qualities cannot even touch them. They are always protected by the Lord when they are threatened with annihilation. Such foolish threats are made by the gross materialists. The brahmastra, which was thrown by Asvatthama at the child Pariksit, was certainly supernaturally powerful, and nothing of the material world could resist its force of penetration. But the all-powerful Lord, who is present everywhere, within and without, could counteract it by His all-powerful potency just to save a bona fide servant of the Lord and descendant of another devotee, Maharaja Yudhisthira, who was always obliged by the Lord by His causeless mercy. SB1.12.17 TEXT 17 tasman namna visnu-rata iti loke bhavisyati na sandeho maha-bhaga maha-bhagavato mahan SYNONYMS tasmat—therefore; namna—by the name; visnu-ratah—protected by Visnu, the Personality of Godhead; iti—thus; loke—in all the planets; bhavisyati—shall become well known; na—no; sandehah—doubts; maha-bhaga—most fortunate; maha-bhagavatah—the first-class devotee of the Lord; mahan—qualified by all good qualities. TRANSLATION For this reason this child will be well known in the world as one who is protected by the Personality of Godhead. O most fortunate one, there is no doubt that this child will become a first-class devotee and will be qualified with all good qualities. PURPORT The Lord gives protection to all living beings because He is their supreme leader. The Vedic hymns confirm that the Lord is the Supreme Person amongst all personalities. The difference between the two living beings is that the one, the Personality of Godhead, provides for all other living beings, and by knowing Him one can achieve eternal peace (Katha Upanisad). Such protection is given by His different potencies to different grades of living beings. But as far as His unalloyed devotees are concerned, He gives the protection personally. Therefore, Maharaja Pariksit is protected from the very beginning of his appearance in the womb of his mother. And because he is especially given protection by the Lord, the indication must be concluded that the child would be a first-grade devotee of the Lord with all good qualities. There are three grades of devotees, namely the maha-bhagavata, madhyam-adhikari and the kanistha-adhikari. Those who go to the temples of the Lord and offer worshipful respect to the Deity without sufficient knowledge in the theological science and therefore without any respect for the devotees of the Lord are called materialistic devotees, or kanistha-adhikari, the third-grade devotees. Secondly, the devotees who have developed a mentality of genuine service to the Lord and who thus make friendships only with similar devotees, show favor to the neophytes and avoid the atheists are called the second-grade devotees. But those who see everything in the Lord or everything of the Lord and also see in everything an eternal relation of the Lord, so that there is nothing within their purview of sight except the Lord, are called the maha-bhagavatas, or the first-grade devotees of the Lord. Such first-grade devotees of the Lord are perfect in all respects. A devotee who may be in any of these categories is automatically qualified by all good qualities, and thus a maha-bhagavata devotee like Maharaja Pariksit is certainly perfect in all respects. And because Maharaja Pariksit took his birth in the family of Maharaja Yudhisthira, he is addressed herein as the maha-bhagavata, or the greatest of the fortunates. The family in which a maha-bhagavata takes his birth is fortunate because due to the birth of a first-grade devotee the members of the family, past, present and future up to one hundred generations, become liberated by the grace of the Lord, out of respect for His beloved devotee. Therefore, the highest benefit is done to one’s family simply by becoming an unalloyed devotee of the Lord. SB1.12.18 TEXT 18 sri-rajovaca apy esa vamsyan rajarsin punya-slokan mahatmanah anuvartita svid yasasa sadhu-vadena sattamah SYNONYMS sri-raja—the all-good king (Maharaja Yudhisthira); uvaca—said; api—whether; esah—this; vamsyan—family; raja-rsin—of saintly kings; punya-slokan—pious by the very name; maha-atmanah—all great souls; anuvartita—follower; svit—will it be; yasasa—by achievements; sadhu-vadena—by glorification; sat-tamah—O great souls. TRANSLATION The good King [Yudhisthira] inquired: O great souls, will he become as saintly a king, as pious in his very name and as famous and glorified in his achievements, as others who appeared in this great royal family? PURPORT The forefathers of King Yudhisthira were all great saintly kings, pious and glorified by their great achievements. They were all saints on the royal throne. And therefore all the members of the state were happy, pious, well behaved, prosperous and spiritually enlightened. Under strict guidance of the great souls and spiritual injunctions, such great saintly kings were trained up, and as a result the kingdom was full of saintly persons and was a happy land of spiritual life. Maharaja Yudhisthira was himself a replica of his ancestors, and he desired that the next king after him become exactly like his great forefathers. He was happy to learn from the learned brahmanas that by astrological calculations the child would be born a first-grade devotee of the Lord, and more confidentially he wanted to know whether the child was going to follow in the footsteps of his great forefathers. That is the way of the monarchical state. The reigning king should be a pious, chivalrous devotee of the Lord and fear personified for the upstarts. He must also leave an heir apparent equally qualified to rule over the innocent citizens. In the modern setup of the democratic states, the people themselves are fallen to the qualities of the sudras or less, and the government is run by their representative, who is ignorant of the scriptural mode of administrative education. Thus the whole atmosphere is surcharged with sudra qualities, manifested by lust and avarice. Such administrators quarrel every day among themselves. The cabinet of ministers changes often due to party and group selfishness. Everyone wants to exploit the state resources till he dies. No one retires from political life unless forced to do so. How can such low-grade men do good to the people? The result is corruption, intrigue and hypocrisy. They should learn from the Srimad-Bhagavatam how ideal the administrators must be before they can be given charge of different posts. SB1.12.19 TEXT 19 brahmana ucuh partha prajavita saksad iksvakur iva manavah brahmanyah satya-sandhas ca ramo dasarathir yatha SYNONYMS brahmanah—the good brahmanas; ucuh—said; partha—O son of Prtha (Kunti); praja—those who are born; avita—maintainer; saksat—directly; iksvakuh iva—exactly like King Iksvaku; manavah—son of Manu; brahmanyah—followers and respectful to the brahmanas; satya-sandhah—truthful by promise; ca—also; ramah—the Personality of Godhead Rama; dasarathih—the son of Maharaja Dasaratha; yatha—like Him. TRANSLATION The learned brahmanas said: O son of Prtha, this child shall be exactly like King Iksvaku, son of Manu, in maintaining all those who are born. And as for following the brahminical principles, especially in being true to his promise, he shall be exactly like Rama, the Personality of Godhead, the son of Maharaja Dasaratha. PURPORT Praja means the living being who has taken his birth in the material world. Actually the living being has no birth and no death, but because of his separation from the service of the Lord and due to his desire to lord it over material nature, he is offered a suitable body to satisfy his material desires. In doing so, one becomes conditioned by the laws of material nature, and the material body is changed in terms of his own work. The living entity thus transmigrates from one body to another in 8,400,000 species of life. But due to his being the part and parcel of the Lord, he not only is maintained with all necessaries of life by the Lord, but also is protected by the Lord and His representatives, the saintly kings. These saintly kings give protection to all the prajas, or living beings, to live and to fulfill their terms of imprisonment. Maharaja Pariksit was actually an ideal saintly king because while touring his kingdom he happened to see that a poor cow was about to be killed by the personified Kali, whom he at once took to task as a murderer. This means that even the animals were given protection by the saintly administrators, not from any sentimental point of view, but because those who have taken their birth in the material world have the right to live. All the saintly kings, beginning from the King of the sun globe down to the King of the earth, are so inclined by the influence of the Vedic literatures. The Vedic literatures are taught in higher planets also, as there is reference in the Bhagavad-gita (4.1) about the teachings to the sun-god (Vivasvan) by the Lord, and such lessons are transferred by disciplic succession, as it was done by the sun-god to his son Manu, and from Manu to Maharaja Iksvaku. There are fourteen Manus in one day of Brahma, and the Manu referred to herein is the seventh Manu, who is one of the prajapatis (those who create progeny), and he is the son of the sun-god. He is known as the Vaivasvata Manu. He had ten sons, and Maharaja Iksvaku is one of them. Maharaja Iksvaku also learned bhakti-yoga as taught in the Bhagavad-gita from his father, Manu, who got it from his father, the sun-god. Later on the teaching of the Bhagavad-gita came down by disciplic succession from Maharaja Iksvaku, but in course of time the chain was broken by unscrupulous persons, and therefore it again had to be taught to Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra. So all the Vedic literatures are current from the very beginning of creation of the material world, and thus the Vedic literatures are known as apauruseya (not made by man). The Vedic knowledge was spoken by the Lord and first heard by Brahma, the first created living being within the universe. Maharaja Iksvaku: One of the sons of Vaivasvata Manu. He had one hundred sons. He prohibited meat eating. His son Sasada became the next king after his death. Manu: The Manu mentioned in this verse as the father of Iksvaku is the seventh Manu, of the name Vaivasvata Manu, the son of sun-god Vivasvan, to whom Lord Krsna instructed the teachings of Bhagavad-gita prior to His teaching them to Arjuna. Mankind is the descendant of Manu. This Vaivasvata Manu had ten sons, named Iksvaku, Nabhaga, Dhrsta, Saryati, Narisyanta, Nabhaga, Dista, Karusa, Prsadhra and Vasuman. The Lord’s incarnation Matsya (the gigantic fish) was advented during the beginning of Vaivasvata Manu’s reign. He learned the principles of Bhagavad-gita from his father, Vivasvan, the sun-god, and he reinstructed the same to his son Maharaja Iksvaku. In the beginning of the Treta-yuga the sun-god instructed devotional service to Manu, and Manu in his turn instructed it to Iksvaku for the welfare of the whole human society. Lord Rama: The Supreme Personality of Godhead incarnated Himself as Sri Rama, accepting the sonhood of His pure devotee Maharaja Dasaratha, the King of Ayodhya. Lord Rama descended along with His plenary portions, and all of them appeared as His younger brothers. In the month of Caitra on the ninth day of the growing moon in the Treta-yuga, the Lord appeared, as usual, to establish the principles of religion and to annihilate the disturbing elements. When He was just a young boy, He helped the great sage Visvamitra by killing Subahu and striking Marica, the she-demon, who was disturbing the sages in their daily discharge of duties. The brahmanas and ksatriyas are meant to cooperate for the welfare of the mass of people. The brahmana sages endeavor to enlighten the people by perfect knowledge, and the ksatriyas are meant for their protection. Lord Ramacandra is the ideal king for maintaining and protecting the highest culture of humanity, known as brahmanya-dharma. The Lord is specifically the protector of the cows and the brahmanas, and hence He enhances the prosperity of the world. He rewarded the administrative demigods by effective weapons to conquer the demons through the agency of Visvamitra. He was present in the bow sacrifice of King Janaka, and by breaking the invincible bow of Siva, He married Sitadevi, daughter of Maharaja Janaka. After His marriage He accepted exile in the forest for fourteen years by the order of His father, Maharaja Dasaratha. To help the administration of the demigods, He killed fourteen thousand demons, and by the intrigues of the demons, His wife, Sitadevi, was kidnapped by Ravana. He made friendship with Sugriva, who was helped by the Lord to kill Vali, brother of Sugriva. By the help of Lord Rama, Sugriva became the king of the Vanaras (a race of gorillas). The Lord built a floating bridge of stones on the Indian Ocean and reached Lanka, the kingdom of Ravana, who had kidnapped Sita. Later on Ravana was killed by Him, and Ravana’s brother Vibhisana was installed on the throne of Lanka. Vibhisana was one of the brothers of Ravana, a demon, but Lord Rama made him immortal by His blessings. On the expiry of fourteen years, after settling the affairs at Lanka, the Lord came back to His kingdom, Ayodhya, by flower plane. He instructed His brother Satrughna to attack Lavnasura, who reigned at Mathura, and the demon was killed. He performed ten Asvamedha sacrifices, and later on He disappeared while taking a bath in the Sarayu River. The great epic Ramayana is the history of Lord Rama’s activities in the world, and the authoritative Ramayana was written by the great poet Valmiki. SB1.12.20 TEXT 20 esa data saranyas ca yatha hy ausinarah sibih yaso vitanita svanam dausyantir iva yajvanam SYNONYMS esah—this child; data—donor in charity; saranyah—protector of the surrendered; ca—and; yatha—as; hi—certainly; ausinarah—the country named Usinara; sibih—Sibi; yasah—fame; vitanita—disseminator; svanam—of the kinsmen; dausyantih iva—like Bharata, the son of Dusyanta; yajvanam—of those who have performed many sacrifices. TRANSLATION This child will be a munificent donor of charity and protector of the surrendered, like the famous King Sibi of the Usinara country. And he will expand the name and fame of his family like Bharata, the son of Maharaja Dusyanta. PURPORT A king becomes famous by his acts of charity, performances of yajnas, protection of the surrendered, etc. A ksatriya king is proud to give protection to the surrendered souls. This attitude of a king is called isvara-bhava, or factual power to give protection in a righteous cause. In the Bhagavad-gita the Lord instructs living beings to surrender unto Him, and He promises all protection. The Lord is all-powerful and true to His word, and therefore He never fails to give protection to His different devotees. The king, being the representative of the Lord, must possess this attitude of giving protection to the surrendered souls at all risk. Maharaja Sibi, the King of Usinara, was an intimate friend of Maharaja Yayati, who was able to reach the heavenly planets along with Maharaja Sibi. Maharaja Sibi was aware of the heavenly planet where he was to be transferred after his death, and the description of this heavenly planet is given in the Mahabharata (Adi-parva 96.6–9). Maharaja Sibi was so charitably disposed that he wanted to give over his acquired position in the heavenly kingdom to Yayati, but he did not accept it. Yayati went to the heavenly planet along with great rsis like Astaka and others. On inquiry from the rsis, Yayati gave an account of Sibi’s pious acts when all of them were on the path to heaven. He has become a member of the assembly of Yamaraja, who has become his worshipful deity. As confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita, the worshiper of the demigods goes to the planets of the demigods (yanti deva-vrata devan [Bg. 9.25]); so Maharaja Sibi has become an associate of the great Vaisnava authority Yamaraja on that particular planet. While he was on the earth he became very famous as a protector of surrendered souls and a donor of charities. The King of heaven once took the shape of a pigeon-hunter bird (eagle), and Agni, the fire-god, took the shape of a pigeon. The pigeon, while being chased by the eagle, took shelter on the lap of Maharaja Sibi, and the hunter eagle wanted the pigeon back from the King. The King wanted to give it some other meat to eat and requested the bird not to kill the pigeon. The hunter bird refused to accept the King’s offer, but it was settled later on that the eagle would accept flesh from the body of the King of the pigeon’s equivalent weight. The King began to cut flesh from his body to weigh in the balance equivalent to the weight of the pigeon, but the mystic pigeon always remained heavier. The King then put himself on the balance to equate with the pigeon, and the demigods were pleased with him. The King of heaven and the fire-god disclosed their identity, and the King was blessed by them. Devarsi Narada also glorified Maharaja Sibi for his great achievements, specifically in charity and protection. Maharaja Sibi sacrificed his own son for the satisfaction of human beings in his kingdom. And thus child Pariksit was to become a second Sibi in charity and protection. Dausyanti Bharata: There are many Bharatas in history, of which Bharata the brother of Lord Rama, Bharata the son of King Rsabha, and Bharata the son of Maharaja Dusyanta are very famous. And all these Bharatas are historically known to the universe. This earth planet is known as Bharata, or Bharata-varsa, due to King Bharata the son of Rsabha, but according to some this land is known as Bharata due to the reign of the son of Dusyanta. So far as we are convinced, this land’s name Bharata-varsa was established from the reign of Bharata the son of King Rsabha. Before him the land was known as Ilavati-varsa, but just after the coronation of Bharata, the son of Rsabha, this land became famous as Bharata-varsa. But despite all this, Bharata, the son of Maharaja Dusyanta was not less important. He is the son of the famous beauty Sakuntala. Maharaja Dusyanta fell in love with Sakuntala in the forest, and Bharata was conceived. After that, Maharaja forgot his wife Sakuntala by the curse of Kanva Muni, and the child Bharata was brought up in the forest by his mother. Even in his childhood he was so powerful that he challenged the lions and elephants in the forest and would fight with them as little children play with cats and dogs. Because of the boy’s becoming so strong, more than the so-called modern Tarzan, the rsis in the forest called him Sarvadaman, or one who is able to control everyone. A full description of Maharaja Bharata is given in the Mahabharata, Adi-parva. The Pandavas, or the Kurus, are sometimes addressed as Bharata due to being born in the dynasty of the famous Maharaja Bharata, the son of King Dusyanta. SB1.12.21 TEXT 21 dhanvinam agranir esa tulyas carjunayor dvayoh hutasa iva durdharsah samudra iva dustarah SYNONYMS dhanvinam—of the great bowmen; agranih—the foreman; esah—this child; tulyah—equally good; ca—and; arjunayoh—of the Arjunas; dvayoh—of the two; hutasah—fire; iva—like; durdharsah—irresistible; samudrah—ocean; iva—like; dustarah—unsurpassable. TRANSLATION Amongst great bowmen, this child will be as good as Arjuna. He will be as irresistible as fire and as unsurpassable as the ocean. PURPORT In history there are two Arjunas. One is Karttavirya Arjuna, the King of Haihaya, and the other is the grandfather of the child. Both the Arjunas are famous for their bowmanship, and the child Pariksit is foretold to be equal to both of them, particularly in fighting. A short description of the Pandava Arjuna is given below: Pandava Arjuna: The great hero of the Bhagavad-gita. He is the ksatriya son of Maharaja Pandu. Queen Kuntidevi could call for any one of the demigods, and thus she called Indra, and Arjuna was born by him. Arjuna is therefore a plenary part of the heavenly King Indra. He was born in the month of Phalguna (February–March), and therefore he is also called Phalguni. When he appeared as the son of Kunti, his future greatness was proclaimed by air messages, and all the important personalities from different parts of the universe, such as the demigods, the Gandharvas, the Adityas (from the sun globe), the Rudras, the Vasus, the Nagas, the different rsis (sages) of importance, and the Apsaras (the society girls of heaven), all attended the ceremony. The Apsaras pleased everyone by their heavenly dances and songs. Vasudeva, the father of Lord Krsna and the maternal uncle of Arjuna, sent his priest representative Kasyapa to purify Arjuna by all the prescribed samskaras, or reformatory processes. His samskara of being given a name was performed in the presence of the rsis, residents of Satasrnga. He married four wives, Draupadi, Subhadra, Citrangada and Ulupi, from whom he got four sons of the names Srutakirti, Abhimanyu, Babhruvahana and Iravan respectively. During his student life he was entrusted to study under the great professor Dronacarya, along with other Pandavas and the Kurus. But he excelled everyone by his studious intensity, and Dronacarya was especially attracted by his disciplinary affection. Dronacarya accepted him as a first-grade scholar and loved heartily to bestow upon him all the blessings of military science. He was so ardent a student that he used to practice bowmanship even at night, and for all these reasons Professor Dronacarya was determined to make him the topmost bowman of the world. He passed very brilliantly the examination in piercing the target, and Dronacarya was very pleased. Royal families at Manipur and Tripura are descendants of Arjuna’s son Babhruvahana. Arjuna saved Dronacarya from the attack of a crocodile, and the Acarya, being pleased with him, rewarded him with a weapon of the name brahmasira. Maharaja Drupada was inimical toward Dronacarya, and thus when he attacked the Acarya, Arjuna got him arrested and brought him before Dronacarya. He besieged a city of the name Ahichhatra, belonging to Maharaja Drupada, and after taking it over he gave it to Dronacarya. The confidential treatment of the weapon brahmasira was explained to Arjuna, and Dronacarya was promised by Arjuna that he would use the weapon if necessary when he (Dronacarya) personally became an enemy of Arjuna. By this, the Acarya forecasted the future battle of Kuruksetra, in which Dronacarya was on the opposite side. Maharaja Drupada, although defeated by Arjuna on behalf of his professor Dronacarya, decided to hand over his daughter Draupadi to his young combatant, but he was disappointed when he heard the false news of Arjuna’s death in the fire of a shellac house intrigued by Duryodhana. He therefore arranged for Draupadi’s personal selection of a groom who could pierce the eye of a fish hanging on the ceiling. This trick was especially made because only Arjuna could do it, and he was successful in his desire to hand over his equally worthy daughter to Arjuna. Arjuna’s brothers were at that time living incognito under agreement with Duryodhana, and Arjuna and his brothers attended the meeting of Draupadi’s selection in the dress of brahmanas. When all the ksatriya kings assembled saw that a poor brahmana had been garlanded by Draupadi for her lord, Sri Krsna disclosed his identity to Balarama. He met Ulupi at Haridvara (Hardwar), and he was attracted by a girl belonging to Nagaloka, and thus Iravan was born. Similarly, he met Citrangada, a daughter of the King of Manipura, and thus Babhruvahana was born. Lord Sri Krsna made a plan to help Arjuna to kidnap Subhadra, sister of Sri Krsna, because Baladeva was inclined to hand her over to Duryodhana. Yudhisthira also agreed with Sri Krsna, and thus Subhadra was taken by force by Arjuna and then married to him. Subhadra’s son is Abhimanyu, the father of Pariksit Maharaja, the posthumous child. Arjuna satisfied the fire-god by setting fire to the Khandava Forest, and thus the fire-god gave him one weapon. Indra was angry when the fire was set in the Khandava Forest, and thus Indra, assisted by all other demigods, began fighting with Arjuna for his great challenge. They were defeated by Arjuna, and Indradeva returned to his heavenly kingdom. Arjuna also promised all protection to one Mayasura, and the latter presented him one valuable conchshell celebrated as the Devadatta. Similarly, he received many other valuable weapons from Indradeva when he was satisfied to see his chivalry. When Maharaja Yudhisthira was disappointed in defeating the King of Magadha, Jarasandha, it was Arjuna only who gave King Yudhisthira all kinds of assurances, and thus Arjuna, Bhima and Lord Krsna started for Magadha to kill Jarasandha. When he went out to bring all other kings of the world under the subjection of the Pandavas, as was usual after the coronation of every emperor, he conquered the country named Kelinda and brought in subjugation King Bhagdutt. Then he traveled through countries like Antagiri, Ulukpur and Modapur and brought under subjugation all the rulers. Sometimes he underwent severe types of penances, and later on he was rewarded by Indradeva. Lord Siva also wanted to try the strength of Arjuna, and in the form of an aborigine, Lord Siva met him. There was a great fight between the two, and at last Lord Siva was satisfied with him and disclosed his identity. Arjuna prayed to the lord in all humbleness, and the lord, being pleased with him, presented him the pasupata weapon. He acquired many other important weapons from different demigods. He received dandastra from Yamaraja, pasastra from Varuna, and antardhana-astra from Kuvera, the treasurer of the heavenly kingdom. Indra wanted him to come to the heavenly kingdom, the Indraloka planet beyond the moon planet. In that planet he was cordially received by the local residents, and he was awarded reception in the heavenly parliament of Indradeva. Then he met Indradeva, who not only presented him with his vajra weapon, but also taught him the military and musical science as used in the heavenly planet. In one sense, Indra is the real father of Arjuna, and therefore indirectly he wanted to entertain Arjuna with the famous society girl of heaven, Urvasi, the celebrated beauty. The society girls of heaven are lusty, and Urvasi was very eager to contact Arjuna, the strongest human being. She met him in his room and expressed her desires but Arjuna sustained his unimpeachable character by closing his eyes before Urvasi, addressing her as mother of the Kuru dynasty and placing her in the category of his mothers Kunti, Madri and Sacidevi, wife of Indradeva. Disappointed, Urvasi cursed Arjuna and left. In the heavenly planet he also met the great celebrated ascetic Lomasa and prayed to him for the protection of Maharaja Yudhisthira. When his inimical cousin Duryodhana was under the clutches of the Gandharvas, he wanted to save him and requested the Gandharvas to release Duryodhana, but the Gandharvas refused, and thus he fought with them and got Duryodhana released. When all the Pandavas lived incognito, he presented himself in the court of King Virata as a eunuch and was employed as the musical teacher of Uttara, his future daughter-in-law, and was known in the Virata court as the Brhannala. As Brhannala, he fought on behalf of Uttara, the son of King Virata, and thus defeated the Kurus in the fight incognito. His secret weapons were safely kept in the custody of a somi tree, and he ordered Uttara to get them back. His identity and his brothers’ identity were later on disclosed to Uttara. Dronacarya was informed of Arjuna’s presence in the fight of the Kurus and the Viratas. Later, on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra, Arjuna killed many great generals like Karna and others. After the Battle of Kuruksetra, he punished Asvatthama, who had killed all the five sons of Draupadi. Then all the brothers went to Bhismadeva. It is due to Arjuna only that the great philosophical discourses of the Bhagavad-gita were again spoken by the Lord on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra. His wonderful acts on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra are vividly described in the Mahabharata. Arjuna was defeated, however, by his son Babhruvahana at Manipura and fell unconscious when Ulupi saved him. After the disappearance of Lord Krsna, the message was brought by Arjuna to Maharaja Yudhisthira. Again, Arjuna visited Dvaraka, and all the widow wives of Lord Krsna lamented before him. He took them all in the presence of Vasudeva and pacified all of them. Later on, when Vasudeva passed away, he performed his funeral ceremony in the absence of Krsna. While Arjuna was taking all the wives of Krsna to Indraprastha, he was attacked on the way, and he could not protect the ladies in his custody. At last, advised by Vyasadeva, all the brothers headed for Mahaprasthan. On the way, at the request of his brother, he gave up all important weapons as useless, and he dropped them all in the water.