Arjuna Character Analysis

But even as the priests talked, some saying one thing, some another, Arjuna stood next to the bow, unmoving as a mountain. The afflicter of his enemies walked around it in respectful circumambulation, bowed to it with his head, then took hold of it in joyful excitement. In the time it takes to blink, he strung it; and he took up five arrows and swiftly pierced the target through the opening. It fell to the ground.

Once, in the middle of the hall, Dhritarashtra’s royal son came upon a crystal floor; fooled into thinking it water, King Duryodhana drew up his garments. After this he walked about the hall with angry heart and averted gaze. Next, seeing a pond of crystalline water adorned with crystal lotuses, he thought it was a floor, and fell, fully clothed, headlong into the water; when the servants saw that he had fallen in the pond, they laughed uproariously, before giving him clean clothes at the king’s command. Then mighty Bhima and Arjuna and the twins saw him in this state, and they too all burst out laughing.

‘I choose fame in the world, O Sun, even over life itself; for he that has fame gains heaven, whilst he that has none perishes.’

‘Prince of men,’ replied Arjuna, ‘here on this peak is a huge, dense śami tree. It has awesome branches, so it is hard to climb, and it stands next to the burning-ground; no one comes here, lord for it is growing off the path, in forest frequented by beasts and savage creatures. Let us stow our weapons in it and then set out for the city; in this way we shall be able to pass our days here free from worry, heir of Bharata.’

When Kunti’s son the wealth-winner heard Krishna’s words, he chose Krishna Keśava, though he would not fight in battle.

Hear, lord of the earth, how those heroes, the Kauravas, Pandavas and Somakas, fought on Kurukshetra, that place of asceticism. The mighty Pandavas came to Kurukshetra with the Somakas and advanced against the Kauravas, for they were eager for victory. Accomplished Vedic scholars all, they revelled in warfare, hoping for victory in combat but prepared for death on the battlefield.

The blessed lord replied, ‘I am Time, the destroyer of worlds, fully developed, and I have set out here to bring the worlds to their end.’

The hero who had laid waste the entire Kuru army, like an elephant in a lotus pond, now lay resplendent in death, like a wild elephant slain by hunters.

And he performed this last find and astonishing foe-slaying feat: at the time he was pierced in the heart by the Spear, he appeared, O king, huge as a cloud, or a mountain; then that Rakshasa prince fell headlong to earth from on high, body torn, limbs stilled, lifeless and speechless, but gigantic in form. Bhima’s son Ghatotkaca, doer of fearful deeds, fell with the terrifying, fearful form he had assumed; and thus even in death he smashed on whole section of your army, bringing terror to the Kauravas.

‘Karna, if you challenge Arjuna to battle, you are a hare challenging a mighty elephant with tusks like plough-shafts, its temporal glands bursting with rut. If you want to fight the son of Kunti, you are a silly child poking with a stick a deadly poisonous king cobra in its hole, its hood expanded.’

The glorious standard of Karna the mighty chariot-fighter was now destroyed by the noble wearer of the diadem with a razor-edged, gold-shafted arrow that he shot with the greatest of care; and with the fall of that standard there fell too the Kurus’ fame and dharma, and their hopes of victory, sir, and all that they held dear, and their very hearts.

Thus Yudhishthira lord of dharma lamented again and again; then, weeping softly, O king, the lord of men made an offering of water to his brother.

‘Perform the horse sacrifice in due form, with gifts to all the Brahmins; for the horse sacrifice purifies one of all sins, lord of kings, and after sacrificing with that rite you will be sinless, make no doubt.’

‘Great Indra,’ said Yudhishthira, ‘abandoning one who is devoted is considered an extreme sin in the world, equal to that of killing a Brahmin. Therefore for my own well-being today I shall certainly not abandon him.’

But even as the priests talked, some saying one thing, some another, Arjuna stood next to the bow, unmoving as a mountain. The afflicter of his enemies walked around it in respectful circumambulation, bowed to it with his head, then took hold of it in joyful excitement. In the time it takes to blink, he strung it; and he took up five arrows and swiftly pierced the target through the opening. It fell to the ground.

Once, in the middle of the hall, Dhritarashtra’s royal son came upon a crystal floor; fooled into thinking it water, King Duryodhana drew up his garments. After this he walked about the hall with angry heart and averted gaze. Next, seeing a pond of crystalline water adorned with crystal lotuses, he thought it was a floor, and fell, fully clothed, headlong into the water; when the servants saw that he had fallen in the pond, they laughed uproariously, before giving him clean clothes at the king’s command. Then mighty Bhima and Arjuna and the twins saw him in this state, and they too all burst out laughing.

‘I choose fame in the world, O Sun, even over life itself; for he that has fame gains heaven, whilst he that has none perishes.’

‘Prince of men,’ replied Arjuna, ‘here on this peak is a huge, dense śami tree. It has awesome branches, so it is hard to climb, and it stands next to the burning-ground; no one comes here, lord for it is growing off the path, in forest frequented by beasts and savage creatures. Let us stow our weapons in it and then set out for the city; in this way we shall be able to pass our days here free from worry, heir of Bharata.’

When Kunti’s son the wealth-winner heard Krishna’s words, he chose Krishna Keśava, though he would not fight in battle.

Hear, lord of the earth, how those heroes, the Kauravas, Pandavas and Somakas, fought on Kurukshetra, that place of asceticism. The mighty Pandavas came to Kurukshetra with the Somakas and advanced against the Kauravas, for they were eager for victory. Accomplished Vedic scholars all, they revelled in warfare, hoping for victory in combat but prepared for death on the battlefield.

The blessed lord replied, ‘I am Time, the destroyer of worlds, fully developed, and I have set out here to bring the worlds to their end.’

The hero who had laid waste the entire Kuru army, like an elephant in a lotus pond, now lay resplendent in death, like a wild elephant slain by hunters.

And he performed this last find and astonishing foe-slaying feat: at the time he was pierced in the heart by the Spear, he appeared, O king, huge as a cloud, or a mountain; then that Rakshasa prince fell headlong to earth from on high, body torn, limbs stilled, lifeless and speechless, but gigantic in form. Bhima’s son Ghatotkaca, doer of fearful deeds, fell with the terrifying, fearful form he had assumed; and thus even in death he smashed on whole section of your army, bringing terror to the Kauravas.

‘Karna, if you challenge Arjuna to battle, you are a hare challenging a mighty elephant with tusks like plough-shafts, its temporal glands bursting with rut. If you want to fight the son of Kunti, you are a silly child poking with a stick a deadly poisonous king cobra in its hole, its hood expanded.’

The glorious standard of Karna the mighty chariot-fighter was now destroyed by the noble wearer of the diadem with a razor-edged, gold-shafted arrow that he shot with the greatest of care; and with the fall of that standard there fell too the Kurus’ fame and dharma, and their hopes of victory, sir, and all that they held dear, and their very hearts.

Thus Yudhishthira lord of dharma lamented again and again; then, weeping softly, O king, the lord of men made an offering of water to his brother.

‘Perform the horse sacrifice in due form, with gifts to all the Brahmins; for the horse sacrifice purifies one of all sins, lord of kings, and after sacrificing with that rite you will be sinless, make no doubt.’

‘Great Indra,’ said Yudhishthira, ‘abandoning one who is devoted is considered an extreme sin in the world, equal to that of killing a Brahmin. Therefore for my own well-being today I shall certainly not abandon him.’