In the previous episode, we had witnessed Brihannala (Arjuna) continuously motivating Utthara Kumara to put up a brave fight against the enemies gathered outside the Viraata Desha, however, Utthara Kumara is only interested in running away from there! At one stage, Brihannala gets fed up with Utthara Kumara’s cowardly attitude and asks him to pass on the mantle to Brihannala himself! Surprised by this move, Utthara Kumara questions Brihannala’s capabilities and Brihannala gives a safe answer, just to portray himself to be on the “weaker side”. Without an option, Utthara Kumara accedes to Brihannala’s request and asks him to take over. Meanwhile, observing Brihannala’s body structure, the way in which he is getting down from the chariot, running, etc. Guru Dhronachaarya vaguely figures out that this Brihannala could be none other than Arjuna himself in the disguised form! So what happenes next? Let us witness today!
Moving on thus, as Utthara Kumara passes on the mantle, Brihannala once again gets on to the chariot, and this time for a chance, Utthara Kumara is going to drive the chariot! Brihannala instructs Utthara Kumara to proceed towards the banyan tree where all the weapons are shielded secretly! As this happens, the enemy camp is wonderstruck! Just a moment ago, Utthara Kumara was in the warrior’s seat and now he is the charioteer! How can this happen? Even before Duryodhana and Co. rub their eyes and come to reality, Brihannala instructs Utthara Kumara to climb the banyan tree and bring down the dead body carefully. Utthara Kumara could not believe what he is being asked to do! Even though he has objections, he does not have an option as the instruction from Brihannala is extremely strong. Utthara Kumara obeys Brihannala’s words and keeps the dead body safely by the side, even though it is smelling so bad!
Now comes the surprise! As the dead body is kept aside, Utthara Kumara is able to see what is there behind the dead body! A bright, shining glittering huge bow! Upon seeing this, Utthara Kumara asks Brihannala thus, “Oh Brihannala! What is this? This seems to be a great bow, which has come from the Devas! By any chance, is this the famous “Gaandeepa” bow that Arjuna has in his hands always?” Brihannala quietly replies back thus, “Oh Utthara Kumara! Yes! This is the Gaandeepa bow of Arjuna! Without a doubt, you’re right!” As Brihannala hears thus, he again asks back – “Oh Brihannala! What are you going to do with this? Do you know that nobody will even be able to lift it? If that is the case, how are you going to lift it and fight the enemies out there? This bow looks “Wow”! It’s fully made of precious ornaments and let me atleast prostrate in front of it for once! I’ve never seen such a bow ever in my life! How do you know that such a weapon is here amidst a dead body and a tree? Who told you all these secrets? How did Arjuna’s possession come here?”
As Utthara Kumara asks a series of questions thus, Brihannala slowly replies: “Oh Utthara Kumara! Yes! You are right! This “Gaandeepa” is of Arjuna’s and is gifted to him by the Devas! This Gaandeepa bow was with Bhagawan Brahma in the “Satya Lokha” for over a thousand years. For the next 503 years, this bow was with King Prajapati. Subsequently, Indra had it for another 500-odd years. Varuna Bhagawan was also having this for the next 100 years. Subsequently, this bow has come to Arjuna and it is with him for the past 65 years!” As Brihannala says thus, we can roughly calculate Arjuna’s age at this point in time! If the Gaandeepa is with Arjuna for 65 years now, we’ve witnessed how Arjuna had obtained it earlier, isn’t it? We’ve seen how the Kaandava Vanam was completely burnt by Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna together and at that point, Indra gifted Arjuna a golden chariot and this Gaandeepa bow to fight all the Raakshasas who came out of that Kaandava Vanam. All this happened before the Indraprastha city was built! Hence, when Arjuna obtained the Gaandeepa, he would have been around 25 years old! Now if we calculate, when this particular episode is taking place, Arjuna would have been approximately 90 years old! Of course in those times, the life span of human beings was very high and even at the age of 90, people were quite active like how today’s 45-50-year-old would be!
Coming back to our context thus, Utthara Kumara asks Brihannala thus, “Oh Brihannala! You’re saying so much about Gaandeepa, aren’t you? How do you know all these intricate details? Where are the Paandava brothers? Why are their weapons here and where have they gone, keeping all of them here?” Now comes a very important stage here – If Brihannala should answer this question, he has only two options – One – He has to reveal himself to show that he is none other than Arjuna himself! Or, he can carefully choose not to respond to Utthara Kumara’s question! So what is Brihannala going to do here? Let us wait and witness in the upcoming episode! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 