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Mahābhārata The History of the Great India
<< 63 The Gandharva's Challenge >>
 |  | Carefully protecting their mother and keeping her always in view in front of them, the Pandavas, strong as bulls, set out toward the north on the smooth and recommended roads. The powerful sons of Pandu traveled day and night until they reached the sacred area known as Soma-sravayana, on the bank of the Ganges. [As the sun set,] admirable Arjuna went in front of them, holding up a torch to illumine the path for safety.
| | | They came to a lovely deserted stretch of the Ganges where a jealous Gandharva* king had come to play in the water with his women. As the Pandavas came down to the water's edge, the Gandharva king heard the noise, which drove that mighty being into a fierce rage.
| | | Seeing the valiant Pandavas there with their mother, the Gandharva brandished his awful bow and said, "When early evening enters and the forbidding twilight is stained with red, only the first eighty moments are fit for you people to be about. All the darkening time thereafter has been ordained for Yaksas, Gandharvas, and Raksasas to move about as they will. If human beings, in their selfish confusion, come roaming about at those hours, we and the Raksasas deal with those childish fools and drag them down. Therefore scholars of the Vedic science condemn any men—though they be kings and armies—who come to these waters at night.
| | | "Stay back where you are! Don't come close to me! Why do you not recognize me, who have come here to the waters of the Ganges? Know that I am the Gandharva Angaraparna and I live by my own power. I am proud and jealous, for I am the dear friend of the great Kuvera. This forest along the Ganges, also called Angaraparna, is mine, and the colorful settlement called Vaka wherein I dwell is also mine. Not even a dead body is allowed here, nor gods, nor human beings, nor beasts with horns. How then do you people dare come here?"
| | | Arjuna said, "You fool! In night or day or the time between, who dares claim the ocean or the Himalayan mountain or this sacred river? We are ready with power, and we dare to approach you now at the wrong time, for it is certain that only weak and powerless men will obey you in the hour of your cruelty.
| | | "The Ganges flows freely from a golden peak in the Himalayas. Transforming into seven branches, she goes to the waters of the sea. She is a sacred river, Gandharva, and you cannot obstruct her or drive people away from her, because her pure waters lead to the kingdom of God. How could you even think to close off this river, an act against the eternal law? How can we not bathe in the pure waters of the Ganges as much as we desire? Her waters cannot be obstructed by your mere words."
| | | Hearing these words, Angaraparna was furious. Bending his bow, he fired blazing arrows that shot out like deadly poisonous snakes. But Arjuna, whirling his torch like the finest of shields, drove away every one of the arrows.
| | | Arjuna said, "These scare tactics are not effective with those who know weapons. Rather, such attempts to frighten collapse like bubbles and foam when used on an expert fighter. I recognize that all Gandharvas are superior to human beings. Therefore I shall employ divine weapons, Gandharva, and not mere magic. Brhaspati, the guru of Lord Indra, long ago gave this fiery weapon of the gods called Rgneya unto Bharadvaja, who then taught it to Agnivesya, who delivered it to my guru. And he, Drona, the best of brahmanas, gave it unto me."
| | | Having thus spoken, the furious Pandava Arjuna released his blazing Rgneya weapon against the Gandharva, burning his chariot to ashes. Stunned by the missile's heat and bereft of his chariot, the mighty Gandharva tottered and fell head first toward the ground. Arjuna seized him by the hair on his head, which was adorned with wreaths, and dragged him back to show his brothers.
| | | The Gandharva lady said, "O lord, my name is Kumbhinasi. I am a Gandharva woman, and I have come to you for shelter. Please, I beg you, Maharaja, forgive and protect us and release my husband." Yudhisthira Maharaja said, "Who would kill an enemy defeated in battle and deprived of his glory, especially the husband of a good woman and no longer resisting? Arjuna, O slayer of enemies, release him."
| | | Arjuna said, "Take him, brother. Go now, Gandharva! Don't worry. Yudhisthira, the Kuru king, grants you immunity from all punishment."
| | | *The Gandharvas are a type of celestial beings.
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