Arjun had become very proud of his archery skills. Particularly, after getting the ‘Gandiv Dhanush’, he had become overconfident. One day, he went to meet Lord Krishna in Dwarka. As he sat with the Lord boasting of his bravery, a weeping Brahmin knocked on the palace gates. When he was produced before Krishna, he narrated his tale of woe. Even his ninth son had been taken away by evil spirits. He now feared for the life and safety of his tenth child, which his wife was about to deliver. Krishna calmly kept listening to the Brahmin without uttering a word. Arjun was sure that with his immense strength, he could help the Brahmin. But, he wondered why the mighty Lord was quiet when he could easily help the poor man. He could not contain himself. He asked the Brahmin to come to him when his wife was about to deliver their tenth child. The Brahmin remained apprehensive. But, Arjun boasted of his strength and told him not to worry.
    A few weeks later, the Brahmin came to call Arjun. His wife was about to give birth to the tenth child. Arjun carefully surveyed the entire surroundings of the Brahmin’s hut. He then shot arrows from his ‘Gandiv Dhanush’ to erect a strong barricade all round the hut. He then stood guard outside. There was no way now that anyone could enter the poor Brahmin’s hut.
After a while, the cry of the newborn baby echoed from the hut. Arjun was elated. But, soon his joy turned into despair. A few minutes later, the Brahmin appeared before him weeping. He told Arjun that as soon as the child was born, it vanished into thin air. Arjun was puzzled. He could not believe that anything could get past his barricade. Arjun consoled the weeping Brahmin. He asked him not to worry and set out in search of the child. He searched far and wide. But he could not find the Brahmin’s child. He became very depressed. Just then, Lord Krishna appeared before him and offered to take him to the lost sons of the Brahmin. Arjun was very surprised.
He boarded Krishna’s chariot and off they went. Soon, they crossed high mountains and season and entered a long, dark tunnel. Krishna hurled his mighty chakra which raced ahead of them lighting up their path. In a few moments Arjun found himself in the ‘Kshir Sagar’. There, sitting on the Shesh Nag, was Lord Vishnu in all his glory. He was surrounded by the ten sons of the Brahmin. Arjun could not believe his eyes. Krishna then explained to Arjun that he had stage managed the whole episode to instill in him the virtue of humility. Arjun realised his mistake and apologized to the Lord. He promised never to boast again.
Lord Vishnu smiled at him and asked him to be humble and spread the message of dharma. Arjun bowed before Vishnu in reverence and received his blessings.
He took all the ten sons of the Brahmin and handed them over to their father, and continued to live a life of humility and dharma, as directed by the Lord.

Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author and Columnist

Happy to share my piece in today’s (16/9/26) Times of India, Speaking Tree…’Every Separation Diminishes the Whole’. Hope you like the post.

Author and Columnist

Kamlesh Tripathi

Copyright@shravancharitymission

Once the mighty Arjun went on a pilgrimage. He was accompanied by his guide, a learned Brahmin. On reaching Rameshwaram, his guide showed him the spot where Lord Rama and his monkey brigade had built a bridge of arrows leading up to Sri Lanka. Arjun asked his guide why Lord Rama needed the help of monkeys for such a simple task. On hearing this, a small monkey sitting on a tree started laughing. He explained to Arjun that without the help of the monkeys, a strong bridge could never have been constructed. Arjun argued that anyone could easily build a strong bridge. So why couldn’t Lord Rama do it. At this, the monkey challenged Arjun to build a bridge, which he would break easily. The monkey said that if he was unable to break the bridge, he would become Arjun’s slave for the rest of his life. Arjun was very proud of himself. He readily accepted the challenge and said that if the bridge collapsed under the monkey’s weight, he would immolate himself.
    He stepped to the shore and began shooting powerful arrows from his quiver gifted to him by Agnidev. In no time, the bridge was ready. He then challenged the monkey to break it. As soon as the small monkey set foot on the mighty bridge, it immediately collapsed under his weight. Arjun could not believe his eyes. He reconstructed the bridge. But surprisingly, it again collapsed under the tiny monkey’s weight. When this happened again and again, Arjun accepted defeat. Just as he was about to immolate himself, a young boy appeared. He asked Arjun why he was committing self-immolation. Arjun explained to him that he had lost a bet with the monkey. So he had to end his life. The boy said that since there was no witness, it was improper to decide the outcome of the bet. He said that it would be better to repeat the exercise in his presence, so that the winner could be fairly decided.
Once again, Arjun constructed a bridge of arrows. The monkey again stepped on it. But surprisingly, this time nothing happened to the bridge. The monkey was amazed. He jumped on the bridge with all his might. But the bridge did not break. The monkey was furious. He decided to assume his true form. He started growing bigger and bigger. Soon, he was as big as a huge mountain. He then jumped on the bridge with all his strength. But again, nothing happened. The monkey was puzzled. He kept on jumping furiously till he was totally tired. But the bridge did not break.
Both, Arjun and the monkey, who was actually Hanuman himself, were puzzled by the turn of events. They realised that the young boy was no ordinary person. They fell at his feet and asked him to reveal his true identity. The boy reverted to his true form. He was none other than Lord Vishnu. He chastised both of them for being too proud. As atonement, he said that Hanuman would have to be on Arjun’s flagstaff all the time.
This is how Arjun got to have the mighty Hanuman on his flagstaff.

Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author and Columnist