Week 12 Story: Arjuna's Martyrdom
Arjuna was born to fight wars.
No, literally - he was born into the Kshatriya caste, which constituted the warriors and rulers. He had been preparing for battle and warfare since he was born. He had been the most astute warrior ever known, never faltering with his bow and arrow.
And, today, he was faced with the hardest battle of his life. He stood in the Kurukshetra Battlefield, facing his cousins and teachers. Drona, Bhishma - the whole crew. He didn't know what to do.
He stood and stared at everyone sharpening their weapons and preparing for battle before leaning in to his charioteer, Krishna, and whispering, "I don't think I can do this anymore. I've fought the toughest of wars in the world, but this is tougher than those. I cannot bring myself to kill my cousins and teachers, Krishna."
Krishna immediately grabbed the reins and steered the chariot into the middle of the battlefield. Everyone on both the Pandavas' and Kauravas' side froze and stared. What's going on? everyone wondered.
"It is your duty to fight, dear Arjuna," Krishna began. "Doing your job as per the ways of the karma yoga is one way to attain heaven."
It was still too much for Arjuna. "It matters not to me, Krishna," he said, dropping his bow. "I would rather die in their hands unarmed than slay any one of them."
"No, Arjuna, that's not -"
"My dear cousins and teachers, hear ye! I surrender to thee today, and offer myself to your weapons. Please kill me now so I do not kill any of you!" Arjuna interruped.
"Arjuna! What are you doing?" exclaimed Krishna.
"Doing what I feel is right," said Arjuna, with a sad, glossy tone to his voice. Krishna looked back at him in the eye, with a subtly coy expression on his face.
"Take this opportunity! I surrender myself!" Arjuna said, spreading his arms wide. The belligerent Duryodhana, with an arrogant smile on his face, grabbed his bow and shot an arrow through the air without a second thought. Who wouldn't? This was an opportunity to take out out the Pandavas' prime archer!
As Duryodhana's arrow shot through the air, Arjuna looked back at Krishna. Krishna had that same coy smile on his face, as if he knew this would happen.
Then, the arrow struck. Afterward, there was nothing but bliss.
Author's Note: In the original story of the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna is unable to fight his cousins and teachers, but Krishna gives him a philosophical "pep-talk" about how it is his duty to do so. In this version, however, Arjuna surrenders himself to his enemies, and attains salvation at doing so. Krishna appears to know this all from the beginning in the story, establishing his divinity.
No, literally - he was born into the Kshatriya caste, which constituted the warriors and rulers. He had been preparing for battle and warfare since he was born. He had been the most astute warrior ever known, never faltering with his bow and arrow.
And, today, he was faced with the hardest battle of his life. He stood in the Kurukshetra Battlefield, facing his cousins and teachers. Drona, Bhishma - the whole crew. He didn't know what to do.
He stood and stared at everyone sharpening their weapons and preparing for battle before leaning in to his charioteer, Krishna, and whispering, "I don't think I can do this anymore. I've fought the toughest of wars in the world, but this is tougher than those. I cannot bring myself to kill my cousins and teachers, Krishna."
Krishna immediately grabbed the reins and steered the chariot into the middle of the battlefield. Everyone on both the Pandavas' and Kauravas' side froze and stared. What's going on? everyone wondered.
"It is your duty to fight, dear Arjuna," Krishna began. "Doing your job as per the ways of the karma yoga is one way to attain heaven."
It was still too much for Arjuna. "It matters not to me, Krishna," he said, dropping his bow. "I would rather die in their hands unarmed than slay any one of them."
"No, Arjuna, that's not -"
"My dear cousins and teachers, hear ye! I surrender to thee today, and offer myself to your weapons. Please kill me now so I do not kill any of you!" Arjuna interruped.
"Arjuna! What are you doing?" exclaimed Krishna.
"Doing what I feel is right," said Arjuna, with a sad, glossy tone to his voice. Krishna looked back at him in the eye, with a subtly coy expression on his face.
"Take this opportunity! I surrender myself!" Arjuna said, spreading his arms wide. The belligerent Duryodhana, with an arrogant smile on his face, grabbed his bow and shot an arrow through the air without a second thought. Who wouldn't? This was an opportunity to take out out the Pandavas' prime archer!
As Duryodhana's arrow shot through the air, Arjuna looked back at Krishna. Krishna had that same coy smile on his face, as if he knew this would happen.
Then, the arrow struck. Afterward, there was nothing but bliss.
A picture depicting Krishna speaking to Arjuna during the events that constitute the Bhagavad Gita. Source.
Author's Note: In the original story of the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna is unable to fight his cousins and teachers, but Krishna gives him a philosophical "pep-talk" about how it is his duty to do so. In this version, however, Arjuna surrenders himself to his enemies, and attains salvation at doing so. Krishna appears to know this all from the beginning in the story, establishing his divinity.
Hey Vinay! I thought this part of the Mahabharata that you chose to base your story off of was really interesting because it allowed insight to who Krishna really was. I like how in your story you make Arjuna surrender himself and gain salvation from that. It seemed like in the original story, Arjuna was a little devastated to have to fight his mentors. He seemed especially saddened when he found out Karna was technically his brother, so your story seemed like a good way to give Arjuna the salvation he needed.
ReplyDeleteVinay,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I loved your image at the end of the story. Many people have commented on my blog to suggest that I move my image to the beginning of the story, and I have gotten a lot of positive feedback for that! I think the same would work well for you. As for the content of your story, I loved the large amount of dialogue you implemented-- the characters are so much more relatable and real when you hear their conversations between each other. This story was easy to follow, and I thought your interpretation of Arjuna was great. We could really see his feelings when he was told he had to fight against those he trusted and looked up to the most, and his sadness really came though also when Karna is mentioned as well. Great job, I look forward to reading more from you!
Hi Vinay!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I really enjoyed reading your week thirteen story. I liked the layout of your story and how you incorporated some dialogue between your characters. Also I think the image you added complements your story very well. Overall, I think you did a great job on this story and I can’t wait to read your other stories!
Vinay, you did a great job of starting off the story in a strong way. The tone that you use is very modern, and it would have been a lot easier to read through the epics if they had been written in this same style! Writing in this clipped, catchy style made the story flow very well and it was easy to absorb.
ReplyDeleteHi Vinay,
ReplyDeleteI really liked reading your story. I thought you gave a really interesting alternate version to the original battle and showed how two very different decisions ( his decision in the original story to fight and his decision in your story to surrender) could both be honorable and allow Arjuna to achieve salvation. Great job and I can't wait to read more.
-Elizabeth
Hey Vinay! I've read your stories before and I love your storybook project so I couldn't help but read another one of your stories. I am pretty sure you are tired of hearing me say how much I enjoy your writing. You have a real talent of making the original story your own and adding flesh to characters. The author's note is short but sweet with enough detail. Your story is well written and I didn't catch any grammar mistakes or anything. Good job!
ReplyDelete