Epics of India - Vinay Kalvacherla

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 st...

Krishna reveals himself as the origin of all things - including the Devas Interesting parallels to other religions here; Krishna says he "gives knowledge to those who come to him;" similar to the concept of God in Islam, in which God has the ultimate power over all and can will anything  Krishna shows Arjuna the Vishwarupa - his Cosmic form  It would be interesting to write a story just describing this alone  Arjuna is moved by the Vishwarupa  Krishna reveals the bhakti yoga  - path of devotion, which is far more accessible to laymen  Krishna also establishes the fate of people in the afterlife - who goes to heaven, who is reborn, and who goes to hell  He describes what are "good" and what are "demonic" qualities  Another parallel to a different religion is made in the chapter about nirvana through renunciation - this time, Buddhism  How did the rest of the battlefield play with this dialogue? How was it possible to fight aft...

Story told in the form of Sanjaya relaying events to Dhritarashtra  There are a lot of warriors out on the field; this is interesting to note that it's more than just the Pandavas and Kauravas present  Arjuna breaks down at seeing his family members across the battlefield; this would be interesting to write yet another story from he viewpoint that he doesn't question the fact that they are his family members  What if he is filled with so much anger that he doesn't care who's there? He also says it would be better if the Kauravas just killed him while he was unarmed - it would save him the burden of having to fight  Krishna tells him about karma yoga: doing one's duty as if one is worshipping, so to speak  Also talks about asceticism as another path; interesting parallels to Islam here  Path of attaining knowledge is another one  Krishna then describes the all-power Brahman - smallest of the small, largest of the large It would be cool...