He had it! He would go to the sacred grounds at the base of the Himalaya Mountains to fast and pray to get in contact with the gods. The gods always know best, so he could ask them what to do and surely it would be the right decision. He packed what few possessions he had right away and began his journey.
It took him over a week to make the trip. Every day he ate less food than the day before to prepare for fasting once he arrived. Several times he spotted animals that he could have easily shot with his bow and arrow, but he did not think it was right to end a life just to eat a little bit of the body. He snacked mostly on fruits and roots. Finally he arrived at the sacred grounds where his parents had brought him as a child. It was beautiful in every direction as far as the eye could see. Nothing had changed since he had last been here.
Arjuna began to pray day in and day out. He worshiped small statues of the gods that the elders of the land had placed there long ago. For several days he did not even see another living creature, much less one of the gods. On the fifth day Arjuna was praying next to a tree at sunrise. He heard a twig snap several yards behind him. He whipped around to see a wild boar grazing in a bush. They locked eyes. Arjuna’s bow was far away at the place where he had slept and he had no weapons on him. The beast charged at him and lunged forward. Arjuna caught the boar by the tusks and threw him to the ground. They wrestled around on the ground exchanging blows for some time. As Arjuna was about to land a blow that would end the beast’s life it changed forms into a human-like figure. Arjuna recognized the face to be that of the god Shiva.
Arjuna rolled off of Shiva and knelt on the ground before him. Shiva congratulated him on the fight and presented him with the divine bow saying that he was to protect the Pandavas with it. The bow was stiff and made of oak and strung with the hair of gods. Arjuna knew that it held a lot of power. Then Shiva disappeared and Arjuna was left alone in the forest.
He immediately found his own bow and shot a squirrel with it. Then he roasted it over a fire and feasted on it. It was the best meal he had ever had. After the meal he returned to the divine bow again to admire its beauty, but to his surprise it was nothing but a stick with long grass stuck to it. He realized that the whole thing had been a delusion.
Author's Note:
In the original version of this story Arjuna travels to the
base of the Himalaya Mountains in order to get the bow knowing that he is going
to protect his brothers, the Pandavas. He encounters a boar and shoots it with his bow at the
same time that a hunter shoots it. They see each other and begin to fight, but
the hunter eventually reveals himself as the god Shiva. He gives the bow to
Arjuna and he takes the bow to be with the Pandavas.
I decided to make Arjuna and Duryodhana brothers simply to make it a more dramatic decision for Arjuna. I changed Arjuna’s reason for going to the mountains. In
this story he is seeking advice from the gods on whose side to take in his dilemma.
Then I had Shiva take the shape of the boar instead of the other hunter that
shot the boar. Finally, in my version of
the story Arjuna never really saw Shiva or received the bow from him. He hallucinated from lack of food and upon eating again he realized this.
I chose this picture because it captures the central theme
of this story. The whole mission was for Arjuna to find the gods and receive
their advice. When Shiva reveals himself the entire story is brought together
and the mission is completed.
Bibliography:
PDE Mahabharata: Arjuna and Shiva by Sister Nivedita (1914)
Thank you for sharing this story, Taler. It was interesting to see how you took a tale from the Mahabharata and tweaked the ending to make it your own. I really enjoyed the details that you included about Arjuna's battle with the boar. It helped me to picture the event as it unfolded.
ReplyDeleteIf you ever felt like adding anything to it, I think you should expand on Arjuna's delusion a bit. In your author's note, you explain that Arjuna did not initially notice that the bow was merely a stick because of his fasting. When I read the story, I did not make this connection. If you could make it a bit more explicit, I think the conclusion to the tale would be all the better.
As far as the form of the story goes, you broke everything up into manageable chunks. Each paragraph conveys a single idea or event. This makes it much easier to follow. I also like the background to your blog. It fits well with your story being that Arjuna is journeying to the Himalayas!
Hello Taler,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your retell story. It was nice that you were descriptive throughout the story about Arjun’s journey. I liked your choice of image because it showed the main point of the story when Arjun was receiving the divine bow. The layout of each paragraph was nice. Thank you for sharing the story. Looking forward to read more of your stories.
Taler,
ReplyDeleteThis was a pretty cool version of the story. I enjoyed the twists and turns. I really liked the fact that you had Arjuna searching for an answer, making it a quest story. I also liked the bore being made into the god Shiva. Very cool stuff. I would have liked to have felt closer to the character though, rather than just having narrations I wonder what it would have felt like having dialog between him and Shiva, or even hearing his prayers or talking with the Panduva’s about their being banished. The fact that it was all a delusion was priceless though.
Taler,
ReplyDeleteI chose this story because of the title. It really grabbed my attention and made me want to read more. I liked how you talked about Arjuna having to prepare for the fast ahead. That was very wise of him. It would have been very difficult for him to fast if he was used to eating full meals every day. Also, I really like the changes that you made in this story. It was interesting for you to make the entire meeting with Shiva a hallucination. However, did Arjuna eating just mess up his reasoning for fasting in the first place? I also enjoyed that you made the hallucination Shiva the boar instead of another hunter. I think that made for a more dramatic twist. I think it would be more amazing realizing that Shiva was a boar than Shiva being a man. Overall, great job with your story!
Hey Taler,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your story! Even the first dilemma in the story seems tough. To stay loyal to his brother and king or help out the less fortunate (the pandavas). I have noticed a few punctuation errors that you may want to go back and look at. That would be terrifying for a boar to sneak up behind you! Those things are big and mean. Wow, that would be crazy to be killing a boar and then it actually is a god. The picture that you included in your story works very well. It makes it easy to visualize the characters and the setting. I think that your overall formatting looks good and the story itself flows very well. My only advice would be to read through the story aloud to catch a lot of the punctuation issues. Overall, great job on the story! It was another fantastic read.