Arjuna and Indra

After Bhima's birth, Pandu desires a supreme son, the best in all worlds. He performs severe austerities for a year to please Indra, king of the gods. When Indra grants the boon, Kunti summons him, and Arjuna is born amid celestial celebrations and a prophecy of his future glory.

Arjuna and Krishna encircle the Khandava forest, hunting down every creature that tries to flee while the god Agni rages through the woods. The gods, alarmed by the conflagration, beg Indra to intervene. Indra summons torrential rains, but the fire's heat evaporates the showers before they can touch the flames, setting the stage for a direct battle between the fire and the king of the gods.

Angered by Indra's earlier deception, Arjuna covers the sky with arrows, seeking to fight the king of the gods. Indra responds with a blazing missile that churns the oceans and summons a torrential storm. Arjuna invokes the vayavya (wind) weapon, drying the clouds and pacifying the sky.

Indra unleashes a shower of rain to extinguish the Khandava fire. Arjuna covers the sky with arrows, driving the rain away. When the serpent Ashvasena attempts to flee, his mother is killed, but Indra intervenes to save the son, provoking Arjuna's lasting curse.

Enraged, Indra leads the assembled pantheon in a final assault on Krishna and Arjuna. The two warriors stand firm, repulsing the gods with arrows. When Indra escalates by casting down a shower of rocks and flinging a mountain peak, Arjuna destroys them all.

The god of fire, Agni, rages through the Khandava forest, consuming everything. Krishna and Arjuna stand guard with divine weapons, slaughtering every creature that tries to flee and feeding them to the flames. Even the gods, led by Indra, arrive to save the forest but are utterly repulsed by the two warriors.

Indra and the host of heaven arrive to save the Khandava forest but find themselves powerless against Krishna and Arjuna. A disembodied voice from the sky reveals the warriors' true, invincible identities and declares the forest's fate is sealed, forcing the king of the gods to withdraw.

The Khandava forest is gone, consumed by Agni after five days and a night of burning. The fire, drunk on rivers of fat and marrow, appears before Arjuna and Krishna, satisfied. Then Indra himself descends, surrounded by the Maruts, and offers the heroes a reward for a deed even gods would find difficult.