Pandavas Battle and Befriend the Gandharva Angaraparna
Traveling north at night, the Pandavas approach the Ganga for water and disturb the gandharva Angaraparna, who is sporting with his wives. The jealous celestial being draws his bow, declaring the night belongs to his kind and forbidding humans to approach. Arjuna refuses to back down, leading to a clash of divine weapons.
The Pandavas walked north through the dark, their mother Kunti ahead of them. They had been walking day and night. When they reached the banks of the Ganga, Arjuna led the way with a torch in his hand to light the path and guard them.
In the beautiful waters, the gandharva Angaraparna was sporting with his wives. He heard the sound of their approach. The sound inflamed him with rage. Seeing the Pandavas and their mother, he drew his terrible bow and spoke.
“It is known,” he declared, “that except for the first eighty instants of dusk, the rest of the night is set aside for yakshas, gandharvas, and rakshasas who can travel at will. Humans may travel in the day. If men wander at night out of greed, we attack and kill the stupid ones. Those learned in the Vedas disapprove of kings who come near the water in the night. Stay back. Do not come near me. Do you not know I am bathing? Know me to be the gandharva Angaraparna. I rely on my own strength. I am proud, jealous, and I am Kubera’s beloved friend. This is my forest on the banks of the Ganga. No corpses, animals, gods, or humans dare set foot here. How dare you come?”
Arjuna answered, “O evil-minded one! Whether it is night, day, or twilight, how can the ocean, the Himalayas, or this river be barred to anyone? We are endowed with strength. We do not care if we disturb you at the wrong time. It is only weak men who worship you in this cruel hour. This Ganga, issuing from the golden peaks of the Himalayas, descends into the ocean in seven streams. In the celestial regions, it is known as Alakananda. In the region of the ancestors, it is known as Vaitarani, impossible for sinners to cross. Krishna Dvaipayana has said this divine, pure river, which can take one to heaven, is accessible to everyone. How can you bar us? That is not eternal dharma. Because of your words, why should we not touch, as we will, the sacred waters of the Bhagirathi?”
Hearing this, Angaraparna became furious. He drew his bow and shot flaming arrows that were like venomous snakes. With the torch in his hand, Arjuna warded off the arrows with his shield.
“O gandharva!” Arjuna said. “Don’t try to frighten those skilled in weapons. Weapons unleashed at them disappear like froth. I know gandharvas are superior to men. Therefore, I will fight you with divine weapons, not with maya (illusion). In ancient times, this agneya (fire) missile was given by Brihaspati, Indra’s preceptor, to Bharadvaja. From Bharadvaja it went to Agniveshya, and from Agniveshya to my preceptor. Drona, supreme among Brahmanas, gave it to me.”
The angry Pandava unleashed the blazing agneya weapon. It instantly burnt the gandharva’s chariot to ashes. Knocked unconscious by the missile’s energy, the powerful Angaraparna fell face down from his chariot. Arjuna seized him by the hair, which was adorned with garlands, and dragged the unconscious gandharva toward his brothers.
On seeing this, the gandharva’s wife, Kumbhinasi, ran to Yudhishthira for protection. “O great king!” she pleaded. “Save me and set my husband free. The gandharvi Kumbhinasi seeks your protection.”
Yudhishthira said, “O destroyer of enemies, which hero will kill an enemy who has been defeated, has lost his fame, and is now protected by a woman? Set him free.”
Arjuna obeyed. “O gandharva! Have your life. Go from here and do not grieve. Yudhishthira, king of the Kurus, has ordered safety for you today.”
The gandharva rose, humbled. “I have been defeated by you. Therefore, I will give up my earlier name of Angaraparna. Among men, I can no longer show my pride in strength or in name. I wanted to fight, with the maya of the gandharvas, with someone at the peak of his youth. It is my good fortune I encountered one with celestial weapons. My supreme chariot has been burnt. I was earlier called Chitraratha (‘of the bright chariot’) and have now become Dagdharatha (‘of the burnt chariot’). I spoke to you about knowledge I attained through austerities. Today, I will give it to the great-souled one who has granted me life. He who saves the life of a vanquished enemy who seeks sanctuary deserves good fortune.”
He offered them a gift: the knowledge called chakshushi (the power of sight). “It was given by Manu to Soma, and Soma gave it to Vishvavasu. Vishvavasu gave it to me. When the preceptor gives this knowledge to a coward, it is destroyed. Now learn its power: whatever you wish to see through your eyes in all the three worlds will be seen by you, exactly as you wish. One can acquire this knowledge by standing on one leg for six months. I give my word I will bestow it on you. It is because of this knowledge that we are superior to men. Because we have the power of seeing everything, we are the equals of the gods.”
He offered more. “O best of men! I wish to give each of you five brothers, separately, one hundred horses from the land of the gandharvas. They are divinely scented and possess the speed of the mind. They are used to transport the gods and the gandharvas. However tired they are, they never lose their speed.” He explained the sacred nature of such horses, calling them the offspring of vadava (the submarine fire mare) and a form of the vajra (thunderbolt) itself. “These horses can assume any colour at will, any speed at will, and can go anywhere at will. They will always fulfil any desire.”
Arjuna was hesitant. “O gandharva! I have no desire to accept the knowledge or the riches if you are giving them to me out of satisfaction at my having saved your life.”
The gandharva replied, “An encounter with a great person is always a matter of satisfaction. In addition to that, you have given me my life. Being pleased with you, I am giving you the knowledge. O bull among the Bharatas! In return, to make it equal, I shall take from you the supreme agneya weapon, so that our friendship is eternal.”
Arjuna agreed. “O gandharva! I shall accept your horses in return for my weapon. Let our friendship be eternal. O friend! Tell me how we can be free from danger from your race.”