Vyasa

Aranyaka Parva›Arjuna's Heavenly Sojourn and Battle with the Nivatakavachas

Yudhishthira Asks Arjuna About His Heavenly Sojourn

Why "Major"?

Causal ReachTop 64%
Character WeightTop 97%
State ChangeTop 83%
Narrative RecallTop 50%

~1 min read

Arjuna returns from heaven and bows before Yudhishthira. Yudhishthira inhales the fragrance of his brother's head — a gesture of blessing — and asks, with a voice broken from delight: how did you spend your time in heaven? How did you satisfy the king of the gods and obtain the weapons?

When Indra had departed the way he had come, together with his brothers and Krishna, Arjuna showed homage to Yudhishthira, the son of Dharma. Yudhishthira inhaled the fragrance of the head of Pandava Arjuna, who had bowed down before him. His voice was broken from delight as he spoke. "O Arjuna! How did you spend this time in heaven? How did you satisfy the king of the gods and how did you obtain the weapons? Have you obtained all the weapons completely? Have the king of the gods and Rudra given you the weapons happily? How did you see Shakra and the illustrious wielder of the pinaka? How did you obtain the weapons and how did you worship them? Why did the illustrious Shatakratu say that you had done that which brought him pleasure? What did you do to please him? I wish to hear all this in detail — how you satisfied Mahadeva and the king of the gods. How did you please the wielder of the vajra? Tell me everything."

Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 460