Vyasa

Aranyaka Parva›Duryodhana's Ghosha Expedition and Humiliation

Arjuna Confronts the Gandharvas Over the Kauravas

Why "Supporting"?

Causal ReachTop 86%
Character WeightTop 89%
State ChangeTop 93%
Narrative RecallTop 50%

~1 min read

The gandharvas have captured the Kauravas and their wives on the battlefield. Arjuna, seeing this, demands their release on the orders of Dharmaraja Yudhishthira. The gandharvas laugh and refuse — they obey only the lord of the gods. Arjuna gives them one chance to release the captives peacefully, then draws his bow.

Savyasachi — Arjuna, the left-handed archer who could shoot with either hand — saw what the gandharvas were doing. They had surrounded the sons of Dhritarashtra and their wives on the open battlefield. The women were being oppressed. The Kaurava princes were being held captive. It was not a skirmish between equals; it was a rout, and the gandharvas were treating their prisoners with contempt. Arjuna stepped forward and addressed the travellers of the sky directly. "This is not an act worthy of the king of the gandharvas — oppressing the wives of other men and consorting with humans. Release the sons of Dhritarashtra. They are extremely brave, and you have no right to hold them. On the instructions of Dharmaraja Yudhishthira, free their wives as well." The gandharvas heard him out. Then they laughed. "There is only one person on earth whose instructions we obey," they replied. "Under his rule, we roam around without any anxiety. O descendant of the Bharata lineage, we do only what he commands us to do. Other than that lord of the gods, there is no one else who can command us." Arjuna understood. They were speaking of Indra, king of the gods — his own father. The gandharvas served the lord of heaven, not the king of the Kurus. They would not release the Kauravas simply because Yudhishthira asked. "O gandharvas," Arjuna said, "if you do not free the sons of Dhritarashtra through peaceful means, I will exhibit my valour and free Suyodhana myself." He did not wait for an answer. Partha Savyasachi Dhananjaya — all three names of the same man, the son of Kunti, the left-handed archer, the winner of wealth — released sharp arrows at the roamers of the sky. The shafts travelled through the air with the speed of his intent. The gandharvas were insolent of their strength. They answered with a shower of their own arrows, raining them down on the Pandavas. The Pandavas answered in kind, sending their own volleys back at the residents of heaven. Thus began a terrible battle between the swift gandharvas and the immensely swift Pandavas.

Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 530