The Great Indian Epics : $b The Stories of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata
History
The Great Indian Epics : $b The Stories of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata
Epic literature, Sanskrit -- Adaptations; Heroes -- India -- Fiction; Hindu mythology -- Fiction; India -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
From one sacred stream to another, from one holy place to another,
wandered the willing exile, giving away much wealth to the Brahmans.
At length he travelled as far as Munipur. Now the King of Munipur
had a beautiful daughter named Chitrángadá. Arjuna saw, and fell
desperately in love with the fair maiden. He asked her hand in marriage
and obtained it, on condition that the first son born of the union
should be considered to belong to the King of Munipur, in order to
succeed him on the throne of that country. Three years did Arjuna
live at Munipur, but when a son was born to Chitrángadá he took an
affectionate farewell of her, and set out again upon his wanderings.
Visiting many lands and experiencing strange adventures, he at length
arrived at Dwarka, on the shore of the Southern Sea, the capital of his
kinsman, Krishna, King of the Yadhavas. A casual sight of Subhadrá,
the handsome sister of Krishna, made a strong and visible impression
upon the susceptible heart of Arjuna. Krishna perceived the effect
produced by his sister’s charms, and was not indisposed to an alliance
with the Pandava hero. Should Subhadrá, now of age, hold a swayamvara
or maiden’s choice? Krishna thought the result of such a plan might be
disappointing; for who could say what choice a capricious girl might
make! So, he artfully suggested to Arjuna to carry off the maiden by
force, since “in the case of Kshatriyas that are brave, a forcible
abduction for purposes of marriage is applauded, as the learned have
said.” Arjuna, who was ready to achieve anything achievable by man
to obtain “that girl of sweet smiles,” soon put the suggestion into
practice, to the great indignation of the Yadhava chiefs; but Krishna
threw oil upon the troubled waters, and everything was amicably settled
in the end, the wedding being celebrated on a magnificent scale. After
the prescribed twelve years of exile were completed, Arjuna returned
to Khandava-prasta with Subhadrá, and was loyally welcomed by all. But
when he visited Draupadi she evinced very natural signs of jealousy,
and recommended Arjuna to go to the daughter of the Satwata race.
However he coaxed her over, and when Subhadrá, dressed in red silk,
but in the simple fashion of a cow-keeper, approached and bowed down
to Draupadi, saying, “I am thy maid,” her resentful feelings were
disarmed; she rose hastily and embraced her young rival with the
significant greeting: “Let thy husband be without a foe.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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