Bharathi199
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Author's note: Based on the English translation of the original Mahabharatha by Kisari Mohan Ganguli.
Towards the end of the Pandava agnyatha vaasa, the five brothers and Draupadi are living in the kingdom of King Virat. Arjuna is the eunuch Brihannala who teaches dance and music to princess Uttara. The Kauravas are trying hard to find out where the Pandavas are hiding. When they guess that they might be hiding here in Virat’s kingdom, they decide to attack from two sides with their friend King Susarman helping them.
The idea is that Susarman will attack first, force Virat to defend with his full army. Meanwhile, Duryodhana will attack from the opposite side, forcing the Pandavas to come out of hiding to defend the kingdom where they have found protection. Everything happens as per plan and when the huge Kaurava army attacks after Virat has taken the full army to fight Susarman, the only warrior left is the young prince Uttara or Uttarakumaran.
Uttarakumaran, like any other adolescent, is eager to show his strength and he sets out enthusiastically to face the Kauravas with Brihannala driving his chariot. But as Brihannala drives the chariot closer and closer to the huge army of the Kauravas, Uttarakumaran’s confidence and enthusiasm for the battle get weaker and weaker. Finally, he begs Brihannala to stop the chariot and take him back to the safety of the kingdom. But Brihannala has no such plans. Seeing this, Uttarakumaran jumps off the chariot and starts running away from the battlefield.
The mighty Arjuna, disguised as Brihannala, who has never run away from a battle before, now runs after Uttarakumaran. He catches hold of him, bundles him onto the chariot and drives over to the old tree in the cemetery where the Pandavas hid their weapons at the beginning of the agnyathavasa. Reaching there, he tells Uttarakumaran to climb up and bring down the bundle of weapons there, telling him that they belong to the Pandavas. Uttarakumaran brings down the bundle and on opening it he sees the Gandiva bow- shining like the sun.
He asks Brihannala where the Pandavas are now and Brihannala tells him that he himself is Arjuna. Uttarakumaran is not sure how he can believe the eunuch Brihannala and he says that he is ready to believe it if Brihannala can tell him all the ten names of Partha and why he got them. Brihannala recites the ten names of Arjuna in this way:
From: Virata Parva- Go-harana parva- SECTION XLIV
Towards the end of the Pandava agnyatha vaasa, the five brothers and Draupadi are living in the kingdom of King Virat. Arjuna is the eunuch Brihannala who teaches dance and music to princess Uttara. The Kauravas are trying hard to find out where the Pandavas are hiding. When they guess that they might be hiding here in Virat’s kingdom, they decide to attack from two sides with their friend King Susarman helping them.
The idea is that Susarman will attack first, force Virat to defend with his full army. Meanwhile, Duryodhana will attack from the opposite side, forcing the Pandavas to come out of hiding to defend the kingdom where they have found protection. Everything happens as per plan and when the huge Kaurava army attacks after Virat has taken the full army to fight Susarman, the only warrior left is the young prince Uttara or Uttarakumaran.
Uttarakumaran, like any other adolescent, is eager to show his strength and he sets out enthusiastically to face the Kauravas with Brihannala driving his chariot. But as Brihannala drives the chariot closer and closer to the huge army of the Kauravas, Uttarakumaran’s confidence and enthusiasm for the battle get weaker and weaker. Finally, he begs Brihannala to stop the chariot and take him back to the safety of the kingdom. But Brihannala has no such plans. Seeing this, Uttarakumaran jumps off the chariot and starts running away from the battlefield.
The mighty Arjuna, disguised as Brihannala, who has never run away from a battle before, now runs after Uttarakumaran. He catches hold of him, bundles him onto the chariot and drives over to the old tree in the cemetery where the Pandavas hid their weapons at the beginning of the agnyathavasa. Reaching there, he tells Uttarakumaran to climb up and bring down the bundle of weapons there, telling him that they belong to the Pandavas. Uttarakumaran brings down the bundle and on opening it he sees the Gandiva bow- shining like the sun.
He asks Brihannala where the Pandavas are now and Brihannala tells him that he himself is Arjuna. Uttarakumaran is not sure how he can believe the eunuch Brihannala and he says that he is ready to believe it if Brihannala can tell him all the ten names of Partha and why he got them. Brihannala recites the ten names of Arjuna in this way:
- Arjuna- because my character is spotless, without a stain, silvery white
- Phalguna- because I was born under the Uttara Phalguni star
- Jishnu- because I cannot be subdued
- Kiritin- because of the crown given to me by Indra
- Swetavahana- because when I go to battle, white horses pull my chariot
- Vibhatsu- because I have never done an unfair act on the battlefield
- Vijaya- because I have never lost a battle
- Krishna- because I am dark complexioned
- Savyasachin- because I can use both my arms with equal skill when shooting arrows
- Dhananjaya- because I gather vast amounts of wealth during my conquests from various kingdoms
From: Virata Parva- Go-harana parva- SECTION XLIV