Arjun and Urvashee

Arjun was still under a strange spell after seeing Shankar in person, that he saw a pearly while radiance all around him. All the Devtaa were coming to the peak of Indrakilaa. He saw Varun, the Dev of oceans; Kuber, the Dev of riches; Yam, the Dev of Death; Indra, the Dev of the Heavens. All blessed him. Yam Dev said - "You will be able to win all your enemies in war, your fame will live for ever. I give you my Astra." Varun said - "I am Varun, the Dev of oceans. I come from west. Receive my Varun Astra. Use it with discretion. It is as powerful as the Astra of Yam." Kuber said - "I am Kuber, the Dev of wealth. I come from north. I say that you will win all the wealth of earth and Heavens after destroying your enemies. I also give you my Astra." Indra embraced his son and said - "I am very happy with you. I will send you my chariot to bring you in my kingdom." Looking at all Dev Arjun was so happy that he could not speak anything, just fell at their feet. They blessed him and vanished. Arjun was feeling delightfully weak.

Suddenly he saw Indra's chariot with his Saarathee (charioteer) Maatali. He came to Arjun and asked him to come with him at once. Arjun said - "Yes, I should hurry. It is my great fortune to see the Heavens with these earthly eyes." And they went away. He took bath in Gangaa waters whose source is there in Swarg

Arjun then came to Amaraavatee (Indra's Nagaree) to take divine weapons. There he saw all the heavenly trees he had heard about. They passed the beautiful roads. Arjun came to Indra's court. Maatali took him inside, Indra welcomed him and made him sit on his throne near him. They both were happy - father and son. There Arjun saw many Apsaraa - Menakaa, Urvashee, Tilottamaa, Rambhaa etc. When he was watching their dances, Urvashee lost her heart to Arjun. Indra knew that there was something which was making Urvashee sad. He asked her "What was the matter?" Urvashee told Him that her heart was wandering around. Indra said - "This is not a good sign for Swarg Lok. Either control yourself or express your desire."

Arjun's thoughts would not let her sleep. The Moon was shining bright, she thought she should have Arjun. She got up from her bed and walked towards Arjun's abode. Wearing a thin cloth she was able to tempt even Rishi. She reached near the bed of Arjun and she expressed her desire of love to Arjun, Arjun got up and received her with great respect. He could not look into her hot eyes so he lowered his eyes and fell on her feet and said - "I cannot see what can I do to please you?" Urvashee said - "Since I have seen you in Indra's court looking at me, I am fallen in love with you. You must take me and put the end to my suffering."

Arjun put his hands on his both ears and said - "I should not hear such words from you. You are right that I saw you there, but that was only because I knew that once you were beloved of my ancestor Pururavaa, so I looked at you as I would have looked at a mother whom I had not seen before. That is why I continued to see you so long. You are like my mother, you should not talk like this to me." Urvashee said - "You do not understand me. We Apsaraa have no age, we are always young, we are not bound to earthly rules. Think me only as a dancer. You know so much about Dharm, but don't you know that it is the Dharm of a man to fulfill a desire of a woman who has come to him asking him to satisfy her desire."

Arjun was distressed in this situation, still he said - "You are like Kuntee, Maadree or Shachee to me. Please do not distress me with this kind of request." Urvashee was mad with anger, she said - "I thought you were a man, but I don't find you a man. You have insulted me, so I give you Shaap, "Because you are so much proud of your manliness, you lose your manliness, you become a eunuch, and you remain always only a son, not a husband." And Urvashee left the place. Arjun was left alone with that dreadful Shaap. He spent that night thinking and thinking something or other.

Next day he went to his friend Chitrasen and told what happened last night. Chitrasen went to Indra and told Him about the Shaap of Urvashee. Indra called Arjun and comforted him and said - "You have achieved what Rishi have not been able to achieve so far. As for her Shaap, I will ask her to reduce it to one year. But for one year you must suffer for her Shaap. In one way it will serve you good. In your 13th year when you will have to hide yourself, you may use this this Shaap of Urvashee." Arjun was relieved hearing this as it would be a great help to him. Then he got all the Divine Astra from Indra. He wanted to take permission to come back to Earth, but Indra said - "Your all education is incomplete without learning Gandharv Vidyaa from Chitrasen (king of Gandharv). You must learn it, it will be useful during your "hiding" period of one year." Therefore Arjun got trained in music and dance. He learned music and dance from his friend Chitrasen.

One day Rishi Lomash came to see Indra. He saw Arjun sitting on the same throne as Indra, he thought to himself, "He is a Kshatriya from the Earth, What special Yagya he has done to come here and sit on this throne?" Indra said - "Hey Muni, He is not an ordinary Kshatriya, he is Arjun, he is my son born from Kuntee. He came to learn Divine Astra from me. Do you remember the great Rishi Nar and Naaraayan? They both are born on Earth to fulfill a Divine purpose. Naaraayan is Krishn Himself and this is Nar. I have retained him to kill my enemies. They are the Nivaatkavach. When he had killed them, he will return to Prithvi.

I want a favor from you that while Arjun is here, his brothers are missing him on Prithvi, so you go to Prithvi, meet them and comfort all of them. Tell them that Arjun has got all Divine Astra and is now the master of music and dance being a student of Chitrasen. And Yudhishthir should go to Teerth Yaatraa (pilgrimage)." He blessed Indra and Arjun and proceeded towards Kaamyak Van