Kiriti and Brihannala

Arjuna in Indraloka

During their exile, Arjuna spent time and effort in acquiring weapons and mastering their use.

He propitiated Shiva who appeared before him as a hunter (along with Parvathi as the hunter’s wife) shot arrows at the same boar (an asura) that Arjuna shot, picked up an argument about who shot the boar and defeated Arjuna in combat. Finally a pleased Shiva revealed himself and gave Arjuna the famed Pashupatastra.

As Arjuna began his ascent on the Indrakeel mountain, his father Indra sent his golden chariot driven by Matali his charioteer. Thus Arjuna went to Swarga or Indraloka, the abode of Indra and spent five human years learning the use of various divine weapons from Indra himself.

Additionally Arjuna learnt dance from the celestial musicians and dancers, the Gandharvas. This would hold him in good stead in the future but Arjuna was not aware of it yet.

Indra wanted to annihilate three crore daanavas known as Nivatakavachas. But they had sought a boon from Bramha that they could not be killed by devathes, daityas, gandharvas, yakshas or even other rakshasas.

The only form they had not sought indemnity from was human. Indra ordered Arjuna to kill the Nivatakavachas and placed his crown on Arjuna’s head. Thus Arjuna came to be known as Kiriti.

Arjuna in Indra’s chariot, wearing his crown and numerous garlands went after the Nivatakavachas with his excellent Gandiva. He single handedly destroyed their entire force. Then Arjuna used his newly acquired Pashupatastra to burn to ashes the sixty thousand warriors known as Pauloma-gana and Kaleya-gana.

Urvashi’s unseemliness

Urvashi is the most beautiful apsara in Indra’s court. Many hundreds of years prior to the Pandavas, she had been the wife of Pururuvas, an ancestor of the Pandavas and Kauravas. This ancient story of a mortal king and celestial nymph finds mention in the RigVeda.

While in Indraloka, Urvashi was attracted by Arjuna and offered herself to him. Arjuna politely declined as he considered her a ‘mother figure’. Urvashi quoted that the rules of conduct that affect mortals do not affect celestial beings such as apsaras. But Arjuna did not change his mind. A spurned Urvashi declared that only a eunuch would refuse a woman’s advances and cursed Arjuna to turn into one.

Indra intervened and requested Urvashi to modify her curse, as it is well known that curses once uttered cannot be revoked. The duration of the curse was reduced to a year, which Arjuna made good use of as Brihannala the dance teacher to the princess of the Virata kingdom, in the thirteenth year of exile which they had to spend incognito. His dance training was not in vain either.

After an eventful five years in Indraloka, Arjuna returned to Bhooloka, to his brothers and their wife.