How do you react to fiction? - Page 3

SB 10.83.17: Sri Lakshmana said: O Queen, I repeatedly heard Narada Muni glorify the appearances and activities of Acyuta, and thus my heart also became attached to that Lord, Mukunda. Indeed, even Goddess Padmahasta chose Him as her husband after careful consideration, rejecting the great demigods who rule various planets.

SB 10.83.18: My father, Brihatsena, was by nature compassionate to his daughter, and knowing how I felt, O saintly lady, he arranged to fulfill my desire.

SB 10.83.19: Just as a fish was used as a target in your svayam-vara ceremony, O Queen, to assure that you would obtain Arjuna as your husband, so a fish was also used in my ceremony. In my case, however, it was concealed on all sides, and only its reflection could be seen in a pot of water below.

SB 10.83.20: Hearing of this, thousands of kings expert in shooting arrows and in wielding other weapons converged from all directions on my father's city, accompanied by their military teachers.

SB 10.83.21: My father properly honored each king according to his strength and seniority. Then those whose minds were fixed on me took up the bow and arrow and one by one tried to pierce the target in the midst of the assembly.

SB 10.83.22: Some of them picked up the bow but could not string it, and so they threw it aside in frustration. Some managed to pull the bowstring toward the tip of the bow, only to have the bow spring back and knock them to the ground.

SB 10.83.23: A few heroes -- namely Jarasandha, Sisupala, Bhima, Duryodhana, Karna and the King of Ambashtha -- succeeded in stringing the bow, but none of them could find the target.

SB 10.83.24: Then Arjuna looked at the reflection of the fish in the water and determined its position. When he carefully shot his arrow at it, however, he did not pierce the target but merely grazed it.

SB 10.83.25-26: After all the arrogant kings had given up, their pride broken, the Supreme Personality of Godhead picked up the bow, easily strung it and then fixed His arrow upon it. As the sun stood in the constellation Abhijit, He looked at the fish in the water only once and then pierced it with the arrow, knocking it to the ground.

SB 10.83.27: Kettledrums resounded in the sky, and on the earth people shouted "Jaya! Jaya!" Overjoyed, demigods showered flowers.