Part 5-The Shower of Arrows
It was yet another night. The
eighth day of the war had seen heavy bloodshed. The army of the Pandavas was
getting annihilated quickly. Spirits of the soldiers were dwindling. They could
only hope for a miracle to save them. Iravan lay on his bed. His body was
highly bruised but he had trained himself not to feel any pain. His body lacked
energy yet sleep was evading him that night. Every time he closed his eyes some
horrible nightmare used to wake him up. Iravan gave up trying to sleep and stepped
into the open air with his bow clutched in his hand. Very little moon light
reached the Earth. The sky seemed to be studded with diamonds. The heaven
looked like a temple bathed in milk.
Iravan remembered his talk with
his eldest uncle under the same star studded roof. Iravan had gone to talk to
his father the next day but had retraced his step back to the tent when he
found him in the company of a lady he did not know. He did not want to
interfere in anyone's life, not even his father's. He did not think he was
welcome there and did not want to intrude.
Iravan walked a few paces. He
lifted his bow and put an arrow on it. Just then he was distracted be spiral of
red fumes that could be seen in the distance. Then he saw a volley of arrows
rise and arrange themselves in such a form that they gave the illusion of a
flying eagle. Then a single arrow cut all the branches of a ten feet tall tree
in a second. It was another second before another volley of arrows formed a
circle around him and lit up fire. Iravan was so much in awe of the skill that
he did not notice that he himself could be in mortal danger.
"Oh! It's you Iravan. I am not
used to see anyone around here at this point of time. Why aren't you taking
rest? Didn't this long day tire you?" It was Arjuna who spoke. Oravan noticed
another shower of arrows put of the fire.
"I..umm...Sleep was not coming to
me." Iravan stumbled back.
"You seemed shocked to see me."
Arjuna asked with a lopsided grin.
"I was not shocked; I was just
not expecting anyone here at this time of night."
"You don't get shocked of things
you would expect, would you? See how terrified you are of me that you are
forgetting courtesies you owe to an elder."
Iravan thought for a moment on
the meaning of Arjuna's word and then quickly bent down to touch Arjuna's feet.
He received the blessing of his father.
"Ah...well so can you fight in the
dark, Iravan?" his father asked.
"Not as good as you."
"We will see. Show me."
Iravan pulled out an arrow from
the quiver and shot a chosen target.
"Good, now can you do this."
Arjuna did a simple trick using his arrows.
Iravan could do it in a second
try. Arjuna began testing Iravan's skill with different tricks which Iravan
managed to do within a few trials.
"Go pick up a mace. I have not
fought with that sturdy weapon for a long time."
Arjuna and Iravan began a mace
fight. None of them was more skilled than the other in this. Neither of them
were also willing to give up. After a long time Iravan figured out of the
defence gap on Arjuna's waist and took advantage of it to roll him on the
ground. But Arjuna caught on to Iravan's Uttariya as he fell. The son fell on
his father as father fell on the ground. They both roared with laughter.
Arjuna was gasping for breath as
he said, "I am proud to the father of four best warriors in the world."
Iravan was lying on the ground,
"Don't count me in as one of the greatest father. I am happy in being counted
as good."
Arjun replied"Your Mata Draupadi
wants to meet you. She saw you when you walked out on us on the day I was
talking to her. I told her. She was very angry that I did not go after you when
you were leaving. And you don't want to catch the Agni-Kanya in a fiery mood.
And moreover you wouldn't like to get into an argument with her over her sons."
"But I am not her son."
"She doesn't have to give you
birth. Look at Abhimanyu. He always used to run behind Draupadi holding her
achal. He calls himself Panchali-nandan instead of Subhadra-nandan."
"Oh really! But she has not met
me before."
"Mothers don't need to be
introduced to their children. Go and take her ashirvad before you go to battle
tomorrow. She will be extremely happy."
"As you wish, I will surely go to
Mata in the morning/"
"Iravan. You know one day your
Mata Chitrangada and I lay below the stars in the same way. She sang a song, a
beautiful one. Something about nature. I couldn't understand as it was in her
local language."
"Mta chitra did sing us songs
about heaven and shining stars. Do you want to listen?"
"If you shall sing"
So Iravan began a song which
reached out to heaven. Even the gods were delighted to hear such a voice.
Iravan had inherited more than one talent from his father. Soon, the father and
the son fell asleep on the soft earth.
OK. At last the long update you all wished for. I hope you liked this part. I was quite emotional writing this though it might not be the best of my posts. Do review, comment and like/unlike(if possible).
Love t2 aka Tia
Edited by Yajnaseni - 9 years ago
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