Burning of the Khandava Forest

Part 3: Weapons to burn the Khandava Forest

In our last article we saw how Agni tried to burn the Khandava forest seven times, but was unsuccessful. We also discussed about King Swetika performing a hundred year sacrifice. The word Swetika means white. When we initially start getting interested in the spiritual path, we form a kind of pious ego. This ego loves to do things it thinks are spiritual, such as talking about god and the scriptures, performing big spiritual rites involving a lot of people. This is a show-off spirituality which does not really lead to any transformation or change in our psychic nature. This is represented by the hundred year yagna he performed. Once we are used to pseudo spirituality, then the real fire and thirst to seek out the truth dies. In the story, we saw that Agni had lost the desire to burn. Our real bondage is our memory pattern or samskaras that lie in our unconscious mind. If we can learn to burn these patterns, maybe with a little help, then the fire of sadhna will come into our lives. Now let us continue the story and see how Agni gets back the desire to burn.

After trying to burn the forest seven times and having failed, Agni was dejected and went back to Lord Brahma and narrated everything in detail. Brahma asked him to wait for some time. When the time came Brahma called Agni and told him that the two great rishis ‘Nar’ and ‘Narayan’ had been born on the earth as Arjuna and Krishna. He also told Agni that at that very moment both of them were sitting near the Khandava forest, so he should go immediately and ask for their help; that with their help he would be able to burn the forest even though it was protected by Indra. Agni then explained to Krishna and Arjuna why he had come.

Arjuna spoke to Agni that “I possess and do know how to use many divine weapons, but I do not have a bow which can withstand the strength of my forearms. Further, I can, with both hands, shoot countless arrows and so I need quivers in which the arrows never exhaust. Also, I need a chariot which can withstand the weight of all my weapons. I desire a chariot that moves at the speed of the wind, drawn by divine white horses, has the lustre of the sun and makes the sound of thunder. You see, the great Krishna who can kill all the nagas and demons, also has no weapons worthy of his greatness. Both of us are capable of warding off Indra and allowing you to burn the forest freely, but we need powerful and capable weapons to do it.”

Agni then meditated upon the God of water, Varuna, who appeared before him immediately. Agni paid him his respects and then said “Please give to me immediately the chariot which was given to you by the moon god and the chariot with the Hanuman emblem given to you by Sharasen with all the weapons in it. In it is the great bow called Gandiva and the chakra called Sudarshana; both Arjuna and Krishna will perform mighty deeds with them.” Varuna then gave him all that he asked for saying these were the weapons which are worshipped even by the gods. Thus, Arjuna got the Gandiva bow, two quivers in which the arrows never exhausted and the great chariot. Krishna got the Sudarshana chakra, the Kaumodaki mace and the ‘Agneya astra’, Agni’s personal weapon. Agni told Krishna that with the Sudarshana chakra, he would be the most powerful of all humans, and the chakra, when released, would kill his enemy and come back to him.

Arjuna and Krishna sat in the chariot and Arjuna then addressed Agni thus, “When this great Rishikesh will wield this chakra there is nothing impossible for him in the three worlds. Even I am impatient to use this wonderful bow and magical quivers in battle. O! great one, start burning this forest by surrounding it with fire, we are ready to help you and stop anyone who tries to put out the fire.”

Agni then started burning the forest. So powerful was his fire that it seemed as if the end of the world had come. It bloomed in seven different kinds of flames. All the animals in the forest started trembling with fear. The forest looked like a mountain of fire from afar.

Now let us try to understand the mystery of the story so far. Arjuna got the Gandiva, two quivers in which the arrows never got exhausted and a chariot. The word Gandiva characterises the quality of a rhinoceros. When a rhino runs, it does so in a straight line; Gandiva means one-pointed attention. The bow represents our diaphragm meaning that to maintain one-pointed attention there must be rhythm and harmony in our breathing. The two quivers represent desire and imagination. At present, our attention is totally seduced in our desires and imagination but once we are one-pointed, we free our attention from the two quivers and are able to shoot it like a guided missile. The chariot represents our body-brain system and the monkey flag a symbol of restlessness, symbolising that we have conquered restlessness.

Sri Krishna is given the Sudarshana; this means right seeing. To burn the forest of samskaras within, we need the right quality of observation, and since the ray of observation comes from the inner divine fragment, the chakra is with Sri Krishna. He is also given the Kaumodaki mace. This word comes from the Sanskrit root ‘mud’ meaning to rejoice. As we become free of the bondage of our patterns, we rejoice. He is also given the Agneya Astra, which means pertaining to Agni. As the forest is protected by Indra and his weapon is lightning, this weapon neutralises it. In our efforts to burn and purify the inner impurities represented by the Khandava forest, many a times we will be carried away by our desires which will attack us as flashes of lightning, it is this weapon which will keep us steady and calm in those trying times.

In the next article we will see how Arjuna and Sri Krishna battle Indra.