Arjuna

Arjuna is the third of the five Pandava brothers and one of the central heroes of the Mahabharata, the great epic of India. He is the son of Kunti and the god Indra, king of the heavens: blessed by the sage Durvasa with a mantra capable of invoking the deities, Kunti used it to conceive Arjuna, hence his semi-divine nature. Raised in Hastinapura, he stood out from childhood for his incomparable skill with the bow under the tutelage of the master Drona, who considered him his favorite disciple. From the juvenile tournaments arose his rivalry with Karna, without either knowing then that he was in reality his older brother, son of Kunti and the sun god Surya. Arjuna received numerous epithets, such as Dhananjaya («conqueror of riches») and Kiritin, for the diadem that Indra gave him, and embodies the ideal of the kshatriya warrior faithful to the dharma.

Considered the greatest archer of his time, Arjuna obtained divine weapons (astras) through austerities and the favor of the gods. His bow Gandiva, delivered by Agni during the burning of the Khandava forest, was a celestial weapon of inexhaustible power, and together with it he received an inextinguishable chariot and the conch Devadatta. After a harsh penance, the god Shiva, in the form of the hunter Kirata, granted him the Pashupatastra, the most terrible weapon; and from other gods he obtained astras such as the Brahmastra. In exile he even ascended to the heaven of Indra, where he learned the handling of the celestial weapons and dance. In the great war, his chariot is driven by Krishna and bears Hanuman on its banner. Tradition presents him as capable of launching showers of infallible arrows and of facing entire armies alone, as in the defense of the kingdom of Virata.

In the field of Kurukshetra, before the eighteen-day battle, Arjuna collapses dejected upon seeing before him relatives, teachers and friends, and drops the Gandiva, refusing to fight. Then Krishna, his charioteer and incarnation of Vishnu, reveals to him the Bhagavad Gita, the sermon on duty (dharma), detached action (karma yoga) and devotion (bhakti), which moves him to fulfill his role. The fight resumed, Arjuna slays great warriors, among them his rival Karna, and contributes decisively to the fall of Bhishma, shooting from behind Shikhandi. Other key deaths of the war correspond to different heroes: Drona is beheaded by Dhrishtadyumna and Duryodhana dies at the hands of Bhima in the final mace duel; not by Arjuna, as is sometimes believed. The Pandava victory restores dharma, although at a high price, such as the death of his son Abhimanyu. Arjuna's legacy endures above all through the Gita, a central text of Hindu philosophy and spirituality.