Devalok
From the epics · 1 telling · Pan-India

Agni asks Arjuna to give back the Gandiva

Who is in it

  • Agni blocks the road and asks for the bow
  • Arjuna gives up the bow
  • Varuna the owner to whom it returns

Texts: Mahabharata

The story, beat by beat

  1. The Pandavas set out on their last journey; Arjuna still carries Gandiva and the two quivers.
  2. At the sea of red waters Agni stands in their way like a hill.
  3. He names himself as the one who burnt Khandava through Arjuna and Krishna.
  4. He says the bow was got from Varuna and must go back to Varuna.
  5. Arjuna throws the bow and quivers into the sea and Agni vanishes.

return renunciation weapons

How it is told, place by place

Base telling · Primary text (translation)

Mahabharata, Mahaprasthanika Parva 1

Pan-India All traditions

On the Pandavas' final journey Agni appears in bodily form, recalls the burning of Khandava, says Krishna's discus has already left the world, and tells Arjuna to return Gandiva to Varuna from whom Agni had obtained it. Arjuna casts bow and quivers into the water.

The Mahabharata, tr. K. M. Ganguli (1883-96), sections read for the Vedic layer § mahaprasthanika.1

Sources: The Mahabharata, tr. K. M. Ganguli (1883-96), sections read for the Vedic layer

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