Table Of ContentTell me what you can see, Arjuna,’ repeated Drona ‘Do you see the tree?’
‘No,’ said Arjuna.
‘Do you then see the bird?’ There was a sense of rising excitement in Drona’s
voice.
‘No! I can simply see the eye of the bird, nothing else,’ responded Arjuna
without taking his eyes off the target.
‘Now, shoot!’ Drona commanded in a shrill voice.
Everyone who stood there saw Arjuna’s arrow whizz past and heard a sharp
click. The arrow was stuck in the middle of the bird’s eye.
That day, a legend was born. Arjuna was declared a shreshtha, a supreme human
talent. Arjuna’s most powerful weapon was not his Gandiva. His power came
from ekagrata—his one-pointed concentration. Arjuna re-defined the limits of
human achievement. He conquered his enemies with the sword of clarity and the
shield of discrimination.
In this creative re-imagining of the story of Arjuna, Debashis Chatterjee mines
the Mahabharata and discovers nine precious lessons that will enable any one of
us to become heroes in our own lives. Whether it is gaining mastery over life,
harnessing our will power, or prioritising action choices—these life-lessons from
that most charismatic of Pandavas can truly put each one of us on the hero-path.
A magical blend of mythology and management, this book is worth reading, and
re-reading, many times over.
westland ltd
INVINCIBLE
ARJUNA
DEBASHIS
CHATTERJEE
INVINCIBLE
ARJUNA
NINE MILESTONES ON THE HERO PATH
westland ltd
61, II Floor, Silverline Building, Alapakkam Main Road, Maduravoyal, Chennai 600095
93, I Floor, Sham Lal Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi 110002
First published in India by westland ltd 2016
First e-pub edition: 2016
Copyright © Debashis Chatterjee 2016
All rights reserved
978-93-85152-31-3
Typeset by PrePSol Enterprises Pvt. Ltd.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired
out, circulated, and no reproduction in any form, in whole or in part (except for brief quotations in critical
articles or reviews) may be made without written permission of the publishers
CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter 1
The Birth of a Hero: The Shaping of Identity
Chapter 2
Mastery: The Light of Clarity
Chapter 3
The Arrow of Concentration
Chapter 4
Love: Desire and Detachment
Chapter 5
The Power of Commitment
Chapter 6
Yoga in Action
Chapter 7
Discovering Devotion
Chapter 8
Mother of All Wars
Chapter 9
Arjuna’s Awakening: A Vision of The Whole
Acknowledgements:
Why and How I Wrote This Book
ARJUNA PATH
PRAISE FOR THE BOOK
Arjuna was India’s first icon. His skills as a warrior and an archer were beyond
compare. However what made him such a great archer was his powers of
concentration and his unwavering focus. Even the great Arjuna had self-doubts.
That is a lesson in itself that the greatest also have self-doubts but are big enough
to go to elders to find answers to them. There is nobody born who at some stage
or the other hasn’t been beset with some doubts. It’s how you overcome them
that is the key to success and gets you to fulfill your potential. I would like to
wish Prof. Debashis Chatterjee the very best in his efforts to understand the
challenges that humans face and provide solutions to them. Nobody can ever be
Arjuna, but we all can learn from him.
Sunil Manohar Gavaskar More praise for Timeless Leadership Prof.
Debashis Chatterjee has brought out a refreshing and inspired approach to
the Bhagavad Gita in Timeless Leadership. He has skillfully outlined the
ideals of our modern society and their applications in managerial life.
Swami Tejomayananda, Chairman and Spiritual Head, Chinmaya Mission
Timeless Leadership is both timeless and borderless. It is timeless because
the principles of leadership espoused thousands of years ago are
contemporary. It is borderless because it transcends all situations of
leadership dilemmas, internal conflicts, and ultimate resolutions.
Jagdish Sheth, Marketing Guru and World-Renowned Author
INTRODUCTION
ARJUNA: THE JOURNEY OF A HERO
Arjuna is as old as the hills and as fresh as morning dew. Like grass on earth,
like hair on skin, Arjuna arose from Indra’s own self. Arjuna is timeless and yet
he belongs to all times. Even our times! Arjuna is the star student and the master
archer; he is the lover and the warrior; he is Dhananjaya—the conqueror of
fortune; he is Vijaya—the last word in success. The secret behind Arjuna’s
success is coded by the divine that resides within the human form. Arjuna’s story
is our own unwritten story. Invincible Arjuna is the untold story of the making of
a hero against all odds.
Our world is desperately in need of heroes. Heroes define the limits of human
achievement and human possibility. To be born human is in itself the end result
of a heroic journey of evolution. The human being is a supreme achievement of
Nature. It takes Nature a million years to perfect the wings of a butterfly or the
claws of a tiger. It has taken Mother Nature billions of years to evolve a human
being. In Indian mythology, Arjuna is a Shreshtha, a supreme human talent. Yet,
he must go on many adventures to test his mettle.
A human being belongs to the only species on earth that can re-invent itself
over and over again. It is almost as if a human is capable of being born many
times in one lifetime. A human is first born when he emerges from the womb of
his mother. Then, he is born again and again as he discovers new sources of
inspiration within himself. But a hero’s journey begins when he discovers
something that challenges him. In order to rise to the challenge, the fire within
must be greater than the force of the challenge. The challenge draws out those
unborn energies and undiscovered talents within the hero. When the hero
recognizes those powers as his own, he is able to craft a new identity for himself.
Whichever powers the hero identifies with, becomes his identity. The many
names of Arjuna—Vijaya, Dhananjaya, and Sabyasachi—are those powers that
are waiting to be discovered. Thus, Arjuna discovers the law of identity.
The hero’s path has never been smooth. Arjuna faces challenges from rivals
like Karna and Duryodhana. In a world where jealousy wears the mask of
competition and camaraderie, the hero needs the power of clarity. He needs
crystal-clear vision to go deep into the mystery of human nature. Both the divine
and the devil can sit together within a human being. Arjuna is very unlike his
headstrong brother Bhima, who is wild as the wind. Arjuna achieves with his
mind that which Bhima tries to achieve with his muscles. Arjuna masters the law
of clarity as he learns from his mistakes and missteps.
Arjuna’s most powerful weapon is not Gandiva, his indestructible bow, but
his power of concentration. With this weapon, he learns to shoot arrows in the
dark and pierces a bird’s eye with unerring precision. Arjuna wins Draupadi’s
hand and heart through a concentrated effort. To win in the battles of life, a hero
needs to constantly focus on the goal rather than on the obstacles in his path. The
human faculty that keeps the hero’s focus persistently on the goal is the intellect.
Arjuna’s sharp intellect keeps his muscles and his mind together in pursuit of the
ultimate. His intellect enables Arjuna to ask questions of Krishna in the
battlefield of Kurukshetra. His intellect helps him cut through the world of
surface appearances to get to the deeper secrets of life that Krishna teaches him.
The ability to concentrate is also the secret to self-discovery. The hero reaches
inside himself to discover that his internal resources are much greater than the
challenges he faces.
Another quality that sets Arjuna apart from the rest is the courage of
commitment. Commitment brings with it the urgency to take on a challenge.
Arjuna is quick to commit himself to saving Drona’s life when it is threatened by
a crocodile. He commits to avenging his son’s death before the sun sets. Arjuna
shows how heroes are unafraid of unwavering commitment.
Commitment is nothing but a call to action. Arjuna unlike Yudhisthira does
not waste time standing on the horns of dilemma. He is a man of action, he’s like
quicksilver. His swadharma is that of a Kshatriya. He has to uphold the dharma
of the land and if need be give his life for it. Many times, his need for action
brings Arjuna to the brink of death. He fights fierce life-and-death battles with
none other than Shiva, the Lord of the Universe. Arjuna demonstrates that a
hero’s wisdom is forged in the fire of action.
Every hero meets a mentor who guides him through the trials of life. Arjuna
forms an endearing and enduring bond with Krishna. Without the mentorship of
Krishna, Arjuna would have remained an ordinary fighter. Krishna’s friendship
gives Arjuna hope in despair and wisdom in the middle of a war. Friends
complement us. Krishna is not an ordinary friend. Krishna not just complements
but completes Arjuna.
Arjuna also learns the law of desire and detachment. He desires Draupadi,
falls in love with Subhadra and resists the advances of Urvashi. He learns that
love is a play of two polar opposite emotions, desire and detachment, raga and
vairagya. Desire acts like an accelerator. Detachment works as a break. With
desire and detachment Arjuna drives this streetcar called life.
In a hero’s journey, desire deepens into devotion. This secret of devotion is
revealed to Arjuna by Krishna. ‘Remember me and fight,’ Krishna urges Arjuna.
The ability to offer every thought and every action to the higher principle within
us is the law of devotion. Devotion taps into the deepest potential of the human
heart in whatever the human being wants to achieve. True greatness, as Arjuna
discovers, cannot be achieved without complete devotion.
The law of devotion reveals to Arjuna the secret to all enduring success.
Ultimate success comes when the head and the heart come together. For the
hero, the distance between the head and the heart is greater than the distance
between earth and sky. Yet, once this distance is bridged, Arjuna becomes a
whole person. A whole person is an undivided person. His head does not go
against his heart. For a fighter, the head and the heart are constantly divided. The
fighter divides the world into ‘you’ and ‘I’. For the warrior there is just ‘we’.
The warrior uses the enemy’s resistance to grow himself. Arjuna is devoted to
his brothers. He is devoted to Subhadra, his wife. He dotes on his son
Abhimanyu. Finally, he is timelessly and deeply devoted to his friend and
mentor Krishna. This is the secret of his invincibility.
Arjuna wakes up from his delusion to discover the deepest secret of the hero’s
journey. Where he thought that he was only this human body, he discovered that
he was the divine spirit; where he thought he was just a fighter who fought his
enemies, he discovered that he was a warrior who had only himself to conquer;
where he thought that he had travelled the length and breadth of his world, he
discovered that he was only travelling to the depths of his own consciousness;
where he thought that he was alone in his heroic journey, he discovered that he
was one with all that there was in existence. Thus, Arjuna lived and died as a
hero—in his own time and for all times.
CHAPTER 1
THE BIRTH OF A HERO: THE SHAPING OF
IDENTITY
‘My mother’s name is Pritha, which is why I am called Partha. My father Indra
gave me this jewelled crown. Thus, I came to be known as Kiriti. I was called
Dhananjaya when I conquered and won the wealth of all the kings in the
Rajasuya Yagna. My white horses were gifted to me by Agni. That is why I am
called Swetavahana. I have never fought a battle by unfair means. That is why
my enemies call me Bhivatsu. I fight till the very end, until victory is mine and so
I am called Vijaya. I am that same invincible warrior Bharatavarsha knows as
Arjuna.’
Uttara Kumara, the son of Virata, looked on in utter disbelief. His jaws
dropped as he saw the woman whom he knew as Brihannala transform herself
into the warrior Arjuna in the wink of an eye. The red sari fluttering in the air
now revealed a muscular chest. As Arjuna looked up, shedding the disguise of
Brihannala, the shape of a man’s face showed up in the first rays of the rising
sun. The braided hair decked up in ribbons was now loosening up. Arjuna then
tied his long, windswept hair with a white cloth. His leonine eyes shone like an
arrested flame. A chiselled chin and sharp nose were unmistakeable parts of his
rugged, manly appearance. Arjuna had now come out of his disguise after his
long exile. Uttara Kumara had known the same Arjuna as his court dancer, who
put on coy looks and exhibited exaggerated feminine gestures. Arjuna’s words
now pierced him like arrows:
‘Now, that you have heard my many names Uttara, know that I am here to
fight for you against the entire Kaurava army who have gathered in front of
you.’
Arjuna’s hands were long and muscular. The scars on his powerful shoulders
were mementoes from the many battles that he had fought. The pulse on his wrist
throbbed and blood swept in and swept out of his blue veins as he itched to take
on his opponents. When he walked towards his chariot, the earth echoed with the
firm throb of his footsteps.
With Uttara as his charioteer, Arjuna moved furiously toward the battlefield.
He blew his conch, the Devdatta. With his famous bow Gandiva in his hand, he
rushed towards the Kaurava army, which was led by warriors like Karna,
Bhishma, Duryodhana, Ashwatthama, Drona and Kripacharya. Two arrows
from Arjuna landed at the feet of Drona. Then, Kripacharya and Bhishma were
also greeted with two arrows each at their feet. This was Arjuna’s gesture of
respect to his mentor and his gurus. His teachers, now his adversaries, were
pleased with Arjuna’s unfailing humility. Soon a set of arrows whizzed past the
ears of Drona and Bhishma. Thus, Arjuna announced the beginning of the battle.
The arrows left Arjuna’s bow in the flash of an eye. The string of his Gandiva
hummed tirelessly as if a thousand bees were buzzing together. Arjuna fell upon
his enemies as a ball of fire falls upon a heap of cotton. He scorched, devastated
and wrought havoc upon the Kauravas. But at the back of his mind lurked the
thought that even if he could, he would not want to kill his own teachers.
After he had scattered Bhishma’s crescent formation all over the battlefield,
Arjuna thought it was time to invoke the Sammohana Astra, a weapon that had
the power to cast a spell on his enemies. Prince Uttara’s eyes almost popped out
as Arjuna unleashed the Sammohana. He saw the entire army of the Kauravas
fall into a trance. Arjuna then asked Uttara to remove the upper garments and
the mantles from the heads of his adversaries as tokens of victory. Uttara
obediently removed the yellow silk dress as well as all the jewels from the mantle
of the mighty Karna. He thought his sister would like it as a gift. Thereafter, he
took away the silk white upper garment of Kripacharya. Finally, he took off the
blue shawl of Ashwatthama and brought all the spoils of the war to Arjuna. This
was the warrior’s way of asserting his victory by stripping his enemies of their
honour. Arjuna then saluted a half-awake Bhishma from a distance, turned away
from the battlefield and rode with Prince Uttara into the sunset.
WHO IS ARJUNA WITHOUT HIS MANY NAMES?
The hero’s adventure begins with a name. Merely having a name is not enough.
The hero has to be worthy of it. He has to live up to his name by virtue of his
character and actions. His name gives him an identity. When a child is born, the
first thing that the family does is find the right name. A name once given
becomes like a birthmark that stays on for life. Namakaran, the naming
ceremony is a sacred ritual. Once a child is born, giving a name is almost like
bestowing a second birth to the child. Through a name a hero is re-born in the
world of aspiration.
A name once given becomes like the plot of a lifetime story. The name is a
code that contains the story of an entire life. The stories of a hero’s life make
him who he eventually becomes in the eyes of the world. A hero crafts his own
story from within himself just as a spider creates its silken web from within.
Even as a hero goes forward on many adventures in his life, his mind cannot turn
away from who he originally is.
Arjuna does not forget the many names that are given to him. These names
become his strength, the source of his identity as a person. Identity is the name
given to a quality, a guna, an attribute of the hero. Another meaning of ‘guna’ is
that which multiplies. Arjuna was a man of many qualities. These qualities
ensured that his name and fame survived beyond his lifetime. Even today, many
thousand years after Arjuna is believed to have lived, parents name their children
after him! The ability to craft a life-story based on one’s identity is the first step
to success. If you lose touch with your identity, you become a stranger to
yourself and to others. The world acknowledges you in the way you
acknowledge your own identity.
Think of Arjuna’s personality as a dazzling diamond. The many faces of the
diamond are like the many qualities or gunas of the head and heart of a hero.
Yet, the diamond shines only when light passes through it. But, the faces of the
diamond simply multiply the light that makes them shine. Take away that light
and a diamond would just be a piece of ordinary rock; take away his identity and
Arjuna would be a nobody.
HEROES ARE MADE WHEN THEY ARE BORN AS ONE
Are heroes like Arjuna born or made? Heroes are made when they are born as
one. Greatness starts with a spark of divine inspiration within. This spark ignites
those hidden qualities or gunas that the hero is born with.
Arjuna’s father Pandu desired a son who would leave his mark on the world.
Every father dreams of a son who would fulfil his unfulfilled dreams. Pandu
coaxed his wife Kunti to give him a son born of Indra. Pandu could not have a
child because of a curse that prevented him from having a physical relationship
with his wife. Kunti was then reminded of a boon she had received from sage
Durvasa. The sage had promised that Kunti could call upon any God she wished
and have a child by him. Kunti invoked Lord Indra. The heavens lit up in delight
and a column of thunder ripped through the dark clouds as Indra gifted Kunti a
son who would be the greatest hero on earth. ‘Arjuna will be Nara, the ultimate
