Talk:Military Sports:Archery
By Vishal Agarwal and The Hindu Society of Minnesota
Corresponding to four Vedas,there were four Upavedas or ‘sub-Vedas’ that dealt with more worldly matters. Of these, one of them was titled Dhanurveda or the ‘Veda of Archery’ although it was really a manual for warfare that talked about military weapons and training in general. Several texts of Dhanurveda survive even today – like those by Ṛṣi Vaiśaṃpāyana (who partly wrote the Mahābhārata) and Vasiṣṭha (the Guru of Bhagavān Rāma). Proficiency in archery was a requirement for royal princesses. Prince Arjuna was a legendary archer as illustrated in the story below.
The Pāṇḍavas marry Princess Draupadī of the Pañcāla Kingdom
After some time, the Pāṇḍavas heard that Drupada, the King of Pañcāla, had held a Svayaṃvara for his daughter Draupadī. In ancient India, the Svayaṃvara was a ceremony in which a princess chose the best man present to be her husband. Princes from many countries competed with each other to impress the princess and marry her. When the Pāṇḍavas heard about Draupadī’s Svayaṃvara, they encouraged Arjuna to participate in the contest.
The conditions to win the contest were very difficult: First, the person had to lift a very heavy and stiff bow and string it. Second, Drupada had attached a wooden fish close to the top of a tall pole. Below the fish was a rotating disk that had holes in it. At the base of the pole was kept a large pan with boiling oil. The contestant had to look at the reflection of the fish in the oil, and then shoot at the eye of the fish through the holes in the rotating disk! It seemed like an impossible task. Numerous kings and princes from all kingdoms of Bhārata were present with the hope that they would win Draupadī’s hand in marriage. The audience and participants also included Duryodhana, Karṇa, and also the brothers Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. Kṛṣṇa immediately recognized his cousins, the Pāṇḍavas, despite their disguise. Pañcāla was the second most powerful kingdom in Bhārata, after Hastināpura. Everyone had hoped that by marrying Draupadī, they would also get powerful allies like King Drupada and Prince Dhṛṣṭadyumna and Prince Śikhaṇḍī (the brothers of Draupadī).
One by one, the competing princes stepped forward to give it a try. But most could not even lift the heavy bow, forget about being able to string it. Duryodhana and other Kauravas too tried but failed. When Karṇa rose to give it a try, Draupadī suddenly interjected and said, “I am not going to marry the son of a charioteer!” Karṇa felt very hurt, but he went back to his seat.
Then arose Arjuna, disguised as a Brāhmaṇa. No one present there, including the Kauravas or Karṇa, could recognize him. They had all thought that Arjuna died with his brothers and mother in the palace that had burned down in Vāraṇāvata. Arjuna was able to lift and string the bow, and then he was successful in shooting the eye of the bird through the rotating wheel by just looking at its reflection in the boiling oil below!