The Bows in the Shami Tree

Prince Uttara stood beneath a shami tree. High among its thick branches hung a large bundle. His companion, Brihannala, looked up and asked him to bring it down.

Uttara was King Virata's son. At the palace, he had known Brihannala as a teacher of dance. But the palace was behind them now. An enemy army was nearby, and Uttara had little experience of battle. His companion's voice remained calm.

Brihannala explained that the bows in their chariot would not serve. A stronger bow was needed, one that could bear a much harder pull. Such a bow was waiting in the tree.

Uttara drew back. He had heard that the bundle held a dead body. He reached towards the trunk, then stopped. He was afraid to touch what had been hidden there.

Brihannala reassured him. There was no body among the branches. The bundle held the weapons of the Pandavas. Among them was Gandiva, the famous bow of Arjuna.

Uttara looked up again. The wrapped bundle had not changed, but now he hoped it contained something very different. He caught a branch and slowly climbed.

When he reached the bundle, he loosened its ropes and pulled away the covering. Five bows lay inside. Their golden ornaments shone. For a moment he could only stare. He had never seen weapons like these.

One bow gleamed with golden decorations. Another bore the shapes of elephants. Golden suns shone on another. There were quivers filled with arrows, and swords resting in their sheaths.

Uttara asked who owned them. Brihannala recognised every bow. There was Gandiva, and there were the bows of Bhima, Yudhishthira, Nakula and Sahadeva. The arrows and swords were familiar too.

Uttara's wonder grew. The Pandavas had lost their kingdom and gone into the forest. He had heard nothing of them since. How had their weapons come here? Where were the brothers themselves? And where was Draupadi, who had gone with them?

Then Brihannala said, "I am Arjuna."

Arjuna explained that his brothers and Draupadi had also been living in Virata's household, each doing different work. Yudhishthira had been at the king's court. Bhima had worked in the kitchen. Nakula had cared for horses, and Sahadeva for cattle. Draupadi had lived in the palace as Sairandhri.

Uttara still wanted to be certain. He had heard that Arjuna had ten names. He asked his companion to tell him those names and explain what they meant.

Arjuna named them, one after another. He explained that he was called Savyasachin because he could draw Gandiva with either hand. He gave the reasons for the other names too. Uttara listened and compared them with what he had heard before.

His doubt was gone. Uttara came closer and bowed to Arjuna. He asked forgiveness for the things he had said without knowing who his companion was. The person he had known only as the palace's dance teacher was now revealed to him as Arjuna.

The weapons hidden in the shami branches had come into the light. Uttara's fear had eased as well. Beneath the tree, he welcomed Arjuna. At last, he knew whose company he was in.