Appreciation of Arjuna’s Character

NAME: PRIYANK GODHAT

ID: 2017A2PS0856P

The third son of Pandu, the warrior non-pareil, charismatic, and the close friend of Lord Krishna, Arjuna
in many ways remains the central character of the great epic the Mahabharata. He shared a special
bonding with all those who came in contact with him – be it the Drupada who vows to make Arjuna his
son-in-law, King Virata or his son Uttara, Lord Shiva who bestows his blessings on him or Lord Krishna
with whom he shared a special intimate friendship, his Guru Drona or his grandsire Bhishma.

“Arjuna” means one who is sinless and whose “acts are always stainless.”53 He was a person of grit and
determination who stood above his adversities and achieved success. This trait in Arjuna is brought out
by none other than his guru Drona. Arjuna wanted – to become the greatest archer in the world, and he
elicits a promise to that effect from his guru through his fortitude. This single minded pursuit of his
objective remains the distinct characteristic of his throughout his life. Fortunately for Arjuna this trait
was mixed with a sense of responsibility and compassion for his fellow humans and thus made him
stand apart from people like Duryodhana who would go to any length, insensitive to others‟ sufferings
to achieve their goals. Ever considerate to others‟ distress, he was always the first to respond in helping
others.

Is taking pride in one’s achievements a weakness? It is, when that pride turns to conceit and the person
starts believing that there is none who could defeat him. Fortunately for Arjuna every time he was
carried away by his vanity and about to suffer the consequences he was quick to regain his senses and
focus on solving the problem. Arjuna, in spite of his drawback remains loved, respected and cherished
by one and all because of his ability to realize his mistakes, and more importantly, because of his
sensitivity towards others‟ sufferings and readiness to help them out of trouble. As war was going to
start Arjuna asked Krishna to take the chariot in the middle of the battle field. When chariot reached
there, he saw his teacher, grandfather and many other relatives on the side of Duryodhana. At that time
he started to think about the consequence about the war which eventually he was going to fight .
Krishna told Arjuna that it was not Arjuna who brought about the war, but as placed in a position where
he had to fight, he had to only follow his Kshatriya Dharma and fight without being affected by the
outcome – good or bad. During the course of the enlightening conversation Arjuna poses several
questions to clear his doubts on the various subjects that Krishna expounds on and by the end Arjuna
regains his confidence and clarity of thought ready to uphold his Kshatriya Dharma and face his
opponents. This instance reveals Arjuna’s ability to perceive his emotion, process it intelligently and seek
help, has the intelligence to understand Krishna’s advice and is able to come out of his despondency
gaining back his confidence.
Arjuna is highly gifted. Which is saying something in a family of half-celestials. He is ambidextrous, very
fast and light of hand with the bow, his powers of concentration and farsightedness are legendary, he
could go without sleep for a long time, he could shoot an arrow for 2 miles, had an awesome repertoire
of celestial weapons and most importantly, the temperament to handle them. Something that
Ashvatthama lacked. He managed to extract the maximum possible knowledge out of Drona with his
dedication, perseverance, talent and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Apart from that, he is also
highly learned, knows the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas etc. He is also physically very strong, as he carries
the Gandiva and two inexhaustible quivers on his person all through their exile. But even more
importantly, he is strong mentally; he knows when to shoot, and when not to. On his vijay yatra in the
North, he doesn’t always fight, he gives peace a chance when possible. Even before Kurukshetra, he
knew the human cost of war and wanted peace. He is given the Pashupatastra, the single most powerful
weapon in the world, and he knows it can’t be used on humans, and is never tempted to, even fighting
against Bhishma or Drona. To top this list off, he even learnt singing and dancing, not an easy feat for a
tall, well-muscled warrior used to lugging around a heavy bow and quivers.

Arjuna is an adventurer, but also a loner. He is happiest when he is on the road, either just going as a
pilgrim or on an expedition. But alone. Sure he likes company sometimes; just look at his one affair and
two marriages in his 12 years of exile. But he likes going off alone to experience new things. Among all
the major characters, he is the most traveled of the lot. Nagalok, Eastern India, Southern India, Western
India, the far North where only birds could go, according to Duryodhana, Indralok… you name it, the
man’s been there. And then he goes wherever was left for Ashwamedha Yagna! His extensive travels
must have made him a very interesting, tolerant and introspective person. He is also a philosopher at
heart. He introspects a bit too much. He’s always ready for a battle, but defeating people and killing
people are two different things. He can do the first with his eyes closed, but had to be talked into the
second. For someone who could burn the earth many times over singlehandedly, he is very reluctant to
actually kill.

To sum it up, Arjuna becomes simple with his response to every difficult situation, bringing out his
emotional intelligence. In turn, his emotional intelligence allows him to manage stress and helps in
problem solving as seen in all those various incidents. Moreover, he is sensitive to others‟ suffering
which endears him to everyone. Thus, it can be safely concluded that Arjuna can be projected as a role
model for an emotionally intelligent person. He is an ideal devotee. He had surrendered himself to
Krishna completely. All his introspection, his doubts about dharma, his propensity to do the right
thing…everything was given up at a single command from Krishna. Once Krishna told him to do
something, nothing could stop him from doing it.