Arjun Ki Kathayein

The heroes of the two epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, have become one with the lives of countless generations of Indians. Their characters are imprinted on peoples' minds, sometimes even more firmly than those of their brethren around. Stories are built by bringing them together, however apart they may have been in time and place in the epics themselves. Hanuman the superman ape of Ramayana had the capacity to grow in size at will and to dash over lands and seas across the sky. Arjuna the Pandava hero of Mahabharata was a great archer with inexhaustible stock of arrows. A folk story brings the two face to face to test each others' powers. In the second story from Mahabharata itself, Arjuna wins favors from the fire-god, by winning a victory over Indra, the chief of gods. The third story tells how Arjuna once became vain and boastful even with his mentor Krishna, who put him in his proper place.