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28.PASUPATA
Bless me with weapons." Indra
replied: "O Dhananjaya, what is the use of
weapons? Ask for pleasures or seek to go
to higher worlds for enjoyment."
Arjuna answered: "O king of gods, I do
not seek pleasures of higher worlds. I
have come here after leaving Panchali and
my brothers in the forest. I seek but
weapons."
The thousand-eyed said: "If you be
blessed by the vision of god Siva, the
three-eyed god, and obtain his grace, you
will receive divine weapons. Do penance
unto Siva."
Thus saying Indra disappeared. Then,
Arjuna went to the Himalayas and did
penance to obtain the grace of Siva.
Siva under the guise of a hunter and
accompanied by his divine spouse
Umadevi, entered the forest in pursuit of
game.
The chase grew fast and furious, and
presently a wild boar started charging
Arjuna, who shot an arrow into it with his
Gandiva bow at the same moment that the
hunter Siva transfixed it with a shaft from
his Pinaka bow.
Arjuna shouted in loud voice: "Who are
you? Why are you ranging in this forest
with your wife? How dare you shoot at
the game I had aimed at?"
The hunter replied as though in contempt:
"This forest, full of game, belongs to us,
who live in it. You do not look tough
enough to be a forester. Your limbs and
bearing bespeak a soft luxurious life.
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