Cosmic Chats · Episode 06

Of Arrows and Stones

in which the world's greatest archer learns that being right is not the same as being enough

Rameshwaram. Sunrise. The tide pulls back. Stones from another yuga still rest in the sand.

A

Arjuna

*Gandiva resting on his shoulder*

Hanuman Ji, may I ask you something? About this place. About the setu Sri Rama built here.
H

Hanuman

Ask, Partha. The sea remembers everything. I will tell you what it told me.
A

Arjuna

Forgive my doubt. But why did Prabhu Rama need an entire vanara army to carry stones? I could have built a bridge of arrows in one afternoon.
H

Hanuman

*smiles faintly*

Could you? Show me.
THE TEST
A

Arjuna

Watch closely.

Gandiva sings. A lattice of arrows arches across the water. Tight. Precise. Beautiful.

A

Arjuna

There. One bridge. Twenty seconds. Now please walk across it.
H

Hanuman

One step. That is all I will take.

Hanuman places one foot. The bridge shatters like glass. Arrows scatter into the sea.

A

Arjuna

Impossible. Impossible. I am Partha. My bow has never failed. I have shamed myself before my Gandiva.
H

Hanuman

Partha, sit. Listen. You have not been shamed. You have been shown something.
A

Arjuna

Shown what? That my skill is a lie?
H

Hanuman

No, Partha. Shown that skill is the first half of the work. The second half is the name you forget to take before you begin.
REALISATION
A

Arjuna

...Sri Krishna's name. I built the bridge alone. With only my hands. Only my bow.
H

Hanuman

When the vanaras built the setu, every stone carried Rama's name. Even the stones that should have sunk floated. The army was not for the labour, Partha. The army was for the love.
A

Arjuna

So my arrows were correct. My intent was not.
H

Hanuman

Build it again, Partha. This time, take the name first.

Arjuna closes his eyes. Whispers a name. Draws Gandiva. The bridge appears again.

H

Hanuman

I will walk now. And it will hold.

Hanuman crosses. The bridge does not shake. Arjuna's eyes are wet.

A

Arjuna

Hanuman Ji. The war is coming. I do not want to fight it with only my skill.
H

Hanuman

Then put me on your flag, Partha. Where the arrows fly, I will already be standing. You bring the skill. I will bring the name.

[and so the Kapidhwaja was born, and Karna's astras never reached the chariot]

End