Book Review : Invincible Arjuna!

To begin with, this is more than a book and it is almost a pocket guide for an effective refined living. The thoughtfulness showcased in the book was so compelling that I was pushed to write my first book review.

As the name suggests it talks about the great hero Arjuna. There were a lot of attributes that Arjuna attained either on self penance or by the wishes of his masters/gurus which made him invincible. Two important people guided his paths to glory. Drona, his guru on warfare just had an objective of producing the greatest warrior in Arjuna. In the due process, he was unfair and unjust to all other fellow students who had greater devotion and dexterity like Eklavya. On the other hand, Krishna, his friend, played tricks to make victory a habit for Arjuna. His luciferous answers to all doubts arose within Arjuna provided atmost stability and poise.

Five prime negativities to be avoided for person with an aim to achieve are Ego, Anxiety, Lust, Greed and Jealousy. Arjuna carefully handled his mind to avoid getting under these influential traits. It was easily said than done but his courage and determination helped him to withstand pain in order to be safe against such illicit qualities. In the same way, he was highly adamant to let go of his positive potentials. There were many incidents where gods tested his nature and attitude before blessing him with prosperity. Lord Shiva disguised himself as a hunter, pushed Arjuna's limits before offering the most destructive weapon ever created, Pasupatha Astra. It was one of many such scenes where Arjuna proved his worthiness to receive and possess all the greatness he was destined.

Arjuna became unbeatable not only because of his supreme bow 'Gandiva', but also due to the extreme clarity on his objectives, single-point concentration and his meditative mind. The author lucidly explained the difference between a concentrated mind and a meditative mind and ways to achieve the latter. His attention was convincing to Drona when he said he saw only the bird's eye and nothing else while most of the other students saw many more things around. This proved that Arjuna just filled his mind space only with the target and other students filled it with many other unwanted things which reduced their accuracy. The author stressed commitment as an act of courage. It makes the difference between a man and a hero. A hero dares to commit large and wilfully involves himself to chase it. He also revealed, such accomplishments were done by Arjuna just as an instrument of the actual doer, who is the Supreme Soul, Lord Krishna.

When Arjuna doubted his duty to his side in the war, to fight against his own kith and kin who had embraced him earlier, Lord Krishna clears him with the differentiation of the two different selfs, the one who think he is (greatest warrior on the field) and the other who he actually is (nothing just but a soul that is part of the supreme soul). The author meticulously handled the difference between the two self ideologies with i and I. Also, Lord Krishna elucidates between wishing and willing which decides the courses of action.  Finally, After winning the gruesome war, Krishna taught him, a hero cannot be proud of his victory because it is never his own. Arjuna's chariot was hit by many advanced weapons  but it did not crumble because of the presence of Hanuman 's flag and the charioteer Lord Krishna himself. Arjuna, then humbled with tears and bowed down to Krishna. The book ends on a touching note where Yudhisthira, explains the cause and effect involved in the individual deaths of Pandavas to Bhima on their final journey.

The key aspect of the book is that all illustrations were given by the author with a matching example of modern times which makes the understanding of many intricate concepts easy. Wherever there needs focus, he had pulled the wordings out of the passage with necessary highlighting. All the incidents and aftermaths, when read, make our heart click with bewilderment, awe and surprise.

I am thankful to the author for giving us an excellent feast on Arjuna's life which provides a lot of insights that shows how best we can live our lives nourished with goodness and how we are living it today. As the wrapper truly boasts, it is one book that is worth reading and re-reading many times over.