Arjuna’s Dream and the Pāśupatāstra

On the night before the fourteenth day of the Kurukshetra war, Śrī Kṛshṇa told Arjuna to perform Śivapūjā. He then told him to sleep reciting the Śaiva mantra that Vyāsa Mahāmuni had taught him during the forest exile. In the brahma-muhūrta before dawn, Arjuna had a dream. He and Kṛshṇa flew through the sky to the Himālaya. They passed the Maṇimanta, Śveta and Mandara mountains and came before Bhagavān Paramaśiva. Śiva was blazing with the light of ten thousand suns and sat with Pārvatīdevī, served by his gaṇas (attendants).

Kṛshṇa and Arjuna offered the Kṛshṇārjuna Śiva Stotra. Śiva sent them to a divine lake, where two great serpents lay breathing fire. When the two finished the Śatarudra pārāyaṇa (a full recitation), the serpents became a divine bow and arrow. Then Śiva gave Arjuna the Pāśupatāstra a second time, for the slaying of Jayadratha. Arjuna had first received it in person during his tapas in the forest.

The night before the fourteenth day

After Arjuna swore his terrible oath to slay Jayadratha, Śrī Kṛshṇa took charge of the preparations. He set Arjuna’s mind and spirit in order for the extraordinary day ahead. He told Arjuna to perform Śivapūjā: to meditate on Bhagavān Parameśvara, to offer the prescribed pūjā, and to recite the divine names. Kṛshṇa then told Arjuna to sleep, reciting the Śaiva mantra that Vyāsa Mahāmuni had taught him in the twelve years of forest exile. (Droṇa Parva, Chapters 79 and 82)

The journey in the dream

Arjuna slept with the mantra on his lips. In the brahma-muhūrta, the two ghaṭikās before dawn, when the veil between the ordinary and the divine is thinnest, the vision began.

In his dream, Arjuna saw himself standing beside Śrī Kṛshṇa. Kṛshṇa held his right hand. Together they rose into the sky and flew north at the speed of the wind over a wide land. Arjuna saw the earth, the sky and the space between them, all three worlds at once in one great view.

They passed Maṇimanta Parvata, bright with the light of the siddhas and cāraṇas who lived there. They flew on to Śveta Parvata (the White Mountain). They crossed the region of Mandara mountain, where kinnaras sang sweetly and every tree was heavy with golden flowers and fruits of every season. Divine herbs glowed on the slopes. They went on past Kāla Parvata (the Black Mountain), Brahmatuṅga Parvata, Śataśṛṅga Parvata, the forest of Śaryāti, the holy tīrtha of Aśvaśiras, the āśrama of the Ātharvaṇa ṛshi, and Vṛshadaṃśa Parvata. At last they came to the great Mahāmandara range, where the valleys were full of apsarasas and kinnaras. (Droṇa Parva, Chapter 80)

Darśana of Bhagavān Parameśvara

On the peak of this last mountain, in a light brighter than ten thousand suns together, Arjuna saw Bhagavān Parameśvara. The Droṇa Parva describes him exactly.

Bhagavān Śiva stood holding his trident. His matted locks were coiled on his head. He wore bark garments and deer-hide. His form was pure white (śubhra). The Bhūtas leapt and danced before him and showed their skills in joyful devotion. Divine music, of song and of instruments, filled the air. Sacred fragrant substances were set out before him. Mahārshis praised him with divine stotras (hymns of praise). He had a thousand eyes (sahasra netra), and his consort Pārvatīdevī was at his side. In his hand he held a divine bow.

As soon as Kṛshṇa and Arjuna saw him, they fell flat on the earth with their foreheads on the ground, and began their stotra.

Bhagavān Śiva received them and said: “Narottamas (best of men)! Welcome! Let your tiredness go. What do you wish? I will grant it without delay.” (Droṇa Parva, Chapter 80)

The Kṛshṇārjuna Śiva Stotra

Kṛshṇa and Arjuna offered the Śiva stotra together with folded hands. The stotra kept in this chapter begins with this verse:

Namo bhavāya śarvāya rudrāya varadāya ca |
Paśūnāṃ pataye nityam ugrāya ca kapardine ||

The meaning: “To Bhava (who causes all existence), Śarva (who destroys all), Rudra (who removes all sorrow), Varada (who grants boons), to Paśupati (protector of all living beings), to the ever fierce one, to the wearer of matted locks, we bow.”

The stotra goes on for many verses and names the qualities of Śiva: Mahādeva, Bhīma, Tryambaka, Śānta and Īśāna. He is the destroyer of Daksha’s yajña and the slayer of the asura Andhaka. He is the father of Kumāra (Kārttikeya), Nīlagrīva (the blue-throated one), Vedhas (the creator), the wielder of the Pināka bow, and one who keeps brahmacarya. He is Viśvātman and Viśvasṛj, pervading the whole universe.

The last verse is a prayer:

Bhaktānukampine nityaṃ siddhyatāṃ no varaḥ prabho ||

The meaning: “O Bhagavān Śiva! You who always show compassion to your devotees, let our prayer be granted!”

Kṛshṇa then worked to make Paramaśiva fully pleased. Śiva spoke to them again and named them Nara and Nārāyaṇa, the two ancient ṛshis who had come back into the world in human form. He accepted their pūjā and showed them where the weapon they wanted could be found. (Droṇa Parva, Chapters 80–81)

The divine lake and the serpents that became weapons

Bhagavān Śiva said to them: “Near this very place is a lake of divine nectar. Long ago I placed there my own divine bow and arrow, with which I once destroyed all the enemies of the devas. Kṛshṇa! Both of you, go to that lake and take them.”

Kṛshṇa and Arjuna went to the lake with Śiva’s attendant gaṇas. On the shore they saw two great serpents lying in the water. The first blazed like the sun’s disc. The second had a thousand hoods and breathed fire from its mouth.

Kṛshṇa and Arjuna performed ācamana (the sip of water for purity) and made añjali (folded hands). They bowed again to Bhagavān Śiva. Then, standing near the two huge serpents, they began the Śatarudra pārāyaṇa, the recitation of the hundred Rudra mantras of the Yajurveda. When the recitation was done and they had taken refuge in Parameśvara who pervades all, the two great nāgas gave up their fearful forms. They became a shining bow and a divine arrow, both blazing with a light not of this world. These were the weapons with which Śiva had destroyed all the enemies of the devas.

Kṛshṇa and Arjuna took the weapons and brought them back to Bhagavān Śiva. A brahmacārī then appeared at Śiva’s side. His eyes were the colour of turmeric. He was strong with tapas. His complexion was nīla-lohita (dark with a reddish tinge). This brahmacārī took the bow, drew it with a single pull and fitted an arrow in a particular way. Arjuna watched with full attention. He saw the grip, the stance of the brahmacārī, and heard the mantra spoken by Śiva. He took in the knowledge silently and fixed it in his memory. (Droṇa Parva, Chapter 81)

The second Pāśupatāstra

Bhagavān Parameśvara saw what Arjuna meant to do and knew his steady devotion, and he was fully pleased. He remembered that during the forest tapas, when Arjuna did his austerities on Indrakīla mountain, Śiva had come before him in person in the form of a Kirāta hunter. After a battle with Arjuna, he had given him the Pāśupatāstra directly. Now Arjuna remembered that event and wished earnestly for the weapon. In answer, Bhagavān Śiva gave the terrible Pāśupatāstra once more as a divine vara (boon), for the keeping of the oath to slay Jayadratha.

The Droṇa Parva calls this the “secret Pāśupata”. It was given in a dream, yet its effects were no less real. When Arjuna received it, a tremor of joy ran through his body, and his hair stood on end. “Now my task will be done,” he thought, certain of it.

Kṛshṇa and Arjuna bowed to Bhagavān Śiva, took his leave, and went back to the camp. They went back as Indra and Vishṇu once went back in joy after receiving Śiva’s leave to slay Jambhāsura. (Droṇa Parva, Chapter 81)

Vyāsa’s revelation

In a later part of the Droṇa Parva, after the death of Droṇa, Vyāsa Mahāmuni told Arjuna and the assembled Pāṇḍavas what had been happening all through the war. It was Bhagavān Śiva himself who had gone before Arjuna’s chariot throughout the whole Kurukshetra war and destroyed the enemies unseen. Arjuna was only the instrument and the apparent cause. The real destroyer was Parameśvara. (Droṇa Parva, Chapter 81)

The morning after

At dawn Yudhishṭhira’s musicians, the sūtas, māgadhas and vaitālikas, woke the camp with songs of praise. Yudhishṭhira performed pūjā of the brāhmaṇas and of Śrī Kṛshṇa. He begged Kṛshṇa to make Arjuna’s vow bear fruit. Kṛshṇa gave his word: “The fact that I am here with Arjuna is your guarantee. Victory is with dharma, and dharma is with Kṛshṇa.”

Arjuna then told the whole company of his dream: Sātyaki, Dhṛshṭadyumna, the Pāñcāla princes and all the Pāṇḍava allies. They listened with wonder and joy, and their confidence returned. Yudhishṭhira blessed Arjuna for the battle of the fourteenth day.

On the other side of the field, Sañjaya told Dhṛtarāshṭra what had happened in the Pāṇḍava camp. Dhṛtarāshṭra grieved at length. Sañjaya answered by rebuking the blind king. He said that all this suffering had come from Dhṛtarāshṭra’s own partiality toward Duryodhana. (Droṇa Parva, Chapters 82–86)

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Droṇa Parva, Chapters 79–81 (the preparation, the dream, the Stotra, the lake and the second Pāśupatāstra)
• Mahābhārata, Droṇa Parva, Chapters 82–86 (the preparation and the morning after)