Maya and the Khāṇḍava Fire
When Agni burned the Khāṇḍava forest, one being among its dwellers was meant to live: Maya, the great dānava builder. Arjuna saved him when Kṛshṇa was about to strike him down with the Sudarśana cakra (discus). In return Maya promised to serve the Pāṇḍavas, and this led to the sabhā at Indraprastha. After the burning, Indra also came down and granted Arjuna a vara (a boon).
Maya flees the fire
Agni was burning the Khāṇḍava forest. Maya was a dānava, a builder of the devas and a master of illusion and construction. He was a being of great power, but he was trapped in the burning forest. He could not leave, because Kṛshṇa and Arjuna had closed the whole edge of the forest with arrows on every side.
Kṛshṇa saw Maya running from the fire. He raised the Sudarśana cakra to strike him down.
Arjuna gives protection
Arjuna saw what was about to happen. He called out to Kṛshṇa at once: do not strike this one. He has asked for refuge and has come under my protection. My word is given.
Arjuna stood between Maya and certain death. In the dharma of the kshatriya (warrior), a pledge of protection given to one who asks for refuge cannot be broken. Kṛshṇa drew back the Sudarśana cakra, and Maya was spared.
Maya’s thanks and the promise of the sabhā
Maya stood before Arjuna and Kṛshṇa full of thanks. He offered to do whatever they asked. Kṛshṇa turned to Arjuna and said: ask him for something. What this being can build, no one else in the three worlds can match.
Arjuna thought, and then asked Maya to build a sabhā (assembly hall) for them, worthy of the Pāṇḍavas and equal to the finest in the three worlds.
Maya agreed with joy. He said he would build something worthy of their glory. It would use the finest materials and methods of the divine worlds. It would rival the assembly hall of Indra and be more beautiful than it. He said he knew where to find the materials: in the treasures of the dānava Vṛshaparvan, kept near the lake Bindusaras.
Indra’s vara to Arjuna
After the battle at Khāṇḍava ended, Indra came down from the sky to meet Arjuna. He did not come as an enemy, but to honour Arjuna and bless him. He stood before Arjuna and said: you have shown courage today that I did not think possible in a human warrior. You and Kṛshṇa together held back all the devas. I am pleased.
He asked Arjuna to choose a vara.
Arjuna asked for the divine weapons, all the astras that Indra had, to be given to him at the right time, passed from Indra to Arjuna as from teacher to pupil.
Indra granted it. He said: you will receive them. This was the beginning of Arjuna’s later journey to Indra’s svarga (heaven) in the Vana Parva, when the promise would be kept.
The close of the Ādi Parva
The burning of Khāṇḍava was over. Maya had come out alive. Indra had given his vara. The four bird-sons of Mandapāla had also lived. With this the Ādi Parva of the Mahābhārata comes to its end. Indraprastha was founded, and the five Pāṇḍavas and their wives were settled there. Maya’s sabhā was still to be built, and the divine weapons were still to be given. The middle part of the great epic was still to come.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, chapters 227–228
- Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, chapter 234 (the close of the Ādi Parva)