Agni was SO fed up with everything. This forest had been tempting him for months! Every morning he woke up and could smell the soft clean scent of the pine trees and the deep dark fragrance of the oaks. He could see the luscious leaves and the tough giant trunks. He wanted to eat them, eat them ALL, every single one of those trees in that forest.
There was just one GIANT problem: Indra. Every single time Agni set out on a mission to burn even ONE of those trees, Indra used his storm powers and rained all over Agni's parade. Agni just couldn't seem to catch a break and he was getting extremely frustrated. There were so many other forests in the state, why couldn't Indra just let Agni have this tiny little forest? And it's not like Agni wasn't leaving any good things behind... A nice healthy fire was needed once in a while. It would replenish the soil, kill off some animals that were weighing down the food chain, and just clear the ecosystem a little bit. Indra was stubborn though and enjoyed raining down on Agni's plans. Indra wanted to show Agni that he was far more powerful than Agni would ever be. He wanted Agni to know that rain would always triumph over fire.
One day, Agni had a brilliant idea. People all over town always talked about how kind and helpful Arjuna and Krishna were. Surely they could help Agni attain Khandava Forest. That's all Agni wanted. He knew after he ate that forest, his mind would be at ease for years to come and he could then focus more on doing his job as the King of Fire.
He approached Krishna and Arjuna and explained his problem. To his surprise, they were actually extremely understanding. They told him they were happy to help and had actually always wanted to mess with Indra. This would be their break from their busy lives. Agni is beyond delighted and offers Arjuna and Krishna a reward if the job is properly done and Agni gets what he wants.
Later that night, while everyone was fast asleep. Krishna and Arjuna gave Agni the go-ahead and told him to get started on burning Khandava. Not soon after Agni started burning the forest down, Indra smelled and felt the smoke around him and rose from his slumber. HOW DARE AGNI TRY TO GO BEHIND HIS BACK AND TAKE KHANDAVA WHEN INDRA HAD SPECIFICALLY SAID NO! Indra, beyond upset, rushed down from the sky ready with his monstrous rain clouds and giant thunderbolt. Arjuna and Krishna knew this was coming and were ready to distract Indra. Arjuna used his super fast speed and great aim to disperse the rain clouds all over the state, far far away from Khandava. While Krishna used his energy and power and shattered the giant thunderbolt right out of Indra's hands. Indra was now powerless; without his thunderbolt and clouds, he was nothing. Defeated Indra watched as Agni happily ate the entire Khandava forest.
After Agni was satisfied, he called Krishna and Arjuna over and presented Arjuna, the bow Gandiva, and Krishna, his iron discus. Krishna and Arjuna happily welcome the presents and leave satisfied knowing that they helped someone in need and also got to teach Indra a lesson. There is always a line between being cocky and being confident. Hopefully Indra now knew where he stood and would never forget that helpless moment where he had no power.
Agni fulfilling his desires of eating Khandava Forest
(Image Information: Image retrieved from Tech Times)
Author's Note: This story was based off of Buck's Mahabharata, specifically, Reading Guide B. As I was skimming through the reading guide, this small little story stuck out to me. It made me happy to think that Krishna and Arjuna took time out to help Agni with his problem. I left out the part where Agni shows up to Krishna and Arjuna as a "woodsman with gold skin and dressed in black rags, his mouth smeared with butter." I wasn't sure if that line was a metaphor for something or if Agni actually did show up with gold skin and an oily mouth? It didn't really make much sense to me, so I left it out. I added a lot of personification to Agni's character but also tried to stay within the plot.
Bibliography: Buck, William (1973). Mahabharata.
Hey Sehrish, I really enjoyed reading your storytelling for this week. I think you did a great job portraying this specific scene and how both the characters helped out. I think Buck's version has a lot of these specific scenes that really should be elaborated. I am glad you chose to do the same! Good job, I like how you wrote this story.
ReplyDeletehey Sehrish, good job with retelling this story. I agree this was one story that for some reason stuck out to me when I read the book. The way you started the story by describing anji being hungry and tired was humorous. Also you did a good job of stating the issue of Indra stopping him from being able to burn down the forest. One thing that always bothered me was that Krishna is a god, I am not sure but I think he is actually Indra, so if that is the case then it presents some interesting questions about the forest being burned down.
ReplyDeleteHey Sehrish! That was a really great story and I really like the way you told this story. It seemed to flow really well and made to sure to get the readers to enjoy it with all the detail you included in the story. I really like how Krishna and Arjuna were prepared for Indra when he was about to attack Agni. I really liked this story and cant wait to read more.
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