TRIGUN

REFUGE

Agnidev was almost done devouring the forest and Krishna and Arjun again, began to help him. Suddenly an Asur came towards them, trying to save himself from their arrows, he went and knelt in front of Tamasvini.

"The mighty Mayasur ?" Hidimba muttered.

Arjun looked at the him with confusion, and Krishna had a small smile on his face.

"The embodiment of Tamas, I seek your refuge. O great one, please ask your husband and brother to spare my life." Mayasur said.

Tamasvini raised her eyebrow and folded her hands, Arjun looked at her with awe.

"You were once a great King Mayasur, that ruled over all the Asur races from Rakshasas to Daityas to Danavas. But you seem to have sided with the unrighteous." She said.

"Great one, I had tried to make Takshak come on the right path but I failed." Mayasur said.

"Same thing happened in Treta yug. You couldn't bring your son in law Ravan on the right path. Now I wonder how many more people will you fail to bring to the righteous path." Tamasvini said.

"I don't understand." Mayasur frowned.

"Side with righteousness and renounce all your unrighteous friends and acquaintances." Tamasvini said.

"I will, great one." Mayasur nodded.

"Mayasur your talent of architecture parallels with that of Vishwakarma. I will give you refuge if you agree to use your maya to beautify our palace that will be made shortly by Vishwakarma." Tamasvini said.

"I agree." Mayasur nodded.

"Alright then. My husband and brother won't put a scratch on you." Tamasvini assured. Mayasur bowed.

She looked at Arjun and Krishna who also smiled and nodded, accepting and respecting her decision.

"O great one, to express my gratitude, I shall present you family with gifts." Mayasur said.

He moved towards Yudhishthir and summoned a spear.

"This spear is so strong that it could penetrate a stone wall as though it were a piece of paper." Mayasur said giving it to him.

"Thank you." Yudhishthir bowed taking it.

Mayasur then moved to Bheem and summoned a mace.

"This is the mighty mace called Vrigodharan, I present it to you." Mayasur said giving it to him.

"Thank you." Bheem took the mace gratefully.

He then moved to Nakul and summoned a sword.

"This sword is swift in nature. This best suits you." Mayasur said and gave it to Nakul.

"Amazing. Thank you." Nakul said taking the sword and swinging it.

Mayasur lastly moved to Sehdev and summoned a axe.

"This strong and mighty axe, deserves to be wielded by you." Mayasur said giving the axe to Sehdev.

"Thank you Mayasur." Sehdev bowed.

"I shall come and use my maya and architectural knowledge to beautify your palace whenever the great one summons me." Mayasur said and disappeared.

Soon Agnidev came in front of Arjun and Krishna, after devouring the forest.

"Shri Krishna and Arjun, I shall be forever grateful to you. I have now regained my own nature, free of lethargy. Thank you." Agnidev said and disappeared.

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A/N

Fun facts -

Some texts say that Mayasur was the one who gave Arjun the Gandiv bow.

You know just as Gandiv was revered, the sword of Nakul's sword Asi was also very divine, wielded by Tridev and also many gods and sages. He got it from Kripacharya (who got it from Dron) after Mahabharat war, it was later given to Parikshit.

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So many people will say that Arjun did adharm by killing the wife of Takshak, because Kshatriyas shouldn't raise weapons against women.

Let's see it from a different perspective.

Arjun killed the wife of Takshak because she was trying to escape with her son and he had promised Agnidev to not let anyone escape the forest.

And she was swallowing her son to help him escape, and that's why Arjun shot an arrow at her neck.

In Baal Kand of Ramayan Vishwamitra says -

Compassion regarding the elimination of a female is ungermane, oh, best one among men, since a prince has to effectuate it intending the welfare of four categories of society.... To the nominee who bears the burden of kingdom this is the age-old duty, and hence oh, Rama, the legatee of Kakutstha, eliminate this infamy, as goodness is inevident in her, isn't it? Oh, Rama, the protector of people, we have heard that Indra once eliminated Manthara, the daughter of Virochana, when she wished to annihilate earth, haven't we? And Rama, once Vishnu wiped out even the wife of sage Bhrigu and sage Shukracarya's mother when she wished the world to become one without a governing factor, namely Indra.

So basically a Kshatriya is allowed to kill a woman if she engages in evil deeds.