At the age of Mahabharata, there was a small but independent state named Manipur whose king Chitravahan wanted a prince for himself. He then worshipped Lord Shiva and got a girl. According to Mahadev's order and his own desire, he rared her as a boy...
She took her bow in her right hand and aimed her arrow. She was not at all nervous. She aimed her bow to the farthest tree with a circle drawn in it. Chitrangada herself drew the circle in the big eye. It was actually an apple of someone's eyes. She used this target to practice archery alone.
The man stood tall beside her. He was too apprasing her drawing abilites. He said mockingly to her -
"Balak (male child), you should drop the bow and arrows and take tuli and kalam (paintbrush and pencil). You are a born artist. You should take this as your pesha (job)."
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She felt so angry on him. How did he dare to insult the one and only real princess of Manipur?!! She clutched her bow tightly and glared at him. The man, on the contrary, seemed quite pleased to see her anger. He looked to be enjoying her reactions from the bottom of hearts. He uttered this -
"Ho, Balak Ho. (Encore child, encore)."
She cursed him under her breath. How dare he??!! Did he had a death wish??!! Did not this imprudent man knew that none other than the great archer, Madhyam Pandav Arjun, could not defeat Chitrangada?!! She had a boon from Lord Mahadeva that Arjuna would defeat her and took her hands in marriage. Chitrangada was herself a stubborn girl. She was also a princess herself. She took the strange vow to marry that any person who would defeat her in archery test. Most Princes and Kings of different states hopped in to her state in the faintest hope to win over her but got defeated by her and were bound to get away in shame. Even Arjuna's cousin brother Duryodhan tried this but got defeated in the process. He was bowled over her beauty.
She aimed her bow towards the tree and took a big breath. She breathed in and out repeatedly and then at last threw her own arrow. It struck the aim perfectly.
"Ho, Balak ho (encore child, encore)." By saying this the man patted her left shoulder fiercely. She flinched a bit and backed away a little. Imprudent!! Brute!!! How dare this complete stranger to touch a "Kanin" (virgin) "Kanya" (girl) like this?!!! But he took the signal wrongly. He thought that this boy was so arrogant that it never learnt to take praise from anybody.
She made her voice more arrogant and manly to say "You are defeated now. According to our bet, you should go now from here immediately."
The man smiled brightly. His pretty and handsome face looked charming with it. His smile was very innocent proving that he had a very pure soul. He said again to her -
"Oho, Balak, tishtyo khan bhar (Hey, child, wait for some second.) I have to give my test of my archery skill. Till then I don't accept defeat."
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He aimed his bow to the aim. He then pulled his thumb and index finger to his bow and it emerged the loudest tung sound. It even shivered her a bit while her eardrum felt pain. She put her both hands on her ears to protect them. Good lord!! What a gripping sound!! It gave her instant headache!!
He in an instant pulled the string of his bow by touching one of his Akshay 'Tunir' (arrow) and threw it in the air with fierce force. It struck the aim and she with a jolt turned at the direction of aim. His arrow struck on her past arrow and divided it perfectly into two separate parts. She opened her big eyes more big in utter surprise. What on the earth??!!
The young man stood tall on her side. He told her "Balak, you are defeated."
Within a second, with swift motion of hands she pulled out her sword and put it on his lower neck. "I refuse to accept defeat. None in this world can defeat me, except Arjuna."
With another swift motion of his own hands, he jumped behind her back with an open knife and put in on her throat. "Then you should accept your defeat. Because I am Kunti putro Arjuna myself."
