Son of Fire, daughter of the Sun

Chapter 14: Another chain of events

A strange dream, which had been happening almost every night lately, did not give Arjuna peace. In this dream, he unsuccessfully tried to catch up with someone, racing through the forest of Kamyaki on a lathered horse, not noticing the branches whipping on his bare back and shoulders. He wanted to prevent something terrible, but every time the attempt failed. Again and again. He heard his own heartbreaking cry, saw a hand stretched forward in a desire to reach someone, to hug one last time ...

And he woke up with a sinking heart, covered from head to toe in sticky sweat. Today it happened again. He woke up with a cry not only Nakula and Sahadeva, but even Draupadi and Yudhishthira. Alarmed, they ran out of a nearby hut and rushed to him. Bhima alone slept, snoring with a beatific smile. This hero, endowed with the mind of a child and at the same time with the cruelty of a tiger, always dreamed of either laddu, or Hidimbi with Draupadi, or a massacre where he crushed enemies, but in each of the cases the dreams suited Bhima perfectly. Arjuna could not remember a single time when his brother jumped up in sweat and with a twisted face, as he is now.

"What happened, Arjuna?"Ignoring the others, Draupadi threw herself on her knees in front of him and hugged her husband with trembling arms, turning his face towards her.

“I thought we were attacked by Rakshasas or beasts. But is it that bad dream again?" Arjuna just nodded, averting his eyes in shame. he is called a Warrior. His job is to protect his brothers and wife, not to frighten them.

-" Tell me what did you see?"

“I don't know, Panchali.” He didn't dare to look her in the eyes.

“I'm just trying to catch up with someone and prevent the… irreparable. But every time I fail."

“What is going on, Yudhishthira?" Draupadi looked helplessly at her elder husband.

“Maybe we should tell the brahmins or Vasudeva about this dream when he next visits?” Yudhishthira just shook his head.

“Dreams are sometimes deception, Panchali. They should not be given much importance. What can happen to us when we are all together and the gods are on our side? We are protected by righteousness and wisdom. I think we need to perform a puja to clear the mind and pacify the soul." Yudhishthira's decision pleased everyone, and the Pandavas and their wife went to the forest temple to decorate Ishvara's lotus feet with fresh flowers. However, the dream still lingered in Arjuna's head. Kneeling in the temple, hands folded near his heart, he kept thinking and thinking, remembering the details of the dream. The details of the terrible vision gradually began to appear from the fog that was covering the mind with a dense veil, and Arjuna again barely restrained a cry when he finally remembered what he had seen in a dream. Forgetting everything

- About the puja, about his wife, about revenge, about the fact that he was forbidden to appear in Hastinapur

- He simply jumped out of the temple faster than lightning, ignoring the astonished exclamations of the brothers and Panchali flying after him. Grabbing his bow and arrows in his hut, Arjuna rushed faster than the wind to the nearby ashram. Now Hanuman himself could envy his speed. Brahmins rested under a spreading banyan tree, eating juicy fruits taken from nearby trees. They watched in amazement as the middle of the princes they had been ordered to watch over for several years threw himself at his feet, begging to be allowed to take a fast horse. The brahmins looked at each other, and the senior acharya started a long monologue about how life is too short and should not be wasted in haste. However, the flowery speech of the Brahmin had to be interrupted, for the impudent prince suddenly got up, silently untied one of the best horses that were resting near the dwelling from the post, jumped on his back and rushed away. The Brahmins had only time to shake their heads and regretfully complain to each other that respect for teachers is gradually disappearing from this world.