Arjuna - Burning of Khandava Vana

Burning of Khandava Vana

Once when roaming in the Khandava Vana, Arjuna and Krishna met the God of Fire, Agni. Agni was in great hunger and needed to burn down the entire Khandava Vana to quench his hunger. But Takshaka, the serpent-king lived in the same forest and was a friend of Indra’s. So the latter brought down heavy rains to thwart Agni’s plans to burn the woods. Agni requested Krishna and Arjuna to help him realize his goal.

The three of them then invoked Varuna, the God of the oceans, who blessed them with the Gandiva – the moon bow created by Brahma. Agni also gave Arjuna an incandescent chariot with four horses yoked and bearing a flag of Hanuman. Arjuna uses the weapon and chariot to fight the Kurukshetra War during the later parts of the epic. Agni presented Krishna with the Sudarshana Chakra. Together with these weapons, Arjuna and Krishna waged a successful battle against Indra and helped Agni burn down the entire Khandava Vana including all its demons and evil spirits.