One day, Sage Ved Vyasa visited the Pandavas. He told them that their opponents, the Kauravas had many powerful warriors like Bheeshma, Drona, Karna etc along their side. So in the event of a war between both the sides, it would be extremely important for the Pandavas to balance their strength fulfill their vows and win the battle. The only way to gain more power would be to get celestial weapons from the Gods themselves. Saying these, he left the Pandavas thinking.
They decided that Arjuna should start on a mission to obtain celestial weapons to help them win the war. So Arjuna, after getting the blessings of his brothers, set out northwards towards the Himalayas. He carried with him his Gandeeva & other weapons.
On his way, he heard a voice. “O Kshatriya! Why do you carry weapons in this peaceful mountain inhabited by saints and sages”. Arjuna looked around and saw a sage meditating under a tree. Assuming that it was the sage who spoke, he replied, “Holy One! I am on a journey to acquire weapons of the Gods “. Then the sage revealed his true form. He was none other than Lord Indra, the King of Devas and the God father of Arjuna. He advised Arjuna to do a penance for Lord Shiva and acquire the Great Pasupathastra from the Lord Himself, after which Indra promised to give him the necessary weaponries to fight the battle. Arjuna thanked Lord Indra and decided to perform a penance for Lord Shiva.
During the first month, he survived by eating fruits and leaves. In the second month, he had nothing to eat and lasted with only water. The next month, he only breathed. During the fourth month, he hardly consumed air. This caused panic in all the three worlds. The Devas pleaded Lord Shiva to put an end to the hard penance by Arjuna and save the worlds. The Lord agreed and went down to earth in the guise of a hunter.
Mookasura, a Danava (a.k.a Asura) in the form of a wild boar saw Arjuna and charged towards him. Arjuna saw the boar and mounted a powerful missile (missile, really?? those days??) on his Gandeeva and shot it towards the Danava. The boar fell down and assumed his original form of the Danava. When Arjuna went closer, he saw two arrows that had pierced the Asura’s body. One was his and he was wondering who the other arrow belonged to. He looked around and saw a hunter. He asked the hunter “I had killed the boar already. Why have you shot an arrow too?” But the hunter replied that he was the one who killed the boar first with his arrow. They argued for a long time, which slowly turned out to be a fierce fight. Arjuna kept shooting a series of arrows on the hunter, but the hunter kept absorbing them. Arjuna’s inexhaustible quiver was empty leaving him stunned and worried. He quickly took out his sword and charged towards the hunter. The hunter charged towards Arjuna too. They fought until the swords broke. Next they fought with bare hands and the hunter overpowered Arjuna in a while.
Arjuna unable to gather any further strength decided to seek the help of Lord Shiva. He quickly made a Lingam (an idol form of Shiva) out of sand and worshipped it with a garland of flowers. But the garland, to his surprise adorned the neck of the hunter. That’s when Arjuna realized that for so long he had been fighting with the wielder of the Holy Trident, Lord Shiva Himself. Arjuna immediately fell on His feet and sought his blessings. Shiva then assumed his original divine form and said, “O Partha! I am impressed with your bravery and your archery skills. You can now possess the Great Pasupathastra”. The Lord also restored Arjuna’s quiver with arrows and his sword. Lord Shiva also taught Arjuna how to use the weapon since it could bring out mass destruction in a single shot.
With that, Shiva blessed Arjuna and returned to his abode.
Lord Indra along with the Devas appeared before Arjuna and granted him all the celestial weapons that were promised by Indra. Indra took Arjuna along with him to Devlok. Arjuna spent his stay learning the art of music, dance and warfare in Devlok. During his stay, he once had a misunderstanding with Urvashi, a celestial apsara. Urvashi cursed him that he will spend a year of his life as a woman. Arjuna spent the rest of the days happily at Devlok.
Arjuna came back to earth and reached the hut of the Pandavas. He displayed all the weapons he had acquired during his quest. The Pandava brothers were pleased to have Arjuna back, successful from his mission.
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