This is one of the articles in a book I have written on spirituality. The book is available on Amazon.com.
The Spirit Of Spirituality
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Most of us have heard the story of Draupadi’s swayamvara. In brief, Draupadi’s father had set a condition to win her in marriage. Any suitor would have to string a heavy bow and shoot five arrows simultaneously at a rotating fish, by looking at its reflection in a water tub. Several suitors tried, but none could even string the bow. It was finally only Arjuna, the great warrior who succeeded in shooting the arrow and won the lovely Draupadi as his bride.
Let us see the symbolism of this swayamvara. Draupadi is the avatar or incarnation of Goddess Bharathi, who is none other than Saraswathi or the goddess of knowledge. Arjuna represents a seeker of knowledge and in the scriptures he is spoken of as a person with an ability to intensely focus on an object and exclude everything else. So here, Arjuna represents the seeker of spiritual wisdom who can intensely focus on nothing but spiritual wisdom.
Arjuna held the bow in his right hand. The bow represents the mind. In the bow he put five arrows. The five arrows represent our senses. All the five arrows were aimed at the target. The target, a fleeting fish represents God. God can never be seen directly. Arjuna has to see the fish in a tub of water. The tub of water represents the scriptures. It is only through the scriptures that one can get a sense of what God can be.
So Arjuna with his intensity looked at the moving fish in a tub of water and shot five arrows at the fish and won the lovely Draupadi as his bride. Similarly a spiritual seeker, by studying the scriptures and using the mind to direct the five senses at the Lord will succeed and will be blessed with Divine wisdom.
I invite people to purchase my book on spirituality and read many more such articles. The following books are available:
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