This episode is from [Maha:3.36-3.40]. Though Bheema outwardly affected to despise Karna and to belittle his prowess in battle, in reality, he had a very deep respect for the skill of that son of Radha. It was well known that the armor of Karna was of celestial origin. It was also generally believed that he was invincible as long as he possessed it. In addition to his obvious skill with the bow and his impregnable armor, Karna had obtained many missiles of divine origin, both from his Guru Parashurama and by pleasing various deities with his devotions. In addition, he …
When Arjuna had been a disciple in the hermitage of Drona, he had formed a friendship with Gada, who belonged to the Vrishni house. (The Vrishnis were a part of the Yadava Clan.) He had described the beauty of his cousin Subhadra, who was Krishna’s half-sister. She was the sister of Sarana. Hearing the description of her beauty, Arjuna had fallen in love with her. Now that he was free to roam around the country and happened to be close to Dwaraka, the city of the Vrishnis, Arjuna decided to pay a visit. He did not want to be recognized, …
[This story is from [Maha:3.222-3.230]. See ‘Birth Of Kartikeya’ for the more well known version of Skanda’s birth. Long ago, a war raged between the Devas and their half-brothers, the Asuras. Purandara (Indra) was at a loss to know what to do, for the Asuras had grown very strong with the help of divine boons, and were inflicting heavy damages on the Deva army. As he went for a walk on the Mansa mountains, pondering the strategy to adopt in the ongoing war, he said to himself, “I must find a mighty being who would lead my army to victory. …