Gandivdhari Arjuni

Chapter 3: Arjuni impresses Drona

As said before, the youngsters were leaving today. They were wearing red orange and yellow clothes. Arjuni wore a saree in dhoti style.

Yudisthir and Duryodhan went to get blessing from the king and their pitamah, while the others went to get their mother's blessings.

Kunti was distributing kheer among her children. Bheem told her to give his other siblings little by little, but drank the whole pot himself. Kunti and Arjuni exchanged a teary goodbye and hugs, as they would stay away from each other for 12 years.

When they reached there, they saw a beautiful hermitage. Arjuni roamed the place with her siblings, while Duryodhan and Dusshasan saw a tent likely sent for them from their Mamashree Shakuni. They met Ashwatthama there but the tent was burned by Drona as he doesn't want his students or his son to face luxury in these upcoming 12 years.

He welcomed them and told them that their education would start from tomorrow, so the kids were just playing. Drona was observing Arjuni, as she was the only girl here, while she was practicing her archery skills. She was also, in between, shooting fruits from trees that her brothers or some cousins wanted.

Timeskip for night:

Drona went to the place where all the students were sleeping. He saw the Kauravas unable to sleep, yet also saw the Pandavas huddled close. The eldest ones were sleeping with the younger ones in between, hugging Arjuni protectively, like always. He smiled at the sight and went to get his own sleep.

The next day, Drona saw that the Pandava siblings had already woken up but the Kauravas were still asleep. He tried to wake up Dusshasan but

"Go away servant. We will wake up after 4 hours. The mice and mosquitoes didn't let us sleep the whole night." When Drona heard this, he hit the prince with his wooden stick and he woke up instantly. Dusshasan tried to wake up Duryodhan but to no avail. Then Acharya Drona hit him harder with the stick and instructed him to gather all his brothers outside in the garden.

After that, when they gathered, Dronacharya spoke up "princes, today a new life starts for you all. Nothing is more important in life than getting education. Today it will be decided what you will learn in the near future and how much knowledge will gain."

He then points at a wooden bird, on the branch of a tree. "You can see a wooden bird on the branch of that tree. The eye has to be peirced, and that with your arrow. Yudisthir, you are the eldest of all. So, come forward." Yudisthir comes forward, bows before him and stands straight.

"Aim at your target." He aims. "What do you see?"

Yudisthir replies "i can see a tree, Gurudev. I can also see that branch of the tree and the bird on the branch. There are other branches behind it that have a nest of some bird, so i have to be careful about it. And even if the branch along with the bird do fall down, there is an ant hill there. It may break. I have to be careful about it too."

Dronacharya smiles "That's wonderful, dear. You can see so many things at a time. This is the first quality needed in a good ruler, which you have naturally. But you cannot be an archer. Please return to your position." Yudisthir obeys and returns back.

"Bheem, come forward. What do you see?" Drona holds back a snort at seeing Bheem struggling with the bow.

"Gurudev, Jyesth Bhrata has created a problem for me. I can see the same things as him! And so many fruits!" Drona smirks at him "you can see so many things, but can't see wether your bow string is tied or not."

Bheem sweatdrops. "Should i tie it?"

"Of course. Go, run a hundred laps around the hermitage, and then tie the string. Hurry up!" Bheem sighs and goes.

"Duryodhan, come forward. What do you see?"

"I can only see the bird, and the branch, Gurudev. What should i drop, the bird, or the branch?"

"The eye of the bird on the branch must be peirced in such a way that the bird doesn't fall of the branch."

"How is that possible Gurudev?" Duryodhan argued. "An attack will surely have an aftermath."

"Until you have no control of the aftermath and the level of the aftermath, a warrior doesn't attack. Place the bow down and return to your place."

One by one, all the princes try to answer the question but cannot. Only Arjuni is left. Dronacharya turns back to his son who said "That's surprising! There is no one among the Kuru princes who can peirce the bird's eye. Father had taught that to me first. Let's see what the Kuru princess can do. How can she do much anyway? She is just a girl. "

Arjuni glares coldly at him which causes him to shut up. Drona calls Arjuni to come forward. She bows before her teacher, and stands upright. "Aim at your target, Putri." Arjuni does as she is told to. "What do you see?"

"I can only see the bird's eye, Gurudev." Ashwatthama looks surprised at her. Are her head and eyes even working properly? How can she only see the bird's eye? Duryodhans scoffs. Drona looks impressed and happy as well as surprised. No girl has ever been taught by him and also no girl was like Arjuni.

"Shoot the arrow." Everyone is shocked by that, even her siblings. Arjuni shoots the arrow and it peirces the bird's eye, goes right through it and the bird doesn't fall down the branch. Arjuni smiles in satisfaction. Drona is impressed by her even more. Arjuni touches her teacher's feet and looks up at him. Drona smiles at her.

After some time, it was found that only Arjuni was the one who could learn archery from the Kuru family. After some days, when there was a discussion about limits and weaknesses, she was told that the dark was her limit.

But, when Bheem and Duryodhan had a fight and Duryodhan pushed her brother in a quicksand puddle, she overcame that weakness and it became one of her greatest strengths.

Bheem and Duryodhan would be able to make amazing mace fighters, Yudisthir had a high knowledge about handling a kingdom and all that and he could learn the art of fighting with spears snd chariots. The twins could learn the art of sword fighting, Nakul fighting with two and Sahadev with one.

Ashwatthama was jealous of Arjuni as she was not only the best in archery, but she was a GIRL and was a really fast learner.

(Gonna skip eklavya, it still traumatizes me)

One day, Duryodhan warned Ashwatthama that if Acharya Drona didn't stop his favoritism for Arjuni, he will leave the hermitage with his brothers. Ashwatthama, not wanting his friend to leave, argues with his father.

"Alright then. Gather all the students near the river bank. I will take an oath on not being partial." Ashwatthama becomes happy and informs everyone. They gather near the river bank and watch their Gurudev praying bathing. But then suddenly...