Arjuna

The name "Arjuna" derives from the Sanskrit root ari meaning "opposite" or "against," and ju meaning "to stir up" or "to move." Thus, it can be interpreted as "one who is against stirring up" or "one who moves against." The epithet "Partha," meaning "son of Pritha" (Kunti), is also frequently associated with him.

Lit., the "white". The tliird of the five Brothers Paiidii (>!• the reputed Sons of Indra (esoterieally the satne as Orpheus). A diseiph' of Krishna, who visited him and married Snd)hadrA. his sister, besides many other wives, aeeordinjr to the allegory. During: the fratricidal war between the Kauruvas and the Pandavas, Krishna instructed him in the hi«rhest philosophy, while serving as his charioteer. (See Bha (jarnd Gita.) Ark of Isis. At the jrreat Kjryptian annual ceremony, which took place in tiie month of Athyr, the boat of Isis was borne in procession by the priests, and Cullyrian cakes or buns, marked with the sipn of the cross (Tat), were eaten. This was in commemoration of the weepinor of Isis for the lo.ss of Osiris, the Athyr festival beinf; very impressive. "Plato refers to tiu> melodies on the occasion as beinp very ancient," writes ^Ir. Honwick {Eg. Briirf and Mod. Thought). "The Miserere in Rome has been said to be similar to its melancholy cadence, and to be derived from it. Wecpinff, veiled virgins followed the ark. The Names, or veiled virgins, wept also for the loss of our Saxon forefathers' god, the ill-fated but good Baldur." Ark of the Covenant. Every ark-shrine, whether witli the Egyptians, Hindus. Chaldeans or Mexicans, was a phallic shrine, the symbol of the i/oiti or womb of nature. The seket of tlie Egyptians, the ark. or sacred chest, stood on the ara — its pedestal. The ark of Osiris, with the sacred relics of the god. was "of the same size as the Jewisli ark", says S. Sharpe, the Egyptologist, carried by priests with staves passed through its rings in sacred procession, as the ark round which danced David, the King of Israel. Mexican gods also had their arks. Diana, Ceres, and other goddesses as well as gods had theirs. The ark was a boat — a vehicle in every case. "Tiiebes had a sacred ark 300 cubits long," and "the word Thebes is said to mean ark in Hebrew," which is but a natural recognition of the place to which the chosen people a

Arjuna, the "white" or "bright" one, stands as a luminous figure in the vast epic of the Mahabharata, his name echoing with the promise of clarity and purity. Yet, his journey is not one of effortless illumination, but rather a profound struggle on the very precipice of annihilation. On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, faced with the prospect of annihilating his own kin, Arjuna is not a stoic hero but a man undone by the terrible weight of his dharma. His despair, his questioning of the very fabric of duty and consequence, is what makes him eternally relatable.

It is in this moment of profound existential paralysis that Krishna, his charioteer and divine guide, steps forth not merely as a commander, but as the embodiment of Brahman itself. The Bhagavad Gita, born from this exchange, is not a manual for warfare, but a treatise on the nature of reality, the self, and the path to liberation. As Mircea Eliade observed in his studies of shamanism and archaic religions, the initiate often faces a symbolic death and rebirth; Arjuna's crisis is a profound psychological and spiritual ordeal that precedes his reawakening to a higher truth.

The discourse between Arjuna and Krishna, as scholars like Swami Vivekananda and later scholars of comparative religion have noted, transcends its specific Hindu context. It speaks to the universal human condition: the yearning for meaning amidst suffering, the conflict between personal desire and cosmic order, the challenge of acting in the world without being ensnared by its illusions. Arjuna's initial reluctance, his fear of the karmic repercussions of his actions, is the very friction that ignites the divine spark of knowledge. He is the archetypal seeker, the one who, when faced with the abyss, cries out not for victory, but for understanding. His transformation from a warrior paralyzed by doubt to one empowered by divine wisdom illustrates that true spiritual insight often arises not from certainty, but from the courageous embrace of uncertainty and the surrender to a higher purpose. His journey reminds us that the most profound battles are often waged within the silent chambers of the heart.