DRAUPADI'S SWAYAMVARA

Then Arjuna meditated on Narayana, the Supreme God, and took the bow in his hand and strung it with ease. He placed an arrow on the string and looked around him with a smile, while the crowd was lost in spell-bound silence.

Then without pause or hesitation he shot five arrows in succession through the revolving mechanism right into the target so that it fell down. The crowd was in tumult and there was a blare of musical instruments.

The brahmanas who were seated in the assembly in large numbers sent forth shouts of joy, waving aloft their deer-skins in exultation as though the whole comm- unity had won Draupadi. 'Me uproar that followed was indescribable.

Draupadi shone with a fresh beauty. Her face glowed with happiness which streamed out of her eyes as she looked on Arjuna. She approached him andplaced the garland on his neck. Yudhishthira, Nakula and Sahadeva returned in haste to the potter's house to- convey the glad news immediately to their mother.

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