Editing Arjuna (section)

===Birth and early life===
Arjuna was one of the five Pandava brothers of royal lineage, whose collective name derives from their father, and heir to the [[Lunar dynasty]], Pandu. However, Pandu was under a curse whereby he would die if he had sexual relations with a woman, and so his sons were born using a mantra given to Kunti by sage [[Durvasa]] during her maiden days. His wives{{mdash}}Madri and Kunti{{mdash}}invoked different gods and were also blessed with children.<ref name="johnson-pandu">{{cite Q|Q55879169|last=Johnson|first=W. J. |article=Pandu}}</ref> According to the legend, Arjuna was a [[demigod]], who was born as a blessing after his mother Kunti invoked the god Indra on her husband's request.<ref name="coulter">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sEIngqiKOugC|first1=Charles Russell |last1=Coulter|first2=Patricia |last2=Turner|date = 4 July 2013|publisher=Routledge|page=69 |article=Arjuna |isbn =978-1-13596-390-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite Q|Q55879169|last=Johnson|first=W. J.|article=Pandavas}}</ref> The Mahabharata and Puranas such as ''[[Devi Bhagavata]]'' also records Arjuna as a reincarnation of a [[rishi]] called Nara.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/db/bk04ch01.htm |title=The Devi Bhagavatam: The Fourth Book: Chapter 1 |publisher=Sacred-texts.com |date= |accessdate=27 February 2022 |archive-date=28 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128154901/https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/db/bk04ch01.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/db/bk04ch05.htm |title=The Devi Bhagavatam: The Fourth Book: Chapter 5 |publisher=Sacred-texts.com |date= |accessdate=27 February 2022 |archive-date=28 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128155105/https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/db/bk04ch05.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Despite being the younger brother of [[Dhritarashtra]], it was Pandu who succeeded their father as king of [[Bharata (Mahabharata)|Bharata]]. This was because Dhritarashtra was blind, a disability that caused him to forfeit his right to the royal succession. Dhritarashtra fathered 100 sons, known as the [[Kaurava]] brothers, and ascended the throne on the death of Pandu.<ref name="narlikar"/><ref name="flood"/> The Pandava brothers were then brought up with their cousins, the Kauravas, and the education of all these boys was supervised by [[Bheeshma]].<ref>{{cite Q|Q55879169|last=Johnson|first=W. J. |article=Bisma }}</ref> Among their teachers was the [[brahmin]] warrior called [[Drona]], who considered Arjuna to be his favourite.<ref>{{cite Q|Q55879169|last=Johnson|first=W. J. |article=Drona}}</ref> According to Swami Parmeshwaranand, Arjuna was Drona's most accomplished pupil. He notes an incident where Drona deemed that out of all his students, none but Arjuna had the steadfast focus to shoot the eye of a toy bird on a tree using a bow and arrow, and that Drona was proven right.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Parmeshwaranand|first=Swami|title=Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Purāṇas|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_6F0ZIBIL2ZAC|year=2001|publisher=Sarup & Sons|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-8-17625-226-3|pages=512–513|edition=1st}}</ref>

After the princes completed their training, Arjuna defeated [[Drupada]] of [[Panchala]], who was impressed by the prince's skills, as the ''[[Dakshina|gurudakshina]]'' for his beloved teacher Drona.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mani|first=Vettam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mvXsDwAAQBAJ&q=arjuna+defeated+drupada&pg=PA252|title=Puranic Encyclopedia: A Comprehensive Work with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature|date=1 January 2015|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0597-2|language=en|access-date=14 October 2020|archive-date=16 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416075908/https://books.google.com/books?id=mvXsDwAAQBAJ&q=arjuna+defeated+drupada&pg=PA252|url-status=live}}</ref> Later, [[Duryodhana]] and his maternal uncle [[Shakuni]] planned to burn the Pandavas alive along with their mother Kunti. They built a palace out of lac in a village named Varanāvata. The Pandavas, though, managed to escape the house of lac with the help of [[Vidura]] through a secret tunnel.<ref>{{cite web|date=2 November 2017|title=ASI grants permission to excavate palace Kauravas commissioned to kill Pandavas|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/fyi/story/asi-house-of-lac-lakshagriha-mahabharata-kauravas-pandavas-yudhishthira-bhima-duryodhana-1077215-2017-11-02|access-date=8 August 2020|website=India Today|language=en|archive-date=17 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017083833/https://www.indiatoday.in/fyi/story/asi-house-of-lac-lakshagriha-mahabharata-kauravas-pandavas-yudhishthira-bhima-duryodhana-1077215-2017-11-02|url-status=live}}</ref>