By Aaliyah Pastor:
A song that would be playing in the background if this was a movie would be “Started From the Bottom” by Drake. This song would be perfect for the last few pages of Chapter 8, a lil before Arjuna was cursed by Urvasi. The Pandavas started off pretty rough, living in exile in the forest, but they decided it was time to gain their kingdom back and became stronger.
According to page seventy-seven of Chapter 8, it reads, “Every moment we are growing older. Thirteen years . . . ! Who knows whether we will be alive or fit to take back our kingdom? And we will have thirteen years less for our existence. We should attempt to wrest back our kingdom this very minute.” Thirteen years are long to just wait for the Pandavas to take back their kingdom. Not even knowing if they would even survive all these years, they decided why not take action now.
The Pandavas decided to send their brother Arjuna to the gods to get their weapons, for the weapons from the gods will make the Pandavas invincible. On his journey, he was cursed. A woman named Unvasi fell in love as soon as she saw Arjuna. Arjuna couldn’t break his vow and had to reject her. In addition, according to page seventy-nine, the novel states, “He told her, ‘I am under an ascetic vow at this time in order to achieve certain aims and I cannot view you except as my mother.’”
Then, she cursed him that he may pass among women unnoticed and be treated as a eunuch, but her curse bore fruit in the thirteenth year of his exile, which was found as a blessing. After some time passed, at the end of their twelfth year of exile, Arjuna was back. He rejoined with his brothers and wife. When he described to them the weapons he had acquired from the divine sources, their hopes rose again, and they began to discuss seriously how to win back their kingdom after the lapse of one more year of exile in disguise. This song represents this perfectly, for they started at the bottom, and worked hard, and came together, where they are now invincible, bringing them to the top. In the song, one lyric said, “Started at the bottom and the whole team here.” It goes well with the part of the story after Arjuna came back from his journey of getting the weapons from the gods. Then Arjuna and his brothers were together again: “the whole team” was there.