Astra and Vastra - armament and accoutrement   - as an actor playing Arjuna, I am impressed by his 'wardrobe' - a warrior dressed to kill!

Wow! I get goose-bumps reading the fierce fight between Arjuna and his arch-enemy Karna  in my well-thumbed copy of Mahabharat [MB] - so grippingly graphic!  The snake-secreted shaft of Karna shatters the diamond-studded crown of Arjuna, but misses his head as clever Krishna literally put his foot down, lowering the chariot out of range:

''Reft of diadem, the dark complexioned and youthful Partha looked beautiful like a blue mountain of lofty summit. Binding then his locks with a white cloth, Arjuna stood perfectly unmoved. With that white gear on his head, he looked like the Udaya hill illumined with the rays of the sun.'' [MB.bk.8]

digital painting by Molee Art (Anirudh Sainath)

I read on, highlighting sections that I want filmed: 

''Capable of shooting hundreds upon hundreds of arrows, Karna knew not that Partha had a hundred strings to his bow. Tying another string to his bow and shooting many arrows, the son of Pandu covered Karna with shafts that resembled snakes of blazing mouths. So quickly did Arjuna replace each broken string that Karna could not mark when it was broken and when replaced. The feat seemed to him to be exceedingly wonderful. The son of Radha baffled with his own weapons those of Savyasaci. Displaying also his own prowess, he seemed to get the better of Dhananjaya...Krishna, beholding Arjuna afflicted with the weapons of Karna, said ...: "Approaching Karna, strike him with superior weapons." Then Dhananjaya, filled with rage, inspiring with mantras another celestial weapon that looked like fire and that resembled the poison of the snake ... hard as the essence of adamant... uniting the Raudra weapon with it, became desirous of shooting it at his foe.''[ibid]

Arjuna is speedy-fingered - how quickly he re-strings his bow. And he has many strings to his bow, in more senses than one - do you not, dear reader and viewer recall his expertise in dance-moves and playing the strings? 

I note that it is not the super-powered weaponry that make him an indomitable warrior - it is his honed humanity and dexterity that make Arjuna capable of wielding such lethal astras: Pasupata, Raudra,Varunastra,Vayavyastra, Sammohana, Vajrastra, Agneya, Brahmastra,Brahmasira,Mahendrastra, Tavshtrastra,Parvatastra.

And yet, he is vulnerable ...struck by the Love-God's arrow, when he is captivated by the beauty of Subhadra: 

''As soon as Arjuna beheld her he was possessed by the god of desire. Then, O Bharata, that tiger among men, Krishna, observing Partha contemplate her with absorbed attention, said with a smile, 'How is this? Can the heart of one that rangeth the woods be agitated by the god of desire? This is my sister, O Partha... Blest be thou, her name is Bhadra and she is the favourite daughter of my father. Tell me if thy heart is fixed upon her, for I shall then speak to my father myself.'

"Arjuna answered, 'She is Vasudeva's daughter and Vasudeva's (Krishna) sister; endued with so much beauty, whom can she not fascinate? If this thy sister, this maid of the Vrishni race, becometh my wife, truly may I win prosperity in everything. Tell me, O Janardana, by what means I may obtain her. To get her I will achieve anything that is achievable by man.'''[MB.bk 1]

And oh, I love the way Arjuna is described by on-lookers, when he and his brothers [in sadhu-garb] have gate-crashed [so-to-speak] the swaymvara of gorgeous Draupadi, and won by his skill her heart and her hand in wedlock:

Some remarked, 'This handsome youth is even like the trunk of a mighty elephant, whose shoulders and arms and thighs are so well-built, who in patience looks like the Himavat, whose gait is even like that of the lion, and whose prowess seems to be like that of an elephant in rut, and who is so resolute, that it is probable that he will accomplish this feat. He has strength and resolution. [MB bk.1]

Well... looks like I will need to work out at the gym a bit more ...or run with weights to the nearest one in Mumbai miles away from the film location! 

https://youtu.be/bCrjE5NztTg

And my co-stars are expecting me to treat them to a meal-out and to be Arjuna-like, ''who showereth diverse kinds of food and drink on his friends''[MB bk.3].  No chance of a fancy meal, more like a frugal vanaprastha diet from our fasting-chef on location. Bah.

I need to 'meat-up' [taking Swami Vivekanda's advice about young men of India needing the 3b's but modifying one of those to 'beans' rather than you-know-what] as I am not a fan of slim-line anime-Arjuna  like this gif version :

Nor am I keen on Peter Brook's anguished Arjuna - he looks kinda  worn-out.

https://youtu.be/_B4Z1PB97KY