When word reaches Hastinapura that Keechaka, a great wrestler and brother-in-law of King Virata, has been killed, the Kauravas guess that the killer of Keechaka has to be Bhima. This means the Pandavas are in Virata. So, the Kauravas decided to provoke King Virata, hoping that this will bring forth the Pandavas, V.S. Karunakarachariar said in a discourse. Once they are discovered, then as agreed upon, the Pandavas will have to go back to the forest for 12 years and follow that up with a year in hiding. Uttara, son of King Virata, says that if he has a reliable charioteer, he will defeat the Kauravas. Arjuna, who is in disguise as Brihannala, a dance master to the princess of the Matsya kingdom, agrees to be Uttara’s charioteer. But when Uttara sees the Kaurava army, he is terrified. He orders Brihannala (Arjuna) to turn the chariot back. Arjuna says this is an unacceptable behaviour for a prince and offers to fight the Kauravas.
When the Pandavas entered Virata, Yudhishthira had hidden their weapons in a tree, which had been told not to give the weapons to anyone but Yudhishthira or Arjuna. The latter now requests the tree for his bow, and armed thus, he goes to fight the Kauravas. Upon seeing him, Drona tells Bhishma, “ nadhI jalam Kesava nArI ketuh.” Translated, the words mean: river, water, Vishnu, lady and flag. This does not seem to make sense. But if the words are read differently, the meaning becomes clear. NadhIja (son of a river), LankEsa (Ravana), vanArI (vana-forest, ari-destroyed), ketu (flag). So, Drona addresses Bhishma as son of a river, for Bhishma is the son of Ganga. The one who destroyed Ravana’s Asoka vanam was Hanuman. And Hanuman is seen in the flag of Arjuna. So, Drona is saying in a circuitous way that Arjuna has arrived to fight.
