QBali GOOD v EVIL

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GOOD versus EVIL
In every culture there is mythology about the battle between good and evil.
In Bali one such myth is the Mahabharata, depicting the battle between cousins of the Bharata family, consisting of the Pandawa who are good, and the Kurawa who are evil. They are battling one another in a war called Bharata Yudha.
The portion of the myth depicted in this wood carving made by I Wayan Ruta of Manuaba, and explained by Made Adigorim, a lecturer of Economics at Udayana University is about Arjuna Wiwaha, the 3rd son of the Pandawa.
Arjuna is approached by an old man who is the human form of the god Betara Indra. He tells Arjuna that for the Pandawa to win the great war they must obtain a powerful weapon. Arjuna goes to the Indrakila mountain to meditate about how to find the weapon and while he is meditating, beautiful goddesses called Bidadari are sent from heaven to try to distract him and break his concentration. They fail in their attempts to disturb him he survives to receive a blessing from the god Sang Hyang Widhi who gives him Pasupati, a powerful arrow they must use to defeat the Kurawa. This symbolizes to win a big battle for a good thing you must first pass some trials.
To prove his loyalty to the god, Arjuna in return must defeat a giant named Dewata Kawaicha, who was destroying the worlds and the heavens.
Arjuna's 2nd trial is a big mountain pig, Arjuna is very good at archery and kills the pig. At the same time, Siwa, a Balinese god, also shoots the pig . Arjuna realises the person in front of him is a god and he lets Siwa claim the win. Siwa returns to his true form as a god and to repay Arjuna he asks the goddess Supraba to accompany Arjuna to defeat the evil giant. The giant has a weakness for women so Arjuna uses Supraba to lure the giant into telling her where his weakness is, he reveals his weakness is his throat. Arjuna slits the giant's throat and he dies.
The philosophy behind the story is if you want to obtain something good you have to fight for it and stay true to your fate, you cannot forget good sense.