Arjunābhigamana Parva and Kairāta Parva together trace Arjuna’s ascent from mortal warrior to divine-level combatant through relentless tapasya and cosmic testing. They recount his fierce duel with Shiva—disguised as the Kirāta hunter—and the moment Shiva grants him the formidable Pāśupatāstra. The episode walks through Arjuna’s subsequent encounters with other devas, earning celestial weapons that no ordinary human could wield. It also shows how this phase fundamentally shifts the future war’s power dynamics, making Arjuna the Pandavas’ decisive strategic asset.