Arjun is a Brahmin, and he takes his spiritual identity very seriously. One day, as he is traveling through the desert, he is ambushed by dacoit highwaymen. They rob his family of their possessions, and they steal Arjun's sister. They spare Arjun, because he will be a valuable slave, and they slay Arjun's uncle. Arjun is subjected to slavery.
For a long time, Arjun wrestles with his fate. As a Brahmin, Arjun understands his fate to be of a religious nature, and being subjected to such a low caste as slavery makes Arjun question whether he is still a blessed servant of Brahma, or whether he is no longer esteemed that way by fate. They arrive to a slave market, and Arjun is sold to an elephant trader and begins learning the art of elephant care. While an elephant driver, Arjun practices martial arts, and he becomes a fearsome warrior.
After a long series of conflicts, Arjun is well-known in the region as a mighty man. In a darkly humorous twist of fate, Arjun is again re-captured by marauders and sold again into slavery. This time, he has no qualms with such a fate. He thinks about how much he learned from his quiet life with the elephants, and when he is finally sold to a stone carver, he is happy to learn a new technique, and soon he finds he has a deep love of stone carving.
