Jump to content

Virata

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 60.254.103.85 (talk) at 03:59, 16 September 2022 (Fixed an error). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For other uses, see Virata (disambiguation).

Virata
Virata
A lithograph of Virata in his court by Ravi Varma Press, 1920
Information
FamilySahtanika (brother)
SpouseSuratha and Sudeshna
ChildrenShveta ( a son) by Suratha),Shankha,Uttar (sons) and Uttara (daughter) by Sudeshna

Virata (Template:Lang-sa, IAST virāṭa), was the king of the Matsya Kingdom, in whose court the Pandavas spent a year in concealment during their exile. Virata was married to Queen Sudeshna and was the father of Prince Uttara and Princess Uttarā, who married Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna. Abhimanyu and Uttara's son Parikshit succeeded Yudhishthira on the throne of Hastinapura, after the war of Mahabharata. He is the titular character of the Virata Parva, the fourth book of the epic Mahabharata [1]

Life

Virata was a good ruler. He was the incarnation of one of Maruts and his brother Sahtanika was portion of Mitra. married his commander-in-chief Kichaka's elder sister Sudeshna. Though he was a fierce warrior, he was afraid of Kichaka's might. So he obeyed all orders of Kichaka. He was warned by Kichaka that if he wouldn't obey his orders, he (Kichaka) will destroy his whole kingdom. He was unable to stop Kichaka when he was insulting Draupadi in disguise of Sairandhari. After Bhima killed Kichaka, Virata became independent. He also insulted Duryodhana who was blaming Virata for Kichaka's death. When Trigarta's king Susharma attacked him on Duryodhana's order from another direction, he fought with him bravely but when Susharma was about to kill him, he was saved by Bhima. His daughter Uttarā was married to Arjuna's son Abhimanyu whose son Parikshita succeeded Yudhishthira's throne.

Virata sitting on the throne watching Draupadi’s insult by Kichaka and is unable to take an action.

Role in the Kurukshetra War and death

He supported Pandavas in the war. Before, the war Sahadeva preferred Virata to be the commander-in-chief of their army, but Yudhishthira and Arjuna preferred Dhrishtadyumna.

On the first day, both his sons Uttara and Shweta were killed by Shalya and Bheeshma, leaving only Shankha. On the second day, an enraged Virata killed Shalya's son Madranjaya as revenge for Uttara. During the war, he fought Bheeshma several times. On the seventh day, he confronted Drona but his horses, charioteer, banner and chariot were quickly destroyed by Drona. Then, he ran towards his son Shankha's chariot. Together, they managed to stop Drona's onslaught and wounded him. An enraged Drona shot a poisonous arrow at Shankha, killing him instantly. Virata, having no more sons left, fled the battlefield. During the night battle of the 14th day, he was vanquished by Shalya and taken away from the battlefield. He was killed by Drona on the 15th day of the war. In a different version, he was killed during a Kaurava attack in the Kurukshetra War along with his sons.

See also

References

  1. ^ Dowson, John (1888). A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature. Trubner & Co., London. p. 1.
  • Swami Ramsukhdas: Shrimad Bhagvadgita - Sadhaka-Sanjivani, translated into English by S.C. Vaishya, Gita Press Gorakhpur, ISBN 81-293-0063-X


Stub icon

This Hindu mythology–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Virata&oldid=1110545352"