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Abhimanyu

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This article is about tragic hero of the Hindu epic. For other uses, see Abhimanyu (disambiguation).
Abhimanyu
Abhimanyu
Uttaraa pleads to Abhimanyu as he leaves for the war
SpouseUttara
ChildrenParikshit
Parents

Abhimanyu (Sanskrit: अभिमन्यु) was the son of Arjuna and Subhadra. He was the nephew of Lord Krishna and was married to Uttara, the princess of Matsya Kingdom.[1] He was an incarnation of Varchas, son of Chandra. Abhimanyu was killed on the 13th day of the Kurukshetra War.

Abhimanyu possessed incomparable courage, valor and fighting ability. He was considered to be a warrior equal or perhaps superior to his father (Arjuna) owing to his prodigious feats. During the Mahabharata war as a sixteen-year-old Abhimanyu had equaled supreme warriors like Bhishma and Karna.

Origin

Abhimanyu was the reincarnation of the Varchas, son of the moon-god (Chandra). When the moon-god was asked to let his son incarnate himself on earth, he made a pact that his son will only remain on earth for 16 years as he could not bear to be separated from him.[2]

Abhimanyu was also a scion of the Lunar dynasty and heir to the legends of such men as Bharata, Ajameedha, Kuru, and so on. His mother was Subhadra, a Yadava princess, on whose side too his ancestry could be traced to Yadu, the founder prince of the Yadava line and through him to the same legendary Puroorava, Nahusha and Yayati. And he was also the nephew of Krishna.

Kurukshetra War

File:Abhimanyu killing the famous warriors of kaurava army.jpg
Abhimanyu killing the famous warriors of Kaurava army

Bhishma described Abhimanyu as a 'leader of car-divisions' during the tale of the Rathas and Atirathas. He was equal to his father Arjuna. On the 1st day of the war Abhimanyu defeated Kripa, Kritavarma, Salya and Durmukha (one of Duryodhana's brothers). On the 4th day of the war Abhimanyu defeated Salya and Duryodhana's son Lakshmana. On the 9th day, Abhimanyu defeated the Rakshasa Alamvusha in a single combat saving the lives of the Upapandavas and taking the revenge of the slaughter of his half-brother Iravan (Iravan was deceitfully killed by Alamvusha on the previous day's battle). On the 11th day Abhimanyu defeated king Paurava (who possessed the might of 10,000 elephants) by disarming him and dragging him by seizing his hair. Jayadratha came to rescue the helpless king, but was defeated in a sword-fight by Abhimanyu.

Abhimanyu's story came to prominence on the 13th day of the war when he entered the powerful Chakravyuha battle formation of the Kaurava army.[3] Drona had designed this configuration in order to capture Yudhishthira. On the side of the Pandavas, only Krishna and Arjuna were aware of the secret technique to break this seven-tier, defensive, spiral formation. Seeing Yudhishthira's panic, Abhimanyu revealed that he knows how to break into the formation, but he didn't know how to exit the formation. A plan was formulated that the Pandava forces would enter the Chakravyuha after Abhimanyu and shatter it from within. But as soon as Abhimanyu entered the Chakravyuha, Jayadratha stopped the four Pandavas from entering it.

Inside the Chakravyuha, the trapped Abhimanyu went on a killing rampage. He killed tens of thousands of Kaurava soldiers and attempted to break through the Kaurava formation from the inside. He defeated great warriors like Drona, Kripa, Aswatthama, Duryodhana, Salya, Dussasana, Bhurisrava and killed many prominent heroes including Duryodhana's son Lakshmana, Salya's son, Rukmaratha, Kritavarma's son, Matrikavata, Salya's brother, King Vrihadvala and many others. Karna was the only warrior who was able to match the young warrior in battle.[4]

Finally, a strategy was formed and a joint attack on Abhimanyu followed. Karna cut off Abhimanyu's bow, Kripa killed his two chariot-drivers and Kritavarma killed his horses. Abhimanyu took up a sword and a shield but these weapons were cut off by Drona and Karna. Abhimanyu then took up a chariot-wheel and threw it at Drona but Karna and Aswatthama saved Drona by cutting the wheel. Abhimanyu then took up a mace and smashed Aswatthama's chariot. Turning Abhimanyu killed one of Sakuni's brothers and many soldiers and elephants.[5] Then he smashed the chariot of Dussasana's son, who took a mace and confronted Abhimanyu. A badly wounded and exhausted Abhimanyu was finally killed by Dussasana's son who smashed the fallen Abhimanyu's head with his mace. Abhimanyu died at an early age of sixteen.[6]

It is also stated the boon of Abhimanyu, that he will annihilate all the big warriors inside the Chakravyuha and then only when all the mighty warriors joined together to attack, he will be perished eventually at the end of the day.[7]

Merciless killing of Abhimanyu

Abhimanyu and Chakravyuha

Abhimanyu is often quoted as an example for his partial knowledge about Chakaravyuha. Since, he knew how to penetrate the Chakravyuha, but did not know how to exit from it during the time of danger, he could not exit and was killed brutally. It is said that when Subhadra was pregnant, Arjuna told her the technique to enter in Chakravyuha and child Abhimanyu listened in mother's womb. But before Arjuna would tell her the way to get out she fell asleep and the child could not listen to it. This is often quoted as an example that foetus can hear the sound and pregnant lady should not hear or see anything which will create negative, sad, criminal movies or incidents. This is also quoted on how much partial knowledge can be destructive to an individual and society.

Legacy

File:Death of Jayadratha.jpg
Arjuna Kills Jaydhratha with his heavenly arrow

The news of Abhimanyu's death reached his father Arjuna at the end of the day. Arjuna vowed to kill Jayadratha the very next day by sunset, and failing to do so, would commit suicide by self-immolation immediately. On the fourteenth day of battle, Arjuna ravaged the Kaurava army, decapitated Jayadratha in the end of the day.[8]

Abhimanyu's son, Parikshit, became the sole heir to the Pandava empire and succeeded Yudhishthira to the throne. His son, Parikshit, born after his death, remained the sole survivor of the Kuru clan at the conclusion of the Mahabharata war and carried on the Pandava lineage. Abhimanyu is often thought of as a very brave warrior on the Pandava side, willingly giving up his life in war at a very young age. Abhimanyu was praised for his audacious bravery and absolute loyalty to his father and his uncles.[9]

Media

The life of Abhimanyu is made into dramas and films in different languages.[10] Paras Arora played the Abhimanyu Character in famous Mahabharat TV Series telecasted on Star Plus.[11]He is currently portrayed by Meghan Jadhav in Suryaputra Karn aired on Sony Entertainment Television

References

  1. ^ Marriage of Abhimanyu http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/features/05-09/features1387.htm
  2. ^ Incarnation of Soma's son http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01068.htm
  3. ^ Lone entry into Chakravyuha http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m07/m07042.htm
  4. ^ Bravery of Abhimanyu http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m07/m07041.htm
  5. ^ Abhimanyu's fall http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m07/m07045.htm
  6. ^ Abhimanyu's death http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m07/m07046.htm
  7. ^ Boon from Chandra http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01068.htm
  8. ^ What happened after Abhimanyu's death? http://indiaopines.com/star-mahabharat-abhimanyu-death/
  9. ^ http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/concepts/abhimanyu.asp
  10. ^ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Abhimanyu
  11. ^ Mahabharat
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