Arjuna
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Arjuna | |
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Arjuna (
Etymology and epithets
According to Monier Monier-Williams, the word Arjuna means white, clear or silver.[2] But Arjun is known by many other names, such as:[3][4]
- Dhanañjaya (धनञ्जय) – one who conquered wealth and gold
- Guḍākesha (गुडाकेश) – one who has conquered sleep (the lord of sleep, Gudaka+isha) or one who has abundant hair (Guda-kesha).
- Vijaya (विजय) – always victorious, invincible and undefeatable
- Savyasāchī (सव्यसाची)– one who can shoot arrows using the right and the left hand with equal activity;Ambidextrous.[5]
- Shvetavāhana (श्वेतवाहन) – one with milky white horses mounted to his pure white chariot
- Anagha (अनघ) – one who is sinless[6]
- Bībhatsu (बीभत्सु) – one who always fights wars in a fair, stylish and terrific manner and never does anything horrible in the war
- Kirīṭī (किरीटी) – one who wears the celestial diadem presented by the King of Gods, Indra[7]
- Jiṣṇu (जिष्णु) – triumphant, conqueror of enemies[8]
- Phālguṇa (फाल्गुण) – born under the star Uttara Phalguni (Denebola in Leo)[9]
- Mahābāhu (महाबाहु) – one with large and strong arms
- Gāṇḍīvadhārī (गाण्डीवधारी) – holder of a bow named Gandiva
- Pārtha (पार्थ) – son of Pritha (or Kunti) – after his mother
- Kaunteya (कौन्तेय) – son of Kunti – after his mother
- Pāṇḍuputra (पाण्डुपुत्र) – son of Pandu – after his father
- Pāṇḍava (पाण्डव) – son of Pandu – after his father
- Kṛṣṇā (कृष्णा) – He who is of dark complexion and conducts great purity.[9]
- Bṛhannalā (बृहन्नला) – another name assumed by Arjuna for the 13th year in exile
Literary background
The story of Arjuna is told in the Mahabharata, one of the Sanskrit epics from the Indian subcontinent. The work is written in Classical Sanskrit and is a composite work of revisions, editing and interpolations over many centuries. The oldest parts in the surviving version of the text may date to near 400 BCE.[10]
The Mahabharata manuscripts exist in numerous versions, wherein the specifics and details of major characters and episodes vary, often significantly. Except for the sections containing the
Life and legends
Birth and early life
Arjuna was one of the five Pandava brothers of royal lineage, whose collective name derives from their father, and heir to the
Despite being the younger brother of Dhritarashtra, it was Pandu who succeeded their father as king of Bharata. This was because Dhritarashtra was blind, a disability that caused him to forfeit his right to the royal succession. Dhritarashtra fathered 100 sons, known as the Kaurava brothers, and ascended the throne on the death of Pandu.[18][19] The Pandava brothers were then brought up with their cousins, the Kauravas, and the education of all these boys was supervised by Bhishma.[20] Among their teachers was the brahmin warrior called Drona, who considered Arjuna to be his favourite.[21] According to Swami Parmeshwaranand, Arjuna was Drona's most accomplished pupil. He notes an incident where Drona deemed that out of all his students, none but Arjuna had the steadfast focus to shoot the eye of a toy bird on a tree using a bow and arrow, and that Drona was proven right.[22]
After the princes completed their training, Arjuna defeated
Marriages and children
Arjuna is a hero and central character in the Hindu epics and appears in hundreds of situations. Among the most notable is his marriage to Draupadi,[25][26] the fire born daughter of Drupada, who was the king of Panchala.[27]
After the event of Lakshagriha, Arjuna, his mother and brothers decide to hide from Hastinapura. One day, Arjuna learns that Drupada is holding an archery tournament to determine who should marry his daughter. The tournament was to lift and string a bow, and fire arrows to pierce the eye of a golden fish only by looking at its reflection in the water. At the Swayamvara, almost all the assorted monarchs were unable to complete the challenge. In the end, Arjuna, dressed as a Brahmin, wins the tournament.[28] Annoyed by their defeat, the kings attack Arjuna, but he defeats them and runs home to tell his mother of his success, shouting "look what we have found". Commentators vary as to whether Kunti thought he was referring to alms found in the forest or to some great prize unknown to her. She tells him that the find must be shared with his brothers, as they had always shared such things in the past.
This misunderstanding, combined with the protocol that the oldest of the brothers, Yudhishthira, should marry first, leads to the agreement that all five brothers marry her. This is one of the rare examples of polyandry in Sanskrit literature.[25][29] The brothers agreed that none should intrude if Draupadi was alone with one of the others, the penalty for doing so is a year to be spent in exile during which the culprit must remain celibate.[25]
When Arjuna, his siblings, mother and Draupadi returned to Hastinapura, Dhritarashtra determined to avoid a rivalry developing for control of Hastinapur by splitting the kingdom, with half of it being left to his own eldest son, Duryodhana, and half to the eldest son of Pandu, Yudhishthira.[18][19]
Arjuna inadvertently broke the pact with his brothers, intruding as he sought to collect weapons whilst Yudhishthira, was alone with Draupadi. He felt obliged to go into exile despite Yudhishthira's attempts to dissuade him.
Burning of Khandava Forest
It was while at Indraprastha, the capital city of the Pandavas,[32] for the birth of Abhimanyu that Arjuna and Krishna become involved in what Alf Hiltebeitel describes as "one of the strangest scenes of the epic", this being the burning of the Khandava Forest. This story within a story has been interpreted in various ways.[31]
The essence of this part of the myth is that Arjuna and Krishna are in the forest when they are approached by a hungry person. They agree to help satisfy his hunger, at which point he reveals himself to be Agni, the god of fire. Agni's hunger can only be sated by consuming the entire forest and everything in it but his previous attempts to do this were thwarted by Indra, who is a protector of the forest and sent down rains to quench the fire. The cousins agree to fend off Indra and anyone else who might interfere; to this end, Arjuna armed himself with the Gandiva bow and Krishna with his Sudarshana Chakra, weapons suitable for a fight with the gods. They then begin to destroy the forest, battling against Indra and other gods, as well as demons, animals and snakes. Once the forest has gone, after six days of fire and slaughter, Arjuna and Krishna receive thanks from Indra, who had retreated with the other gods partway through the proceedings on being commanded by a mysterious voice to step back and watch.[33]
The game of dice
As heir to the lordship of
Exile of the Pandavas
While in this exile, Arjuna visited the
After the
When Arjuna was in deep meditation, a wild boar ran towards him. He realized it and took out an arrow and shot it at the boar. But, another arrow had already pierced the boar. Arjuna was furious and he saw a hunter there. He confronted the hunter and they engaged in a fight. After hours of fighting, Arjuna was not able to defeat him and realized that the hunter was Shiva. Shiva was pleased and took his real form. He gave him Pashupatastra and told that the boar was Indra as he wanted to test Arjuna. After gaining the weapon, Indra took him to heaven and gave him many weapons.[38][39]
During his exile, Arjuna was invited to the palace of
At Matsya Kingdom
Arjuna spent the last year of exile as a eunuch named Brihannala at King Virata’s Matsya Kingdom. He taught singing and dancing to the princess Uttarā. After Kichaka humiliated and tried to molest Draupadi, Arjuna consoled her and Bhima killed Kichaka. When Duryodhana and his army attacked Matsya, Uttara, Uttarā's brother, with Brihannala as his charioteer went to the army. Later that day, the year of Agyatavasa was over. Arjuna took Uttara away from the army to the forest where he had kept his divine bow, Gandiva, and revealed his identity to Uttara. When Arjuna's identity was revealed to the court, Uttarā was married to Arjuna's son Abhimanyu.[40][42]
Kurukshetra War
Bhagavat Gita
The Bhagavad Gita is a book within the Mahabharata that depicts a dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna immediately prior to the commencement of the Kurukshetra War between the Pandavas and Kauravas. According to Richard H. Davis,
The conversation deals with the moral propriety of the war and much else as well. The Gita begins with Arjuna in confusion and despair, dropping his weapons; it ends with Arjuna picking up his bow, all doubts resolved and ready for battle.[43]
In the war
Arjuna was a key warrior in Pandava's victory in the Kurukshetra. Arjuna's prowess as an archer was demonstrated by his success in slaying numerous warriors, including his own elder brother Karna and grandfather Bhishma.
- Fall of Bhishma: On the 10th day of battle, Shikhandi accompanied Arjuna on the latter's chariot and they faced Bhishma who did not fire arrows at Shikhandi. He was then felled in battle by Arjuna, pierced by innumerable arrows. With Sikhandi in front, Bhishma did not even look in that direction, Arjuna shot arrows at Bhishma, piercing his entire body.[40]
- Death of Bhagadatta: On the 12th day of the war, Arjuna killed powerful king of Pragjyotisha Bhagadatta, along with his mighty elephant Supratika.[44]
- Death of Jayadratha: Arjuna learns that Jayadratha blocked the other four Pandavas, at the entrance of Chakravyuha, due to which Abhimanyu entered alone and was killed unfairly by multiple Kaurava warriors on the 13th day of the war. Arjuna vowed to kill him the very next day before sunset, failing which he would kill himself by jumping in a fire. Arjuna pierced into the Kaurava army on the 14th day, killing 2 aukshohinis (4.2 Lakh soldiers) of their army, and finally beheaded Jayadratha on 14th day of the war.
- Death of Sudakshina: He killed Sudakshina the king of Kambojas on the 14th day using Indrastra killing him and a large part of his army. He also killed Shrutayu, Ashrutayu, Niyutayu, Dirghayu, Vinda, and Anuvinda during his quest to kill Jayadratha.
- Death of Susharma: Arjuna on the 18th day, killed king Susharma of Trigarta Kingdom, the main Kaurava ally.
- Death of Karna: The much anticipated battle between Arjuna and Karna took place on the 17th day of war. The battle continued fiercely and Arjuna killed Karna by using Anjalikastra when Karna was weaponless.[40]
Later life and death
After the Kurukshetra War, Yudhishthira appointed Arjuna as the Prime Minister of Hastinapur. Yudhishthira performed Ashvamedha. Arjuna followed the horse to the land of Manipura and encountered Babhruvahana, one of his sons. None of them knew one another. Babhruvahana asked Arjuna to fight and injured his father during the battle. Chitrāngadā came to the battlefield and revealed that Arjuna was her husband and Babhruvahana's father. Ulupi, the second wife of Arjuna, revived Arjuna using a celestial gem called Nagamani.[45]
After Krishna left his mortal body, Arjuna took the citizens of Dwaraka, including 16,100 wives of Krishna, to Indraprastha. On the way, they were attacked by a group of bandits. Arjuna desisted fighting seeing the law of time.
Upon the onset of the
Outside Indian subcontinent
Indonesia
In the
Wayang story
Arjuna is a well-known figure in the world of
Arjuna has a smart and clever nature, is quiet, conscientious, polite, brave and likes to protect the weak. He leads the Madukara Duchy, within the territory of the state of Amarta. For the older generation of
Arjuna also has other powerful heirlooms, among others: The Kiai Kalanadah
Depictions in popular culture
- The American astronomer Tom Gehrels named a class of asteroids with low inclination, low eccentricity and earth-like orbital period as Arjuna asteroids.[49]
- The sportspersonin every national sport.
- Arjun is a third generation main battle tank developed for the Indian Army.[50]
- Mayilpeeli Thookkam is a ritual art of dance performed in the temples of Kerala. It is also known as Arjuna Nrithyam (‘Arjuna's dance’) as a tribute to his dancing abilities. [citation needed]
- Arjuna is also an Archer class Servant in the E Pluribus Unum" story chapter, where he wishes to fight Karna again.[51] Arjuna also appears as a rogue Archer servant in the game Fate/Samurai Remnantas one of servants recruitable by the protagonist Iori.
- The protagonist in Steven Pressfield's 1995 book The Legend of Bagger Vance and its 2000 film adaptation, Rannulph Junuh, is based in part on Arjuna (R. Junuh).[52]
- Shoji Kawamori. The series follows Juna Ariyoshi, a high school girl chosen to be the "Avatar of Time" and entrusted with saving the dying Earth.
In television and films
There have been serials and films based on Arjuna's life and exploits.
- "Arjuna" is a character in Orson Scott Card's Earth Afire (2013) and Earth Awakens (2014).
Television
TV Series | Played by | Channel | Country |
---|---|---|---|
Mahabharat (1988 TV series) | Arjun[53] | DD National | India |
Bharat Ek Khoj | Lalit Mohan Tiwari
| ||
Shri Krishna (1993 TV series)
|
Sandeep Mohan | ||
Mahabharat Katha | Arjun | ||
Ek Aur Mahabharat | Narendra Jha | Zee TV | |
Jai Hanuman (1997 TV series) | Manish Khanna | DD Metro | |
Draupadi (2001 TV series)
|
Rajesh Shringarpure | Sahara One | |
Dwarkadheesh Bhagwaan Shree Krishn
|
Gautam Sharma | NDTV Imagine
| |
Kahaani Hamaaray Mahaabhaarat Ki | Harshad Chopda | 9X | |
Mahabharat (2013 TV series) | Shaheer Sheikh[54] | Star Plus | |
Dharmakshetra | Ankit Arora[55] | EPIC
| |
Suryaputra Karn | Navi Bhangu | Sony TV | |
Karn Sangini | Kinshuk Vaidya | Star Plus
| |
Paramavatar Shri Krishna | Ankit Bathla | &TV | |
Radha Krishn | Kinshuk Vaidya[56] | Star Bharat |
Films
Film | Played by |
---|---|
Draupadi | Prithviraj Kapoor |
Sri Krishnarjuna Yuddhamu | Akkineni Nageswara Rao |
Bhishma | Sobhan Babu |
Karnan | Muthuraman |
Mahabharat | Pradeep Kumar |
Babruvahana | N. T. Rama Rao |
Veerabhimanyu | Kanta Rao
|
Pandava Vanavasam | M. Balaiah
|
Sri Krishna Pandaveeyam | Sobhan Babu |
Sri Krishnavataram | Ramakrishna |
Daana Veera Soora Karna | Nandamuri Harikrishna |
Babruvahana | Rajkumar |
Kurukshetram | Krishna |
The Mahabharata | Vittorio Mezzogiorno |
Thalapathi | Arvind Swami (Based on Arjuna's character)
|
Arjun: The Warrior Prince | Yuddvir Bakolia (voice) |
Mahabharat | Ajay Devgn (voice) |
Mahabharat Aur Barbareek | Arjun |
Kurukshetra | Sonu Sood[57] |
Memories of My Body | Radithya Evandra (name of a character, Wahyu Juno, based on Arjuna) |
References
Notes
Citations
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Further reading
- McGrath, Kevin (2016). Arjuna Pandava: The Double Hero in Epic Mahabharata. Orient Blackswan. ISBN 978-8-12506-309-4.
External links
Arjuna at the Encyclopædia Britannica