In the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

epic ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

'', Babruvahana ( sa, बब्रुवाहन) is the son of

Arjuna Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, ), also known as Partha and Dhananjaya, is a character in several ancient Hindu texts, and specifically one of the major characters of the Indian epic Mahabharata. In the epic, he is the third among Panda ...

, a Pandava prince, and Chitrangada, the princess of Manalura. Babruvahana was adopted as the heir of Manalura by his maternal grandfather and later reigned at the kingdom.

Legend

Arjuna is killed by his son Babhnu Vahana in battle

According to the ''

'', Babruvahana is the son of

and his wife, Chitrangada. He is the rebirth of Tvasta.

Birth

Manipura was a kingdom in India. It was ruled by a king named Chitravahana. He had a daughter named Chitrangada, whom he named after the Madhulika flower. For multiple generations, the dynasty did not have more than one heir. Since Chitrasena did not have any other heir, he trained Chitrangada in warfare and rule. Chitrangada was well-versed in warfare and acquired the skills to protect the people of her land. The account is described in

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

's play ''Chitra'', where Tagore depicts Chitrangada as a warrior dressed in male clothes. Arjuna fell in love with her on account of her honesty and courage. They had a son named Babruvahana, whom Chitra reared up after Arjuna left them.

Ashvamedha

Mahabharata loses mention of Chitra and her kingdom for several chapters. On the other side, the

Pandavas The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. They are acknowledg ...

went through various ordeals and finally winning the war against the

Kauravas ''Kaurava'' is a Sanskrit term which refers to descendants of Kuru, a legendary king of India who is the ancestor of many of the characters of the epic ''Mahabharata''. Usually, the term is used for the 100 sons of King Dhritarashtra and his wi ...

Yudhishthira ''Yudhishthira'' (Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, IAST: ''Yudhiṣṭhira'') is the eldest among the five Pandava brothers. He is mentioned in the ancient epic Mahabharata. He was sired by King Pandu of the Kuru Dynasty and his first w ...

became the king of Hastinapura. His mind was restless since he always felt bad about killing his own kith and kin during the war. On the advice of sages, he conducted

Ashvamedha The Ashvamedha ( sa, अश्वमेध, aśvamedha, translit-std=IAST) was a horse sacrifice ritual followed by the Śrauta tradition of Vedic religion. It was used by ancient Indian kings to prove their imperial sovereignty: a horse accomp ...

yagna, where a decorated horse would be sent across the kingdom and wherever it goes unopposed, the land would be acquired by the king who sent it. Arjuna was tasked to take care of the horse. When Arjuna went to Manipura with the wandering sacrificial horse of the

, Babruvahana captured the horse, which, by tradition, meant war against the Pandavas. Arjuna tried to persuade Babruvahana to leave the horse as there was no enmity between Manipura and Hastinapura. Babruvanahana agreed with Arjuna, but informed him that he wished to kill Arjuna for his gurudakshina. Arjuna hugs Babruvahana

Arjuna, reluctant to fight a young boy, left and informed a small troop of his army to convince Babruvahana to give the horse back. Babruvahana defeated the army. He also defeated

Bhima In Hindu epic Mahabharata, Bhima ( sa, भीम, ) is the second among the five Pandavas. The ''Mahabharata'' relates many events that portray the might of Bhima. Bhima was born when Vayu, the wind god, granted a son to Kunti and Pandu. Af ...

, and killed Vrishaketu. Knowing this, Arjuna grew enraged as Vrishaketu had been very dear to him, as he had been his elder brother Karna's son, and took an oath to kill Babruvahana or immolate himself if he gets defeated.

fought with Babruvahana, and got the upper hand. Babruvahana defeated Arjuna, and killed him with a powerful astra. Repenting his deed after knowing Arjuna's identity, he was determined to kill himself, but he obtained from his stepmother, the Naga princess

Ulupi Ulupi (), also known as Uluchi and Ulupika, is a character the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. She is a Naga princess, the daughter of the king Kauravya, and is among the four wives of Arjuna. She also finds a mention in the ''Vishnu Purana'' and t ...

, a gem called ''Nagamani,'' which restored Arjuna to life, with the help of Krishna. Arjuna, however, repented that he wouldn't be able to live with the remorse due to Vrishaketu's death, as he had been the one who had ordered Vrishaketu to engage in battle, and grew anxious of the reaction of

Subhadra Subhadra ( sa, सुभद्रा, Subhadrā) is a Hindu goddess mentioned in ancient Hindu scriptures like the ''Mahabharata'' and the ''Bhagavata Purana''. She is described as the favourite child of Vasudeva and the younger sister of de ...

. Krishna, however, promised that he would restore

Vrishaketu Vrishaketu ( sa, वृषकेतु ) is a figure in the Hindu Sanskrit epic ''Mahabharata''. He was the son of Karna and Vrushali and also the youngest of Karna's sons. He was the only surviving son of Karna as he didn't participate b ...

to life. After Vrishaketu was revived by Krishna, Babruvahana asked Vrishaketu to forgive him (which he did). Vrishaketu admired Babruvahana's skill in war. Then, the Pandavas, Ulupi, Chitrangada, Babruvahana, Draupadi, and their armies returned to

Hastinapura Hastinapur is a city in the Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ''Hastinapura'', described in Hindu texts such as the ''Mahabharata'' and the Puranas as the capital of the Kuru Kingdom, is also mentioned in ancient Jain tex ...

In popular culture

The story of Babruvahana has been made into films in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

in 1942 and 1964 and in

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

in 1977. The 1964 Telugu film

Babruvahana In the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata'', Babruvahana ( sa, बब्रुवाहन) is the son of Arjuna, a Pandava prince, and Chitrangada, the princess of Manalura. Babruvahana was adopted as the heir of Manalura by his maternal grandfath ...

was written and directed by

Samudrala Sr. Samudrala Raghavacharya (19 July 1902 – 16 March 1968), also known as Samudrala Sr., was an Indian screenwriter, lyricist, playback singer, director, and producer known for his works in Telugu cinema. Samudrala Senior made his screen debut in ...

and starred

N. T. Rama Rao Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), often referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who served as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for seven years over three terms. He starred ...

S. Varalakshmi Saridey Varalakshmi (13 August 1925 – 22 September 2009) was an Indian actress and singer who worked in Telugu and Tamil-language films. She was popular for her roles and songs in Telugu films like ''Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam'' (1960) and '' ...

and Chalam. It was made into two Hindi movies in consecutive years, Veer Babruvahan in 1951 by

Nanabhai Bhatt Nanabhai Bhatt (12 June 1915 – 24 April 1999) was an Indian film director and producer who worked in Hindi and Gujarati cinema. He is known for making over a hundred fantasy and mythological films, including ''Mr. X'' (1957), ''Zimbo Comes t ...

starring

Shashi Kapoor Shashi Kapoor (pronounced �əʃi kəpuːɾ (born Balbir Raj Kapoor; 18 March 1938 – 4 December 2017) was an Indian actor and film producer who is best known for his work in Hindi films. A recipient of several accolades, including four Nation ...

S. N. Tripathi Shri Nath Tripathi (14 March 1913 – 28 March 1988) was an Indian composer, whose active years were from the 1930s to the 1980s. Tripathi's multi-faceted work range included being a composer, writer, actor, and director of films. His debut film ...

and Veer Arjun in 1952 starring

Mahipal Mahipal (1919 -2005) was an Indian actor who worked in bollywood mostly in stunt films like ''Parasmani, Zabak, Cobra Girl, Jantar Mantar, Arabian nights themed movies such as Alibaba and 40 Thieves, Aladdin Aur Jadui Chirag, Roop Lekha, Sune ...

Nirupa Roy Nirupa Roy (born Kokila Kishorechandra Bulsara; 4 January 1931 – 13 October 2004) was an Indian actress who had appeared in Hindi films. Noted for her portrayals of tragedy and sorrow, Roy was known for her acting ability, and was uncharitab ...

, &

Trilok Kapoor Trilok Kapoor (11 February 1912 23 September 1988) was an Indian actor and a member of the Kapoor family who worked in Bollywood films. He was the younger brother of actor Prithviraj Kapoor. Early and personal life Trilok was born as the seco ...

. The Kannada language film,

was written and directed by

Hunsur Krishnamurthy Hunsur Krishnamurthy (9 February 1914 – 13 February 1989) was an Indian playwright, film director, producer, actor, screenwriter and lyricist in Kannada cinema. He worked with noted theatre personalities early in his career; Gubbi Veeranna, ...

and starred Rajkumar as

and Babruvahana in a dual role,

B. Saroja Devi Bangalore Saroja Devi (born 7 January 1938) is an Indian actress who has acted in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. She acted in around 200 films in over six decades. She is known by the epithets "''Abhinaya Saraswathi''" (Saraswathi of ac ...

Chitrāngadā Chitrāngadā ( sa, चित्रांगदा, ''Citrāṅgadā''), in the Hindu epic ''Mahābhārata'', was the warrior princess of Manipur and the only heir of king Chitravahana. She had a son named Babhruvahana with Arjuna. The story of ...

, Kanchana as

and

Jayamala Jayamala (born 28 February 1955) is an Indian actress and politician. She served as the Minister for Women and Child Development and Empowerment of Differently Abled and Senior Citizens in the Government of Karnataka, by virtue of being a membe ...

Bibliography

* * Laura Gibbs, PhD. Modern Languages MLLL-4993. Indian Epics. * Dowson's Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology

References

External links

Babhruvahana in ''Encyclopedia for Epics of Ancient India''
{{HinduMythology Characters in the Mahabharata