Subhadra ( sa, सुभद्रा, Subhadrā) is a Hindu goddess mentioned in ancient Hindu scriptures like the ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...

'' and the ''

Bhagavata Purana The ''Bhagavata Purana'' ( sa, भागवतपुराण; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' or simply ''Bhagavata'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas (''Mahapuranas''). Composed in S ...

''. She is described as the favourite child of

Vasudeva According to Hindu scriptures, Vasudeva (Sanskrit: वसुदेव, IAST: ''Vasudeva''), also called Anakadundubhi, (''anakas'' and ''dundubhis'' both refer to ''drums'', after the musicians who played these instruments at the time of his ...

and the younger sister of deities

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

and

Balarama Balarama ( Sanskrit: बलराम, IAST: ''Balarāma'') is a Hindu god and the elder brother of Krishna. He is particularly significant in the Jagannath tradition, as one of the triad deities. He is also known as Haladhara, Halayudha, Bala ...

. According to the Mahabharata, Arjuna—one of the

Pandava 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 acknowledge ...

brothers—married her, with whom she bore one son, Abhimanyu. Subhadra is one of the three deities worshipped at the

Jagannath Temple The Jagannath Temple is an important Hindu temple dedicated to Jagannath, a form of Vishnu - one of the trinity of supreme divinity in Hinduism. Puri is in the state of Odisha, on the eastern coast of India. The present temple was rebuilt f ...

Puri Puri () is a coastal city and a municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is also known as '' ...

, along with

(as

Jagannatha Jagannath ( or, ଜଗନ୍ନାଥ, lit=Lord of the Universe, Jagannātha; formerly en, Juggernaut) is a deity worshipped in regional Hindu traditions in India and Bangladesh as part of a triad along with his brother Balabhadra, and sister ...

) and

(or Balabhadra). One of the chariots in the annual

Ratha Yatra Ratha Yatra (), or Chariot festival, is any public procession in a chariot. The term particularly refers to the annual Ratha Yatra in Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and other East Indian states, particularly the Odia festival that involve a ...

is dedicated to her.

Etymology and epithets

The word 'Subhadra' is made up of two words 'su' and 'bhadra'. Many scholars translate this name into 'glorious', 'fortunate', 'splendid' or 'auspicious'. * Chitra (चित्रा) - the text '' Harivamsa'' mentions Chitra (lit. bright, clear, excellent or colourful) as her birth name. * Bhadra (भद्रा) - sister of Balbhadra * Veer Sōdari (वीर सोदरी) - sister of a hero (

) * Veer Patni (वीर पत्नी) - wife of a hero ( Arjuna) * Veer Mata (वीर माता) - mother of a hero ( Abhimanyu) * Balramsodari (बलराम सोडारी) - sister of Balarama Subhadra is often identified with the Vrishni goddess

Ekanamsha Ekanamsha ( sa, एकानंशा; ) is a Hindu goddess. She is primarily identified with the illusory power of Vishnu, Yogamaya. The goddess is believed to have been worshipped by the Vrishnis. Many "kinship triads", depicting Vasudeva K ...

, and thus it is considered as her other name.

Marriage

When Arjuna was in the midst of self-imposed

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

, for breaking terms of the agreement he had with his brothers regarding private time with their common wife Draupadi. After he reached the city of Dvaraka and met

, he attended a festival held at Raivata mountain. There Arjuna saw his

first cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...

Subhadra and was smitten by her beauty and wished to marry her. Krishna revealed that she was

's and Rohini's child, and his sister. Krishna stated that he couldn't predict Subhadra's decision at her

swayamvara Svayamvara ( sa, स्वयंवर, svayaṃvara, translit-std=IAST), in ancient India, was a method of marriage in which a woman chose a man as her husband from a group of suitors. In this context, in Sanskrit means 'self' and means 'g ...

(self choice ceremony) and advised Arjuna to elope with Subhadra. After Arjuna sent a letter to Yudhishthira for permission, he drove a chariot to the hills and took the smiling Subhadra with him. After Subhadra's guards unsuccessfully attempted to stop them, the Yadavas, the Vrishnis, and the Andhakas held a meeting to discuss the matter. After Krishna comforted them, they agreed, and thus, Arjuna married Subhadra with Vedic rituals. ''The

'' narrates about

's picking of Duryodhana as Subhadra’s groom without taking her consent. Knowing that after getting the news of Subhadra's to elope, Balarama would wage a war against Arjuna, Krishna decided he will be the charioteer for Arjuna. Arjuna proceeds to take Subhadra and with Krishna, in tow, they leave. After getting the news that Subhadra has eloped with Arjuna. Finally, Balarama consents and conduct the marriage of Subhadra with Arjuna in Dvaraka. However, the interpretation of the Mahabharata referred to as the 'Southern Recension' totally differs in presenting the Subhadra Harana Parva. It is a love story, not one-sided but from both sides. It is also a bit more elaborated on the event. As soon as Arjuna reaches Prabhasa, he remembers Gada’s words, describing Subhadra’s beauty and virtues. He takes the form of an ascetic, sits under a Vata Vriksha, thinking about Subhadra. He feels that with the help of Krishna, he can get Subhadra as his wife. Meanwhile in Dvaraka,

smiles in his sleep and

Satyabhama Satyabhama, also known as Satrajiti, is a Hindu goddess and the third queen-consort of the Hindu god Krishna. Satyabhama is described as the incarnation of Bhudevi, the goddess and the personification of the earth. She aided Krishna in defeat ...

asks him the reason for his happiness. He tells her about the situation of Arjuna. Thereafter, Krishna gets up and reaches Prabhasa, where he meets Arjuna and takes him to the Raivataka mountain. After a few days, all the prominent Yadavas happened to go to Raivataka to celebrate a festival. Arjuna and Krishna roamed together. Subhadra also arrives there, and Arjuna gets enchanted by her beauty. Krishna teases Arjuna, reminding him of his ascetic status. Krishna then suggests Arjuna to take Subhadra with him, as it is acceptable for Kshatriyas.

meets the ascetic, honours him, and invites him to live in the gardens of Subhadra. Subhadra starts tending to every need of the ascetic. Arjuna, on the other hand, is passionately in love on seeing Subhadra before his own eyes. Subhadra observes him and finds the similarity of Arjuna, her aunt’s son, about whom she has heard from Gada and

. One evening, Subhadra starts enquiring the young ascetic about

Indraprastha Indraprastha (lit. "Plain of Indra" or "City of Indra") is mentioned in ancient Indian literature as a city of the Kuru Kingdom. It was the capital of the kingdom led by the Pandavas mentioned in ''Mahabharata'' . Under the Pali form of its nam ...

, and the third Pandava prince. Arjuna immediately reveals his identity. A great ritual for Shiva is planned at an island near Dvaraka. All the

Yadavas The Yadava (literally, descended from Yadu) were an ancient Indian people who believed to be descended from Yadu, a legendary king of Chandravamsha lineage. The community was formed of various clans, being the Abhira, Andhaka, Vrishni, and S ...

, with

at the head, leave for worship. Seeing the opportunity, Arjuna elopes with Subhadra, and marries her. Indra and

Shachi Indrani (Sanskrit: इन्द्राणी, IAST: ''Indrāṇī, lit.'' Indra's queen), also known as Shachi (Sanskrit: शची, IAST: ''Śacī''), is the queen of the devas in Hinduism. Described as tantalisingly beautiful, proud and ...

descend to perform the wedding rituals.

Impression on Draupadi

Subhdra in the service of Kunti and Draupadi

When Arjuna returned from his exile to

along with Subhadra, he was welcomed by Kunti and his

brothers A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

. When he asked about Draupadi, his brothers told him that she is in rage and doesn't want to meet anybody. To save her husband from Draupadi's rage, Subhadra went to the chamber of the fire born empress in the attire of a simple cowherd. When Draupadi asked who she was, Subhadra replied that she is her maid. Subhadra then fell down to Draupadi's feet and told her that she never wants to replace her. After such humility, Draupadi hugged Subhadra and accepted her as a younger sister.

Worship

Subhadra is one of the three deities worshipped at the Jagannath temple at

, along with

(as

) and

(or Balabhadra). One of the chariots in the annual Ratha Yatra is dedicated to her. Apart from it she is also believed to be worshipped by certain communities in

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

.* There is a village called

Bhadrajun Bhadrajun is a village in the Jalore district of the western part of Rajasthan, India, dating back to ancient times of the ''Mahabharata'' epic. It gets its name from Subhadra and her husband Arjuna from Dvapara Yuga. However, in recent cen ...

in the western part of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

where Subhadra is worshiped as Dhumda mata since the time of

. It is believed that, after eloping with her lover Arjuna and a gruelling journey of three days, the couple got married here. Many

Hindus 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 ...

believe Subhadra to be the reincarnation of goddess

Yogmaya Yogamaya (), also venerated as Vindhyavasini, Mahamaya, and Ekanamsha, is a Hinduism, Hindu goddess. In Vaishnavism, Vaishnava tradition, she is accorded the epithet Narayani, and serves as the personification of Vishnu's powers of illusion. ...

who took birth to save

’s life from the wicked Kamsa 11th century Balarama, Lakshmi (Shubadra), Vasudeva (Krishna, Jagannath)

In some texts like the

Brahma Purana The ''Brahma Purana'' ( sa, ब्रह्मपुराण or ; ) is one of the eighteen major Puranas collections of Hindu texts in Sanskrit Language. It is listed as the first Maha-Purana in all the anthologies, and therefore also called A ...

and the Garga Samhita, Subhadra is mentioned as Devi Shatarupa with Arjuna being

Svayambhuva Manu Swayambhuva Manu ( Sanskrit: स्वयम्भुव मनु) is the first of the fourteen Manus.Mata Bhuvaneshvari in some sects. Apart from it, Subhadra is sometimes linked with

Goddess Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with '' Maya'' ("Illusion"). A ...

by some Vaishnavas.

Death

After

Parikshit Parikshit ( sa, परीक्षित्, ) was a Kuru king who reigned during the Middle Vedic period (12th-10th centuries BCE). Along with his son and successor, Janamejaya, he played a decisive role in the consolidation of the Kuru state, ...

was seated on the throne, while leaving for heaven,

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 firs ...

gave the responsibility of keeping both the kingdoms Hastinapura ruled by her grandson and

being ruled by Vajranabha, great-grandson of her brother

in harmony. There is no specific mention in the epic about how and when she died but it is believed that after 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 acknowledge ...

along with Draupadi reached heaven, Subhadra and her daughter-in-law ( Uttarā) went to the forest to dwell the rest of their lives as hermits.

In popular culture

*In B. R. Chopra's series Mahabharat (1988), Subhadra was portrayed by Aloka Mukherjee. *In the Hindi TV series

, Subhadra was portrayed by

Sonia Kapoor Sonia Kapoor Reshammiya is an Indian television and film actress who has appeared in many television series and Bollywood films. She married Bollywood actor, singer, music director Himesh Reshammiya on 11 May 2018 in a private ceremony in Mumba ...

. * In Star Plus's series ''

Mahabharat 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 Kuru ...

'' (2013), Subhadra was portrayed by Veebha Anand. * In Star Bharat's popular series

RadhaKrishn ''RadhaKrishn'' is an Indian Hindi-language Mythological television drama series that was premiered on 1 October 2018 on Star Bharat and is also digitally available on Disney+ Hotstar. The series is based on the life of Hindu deities Radha an ...

, Subhadra is portrayed by Aanchal Goswami.

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * *

External links

{{Mahābhārata People related to Krishna Characters in the Mahabharata Deities of Jagannath Characters in the Bhagavata Purana Hindu goddesses