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Chitrangada () is a character in the ancient
Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
epic ''
Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...
''. She is introduced as the princess of region named Manipura or Manalura, and the only heir of King Chitravahana. During his exile, the Pandava prince
Arjuna Arjuna (, , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, �ɾd͡ʒun̪ə is one of the central characters of the ancient Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He is the third of the five Pandava brothers, and is widely regarded as the most important and renowned among them. ...
fell in love with her and she became his third wife. She had a son named Babhruvahana with him. The story of Chitrāngadā was adapted by Indian writer,
Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...
in his play, Chitra.


Early life

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


Marriage with Arjuna

It is not described in ''
Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...
'' as to how Arjuna, the
Pandava The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, aɳɖɐʋᵊ IAST: Pāṇḍava) is a group name referring to the five legendary brothers, Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva, who are central figures of the Hindu epic ''Mahabhara ...
prince met Chitrāngadā. The account is described in
Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...
's play ''Chitra'', where Tagore depicts Chitrāngadā (she had a maid called Sujata) as a warrior dressed in male clothes. Arjuna fell in love with her on account of her honesty and courage. Arjuna's wanderings, during his period of exile, also took him to the ancient kingdom of Manipura. Visiting king Chitravahana, the ruler of Manipura, he beheld his beautiful daughter Chitrāngadā and fell in love with her. When he approached the king to seek her hand in marriage, the king told him the story of his ancestor Prabhanjana who was childless and undertook severe austerities to obtain offspring. Finally,
Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...
appeared to Prabhanjana, granting him the boon that each successive descendant of his race should have one child. As Chitravahana, unlike his ancestors, had not a son, but a daughter, he made her a "Putrika" according to the customs of his people. This meant that a child, born of her, would be his successor, and no one else. Arjuna readily agreed to this condition. Marrying Chitrāngadā, he stayed with her for three years. When Chitrāngadā had given birth to a son, Arjuna embraced her affectionately and took leave of her and her father to resume his wanderings. Arjuna left her and returned to Hastinapura, promising her that he would take her back to his kingdom. Chitrāngadā started bringing up her son Babruvahana. ''Mahabharata'' loses mention about Chitrāngadā and her kingdom for several chapters. On the other side, the
Pandavas The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, aɳɖɐʋᵊ IAST: Pāṇḍava) is a group name referring to the five legendary brothers, Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva, who are central figures of the Hindu epic ''Mahabhara ...
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 ...
.
Yudhishthira Yudhishthira (Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, ud̪ʱiʂʈʰiɾᵊ IAST: ''Yudhiṣṭhira''), also known as Dharmaputra, is the eldest among the five Pandavas, and is also one of the central characters of the ancient Indian epic ''Ma ...
became the king of Hastinapura. His mind was restless since he always felt bad of killing his own kith and kin during the war. On the advice of sages, he conducted the
ashvamedha The Ashvamedha () 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 accompanied by the king's warriors would be released to wander ...
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. While the horse moved towards the North-east, a young man opposed Arjuna. While Arjuna asked about the identity of the young man, he said he was the prince of the land and that was enough introduction to start a fight. A fierce fight started and Arjuna was shocked to see the dexterity with which arrows were pouring at him. He was finally hit by one of the arrows and before he fell unconscious, he realised that the young man was the son of Chitrāngadā. Chitrāngadā came crying to the spot hearing of the incident and she met Arjuna at his death bed. Ulupi, the other wife of Arjuna came to the spot with the Nagamani, a mythical gem capable of bringing back dead men to life. She told Chitrāngadā and Babruvahana that Arjuna was cursed by the Vasus that he would be killed by his own son because he was responsible for the fall of Bhishma (the eighth Vasu) and that with the incident he was relieved of his curse. Arjuna was woken up with the stone and he was happy to see both his wives and his son. Arjuna took Ulupi, Chitrāngadā and her son Babhruvahana to Hastinapura, where Chitrāngadā readily became the servant of Gandhari, the aunt of Arjuna. She spent her life in her service to Gandhari.


Retirement of the Pandavas

Upon the onset of the
Kali Yuga ''Kali Yuga'' (Devanagari: कलियुग), in Hinduism, is the fourth, shortest, and worst of the four '' yugas'' (world ages) in a '' Yuga cycle'', preceded by '' Dvapara Yuga'' and followed by the next cycle's '' Krita (Satya) Yuga''. I ...
, the Pandavas along with
Draupadi Draupadi (), also referred to as Krishnā, Panchali and Yajnaseni, is the central heroine of the Indian epic poetry, ancient Indian epic ''Mahabharata''. In the epic, she is the princess of Panchala Kingdom, who later becomes the empress of K ...
retired and left the throne to their only heir Arjuna's grandson, Parikshit. Giving up all their belongings and ties, they made their final journey of pilgrimage to the Himalayas, accompanied by a dog. Chitrāngadā went back to her kingdom, Manipura.


Literature

* ''Citrāngadā'' in: M.M.S. Shastri Chitrao, ''Bharatavarshiya Prachin Charitrakosha'' (Dictionary of Ancient Indian Biography, in Hindi), Pune 1964, p. 213 * ''The Mahabharata of Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa'', trl. from the original Sanskrit by Kisari Mohan Ganguli, Calcutta 1883-1896 * ''Chitrāngadā'' in: Wilfried Huchzermeyer, ''Studies in the Mahabharata'', edition sawitri 2018, p. 17-19. (also as E-Book)


References


Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chitrangada Characters in the Mahabharata Princesses in Hindu mythology