 -Apart from Draupadi, Arjun had three more wives named Subhadra){kind=link}
Who Is Chitrangada In Mahabharata – Apart from Draupadi, Arjun had three more wives named Subhadra, Ulupi and Chitrangada. Abhimanyu was born from Subhadra, Iravat from Ulupi and Vabhruvahan from Chitrangada.
Who Is Chitrangada In Mahabharata (Story Of Chitrangada)
During exile, Kunti’s son Arjun once reached Manipur walking along the seashore through Mahendra mountain. There he saw Chitrangada, daughter of Manipur King Chitravahan, and was stunned because she was very beautiful. Then he went to the King of Manipur and said, King, I am a noble Kshatriya. Please marry your daughter to me. When Chitravahan asked, Arjun told that I am Panduputra Arjun.
King Chitravahan put a condition before Arjuna for giving his daughter to him. The condition was that his son (son of Arjuna and Chitrangada) will stay with Chitravahan only because in the past era, one of his ancestors was a king named Prabhanjan. He had performed penance with the desire of having a son, so Shiva had given him the boon of having a son and also said that there will be only one child in every generation, hence Chitravahan’s child was that girl.
The king said, I have only one daughter and I consider her as my son. I will marry her according to Putrikadharma, so that she has a son and he becomes the founder of my dynasty. Arjuna said, okay, I accept your condition and in this way Arjuna and Chitrangada got married.
Arjuna enjoyed the happy married life of Chitrangada for some time and after that they had a son. The son was named ‘Babhruvahan’. After the birth of the son, Arjuna left leaving the responsibility of his upbringing on Chitrangada. Before leaving, Arjuna said that in due course of time Yudhishthira will perform Rajsuya Yagya, only then Chitrangada should come to Indraprastha with her father. There she will get a chance to meet all the relatives of Arjuna.
Babhruvahan killed Arjuna —
Once when Yudhishthira performed Ashwamedha Yagya, the horse of the Yagya reached Manipur. Arjuna was with the horse. The horse kept roaming around and reached Manipur. When Manipur King Babhruvahan heard that his father had come, he reached the city boundary with great humility to see him, along with the dignitaries, taking a lot of wealth with him. Seeing the Manipur King coming like this, Arjuna did not respect him by taking refuge in Dharma. At that time Arjuna became somewhat angry and said, son! This way of yours is not right. It seems that you have been expelled from the Kshatriya Dharma, son. I have come inside your kingdom while protecting the Yagya horse of Maharaja Yudhishthira. Still why don’t you fight with me? Fighting is the duty of Kshatriyas. In this way Arjuna scolded his son a lot.
At that time Arjuna’s wife Nagakanya Ulupi was also listening to that conversation. Then Nagakanya Ulupi with beautiful body parts came to the Dharma proficient Babhruvahan and said this Dharma- Son you should know that I am your step mother Nagakanya Ulupi. You follow my orders. By doing this you will get great Dharma. Your father is the best warrior of Kuru clan and is always mad with the pride of war. Therefore, you must fight with him. By doing this he will be pleased with you. There is no doubt in this. On hearing this Babhruvahan decided to fight with his father Arjuna. Then a fierce battle took place between Arjuna and Babhruvahan. It is said that in this war Babhruvahan fainted and Arjun was killed.
Chitrangada’s lamentation —-
Hearing the news of Arjun’s death, Arjun’s wife Chitrangada reached the battlefield and started lamenting. She started telling Ulupi that it was with your permission that my son Babhruvahan fought with his father. Chitrangada, crying, told Ulupi that you are aware of Dharma, sister. I beg you for Arjun’s life. Chitrangada spoke both harsh and polite words to Ulupi. In the end, she said that you are the one who made two brothers fight and took their lives. My son may be killed but you give up Arjun’s life, otherwise I will also give up my life. Then unconscious Babhruvahan regained consciousness and saw that his mother was sitting near Arjun and lamenting and stepmother Ulupi was also standing nearby. Babruvahana sat in front of his father Arjun and started mourning and vowed that now he too will give up his life by fasting till death on this battlefield.
Ulupi’s heart also melted after seeing and hearing the mourning of her son and mother and she remembered Sanjivan Manika. The gem which is the basis of life of snakes appeared there as soon as she remembered it. Then she said to Babruvahana that son get up, do not mourn. Arjun has not been defeated by you. They are invincible for all humans. Take this divine gem which always revives dead snakes with its touch. Place it on your father’s chest. They will come alive as soon as it touches them. Babruvahana did the same. Arjun woke up like a man who woke up after sleeping for a long time. Then he returned the horse of Ashwamedha to Arjun and along with his mothers Chitrangada and Ulupi participated in the Ashwamedha Yagna of Yudhishthira.