Arjuna


Arjuna is one of the central characters of the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata. He is the third oldest of the five Pandava brothers and is widely recognised as the most distinguished among them. He is the son of Indra, the king of the gods, and Kunti, wife of King Pandu of Kuru dynasty—making him a divine-born hero. Arjuna is famed for his extraordinary prowess in archery and mastery over celestial weapons. Throughout the epic, Arjuna sustains a close friendship with his maternal cousin, Krishna, who serves as his spiritual guide.
Arjuna is celebrated for numerous heroic exploits throughout the epic. From an early age, he distinguishes himself as an exceptional student under the tutelage of the revered warrior-sage Drona. In his youth, Arjuna secured the hand of Draupadi, the princess of Panchala, by excelling in an archery competition. Subsequently, during a period of temporary exile prompted by a breach of a fraternal agreement, Arjuna embarked on a journey during which he entered into matrimonial alliances with three princesses: Ulupi, Chitrangada, and Subhadra. From these unions, he fathered four sons: Shrutakarma, Iravan, Babhruvahana and Abhimanyu. Arjuna plays a major role in establishing his elder brother Yudhishthira’s sovereignty, subduing numerous kingdoms and setting fire to the forest of Khandavaprastha. When the Pandavas are deceitfully exiled after being tricked into forfeiting their kingdom by their jealous cousins, the Kauravas, Arjuna vows to kill Karna—a key Kaurava ally and Arjuna's main rival who is later revealed to be his elder half-brother. During exile, Arjuna undertakes a journey to acquire divine weapons and earns the favour of the god Shiva. Beyond his martial prowess, Arjuna was also skilled in music and dance, which enabled him to disguise himself as a eunuch teacher of princess Uttarā of Matsya during his final year of exile. During this period, he also defeats the entire Kuru army.
Before the Kurukshetra War, Arjuna—despite his valour—becomes deeply demoralised upon seeing his own relatives and revered teachers aligned with the opposing Kaurava side and struggled with the idea of killing them. Faced with a profound moral dilemma, he turns to Krishna, who serves as his charioteer. Krishna imparts him the knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita, counseling him on his duty as a warrior, karma and liberation through devotion. In this moment of spiritual revelation, Arjuna is granted a vision of Krishna’s cosmic divine form, known as the Vishvarupa. During the war, Arjuna—wielding the celestial bow Gandiva—emerges as a key warrior, responsible for the fall and death of several formidable foes, including Bhishma and Karna. After the war, he assists Yudhishthira in consolidating his empire through Ashvamedha. In this episode, Arjuna is slain by his own son, Babruvahana, but is revived through the intervention of Ulupi. Before the onset of the Kali Yuga, Arjuna performs the last rites of Krishna and other Yadavas. He, along with brothers and Draupadi, then undertakes his final journey to the Himalayas, where he ultimately succumbs. The Kuru dynasty continues through Arjuna's grandson, Parikshit.
Arjuna remains as an epitome of heroism, chivalry, and devotion in the Hindu tradition. He particularly holds a prominent place within the Krishna-centric Vaishnava sect of Hinduism, further elevated by his pivotal role in Bhagavad Gita, which becomes a central scripture of Hindu philosophy. Beyond the Mahabharata, Arjuna is mentioned in early works such as the Aṣṭādhyāyī, which mentions his worship alongside Vasudeva-Krishna, as well as in the Puranas and a multitude of regional and folk traditions across India and Indonesia. His story has been an inspiration for various arts, performances and secondary literature.

Etymology and epithets

According to Monier Monier-Williams, the word Arjuna means white, clear or silver. But Arjuna is known by many other names, such as:
  • Dhanañjaya – one who conquered wealth and gold
  • Guḍākesha – one who has conquered sleep or one who has abundant hair.
  • Vijaya – always victorious, invincible and undefeatable
  • Savyasāchī – one who can shoot arrows using the right and the left hand with equal activity; Ambidextrous.
  • Shvetavāhana – one with milky white horses mounted to his pure white chariot
  • Bībhatsu – one who always fights wars in a fair, stylish and terrific manner and never does anything horrible in the war
  • Kirīṭī – one who wears the celestial diadem presented by the King of Gods, Indra
  • Jiṣṇu – triumphant, conqueror of enemies
  • Phālguṇa – born under the star Uttara Phalguni
  • Mahābāhu – one with large and strong arms
  • Gāṇḍīvadhārī – holder of a bow named Gandiva
  • Pārtha – son of Pritha – after his mother
  • Kaunteya – son of Kunti – after his mother
  • Pāṇḍuputra – son of Pandu – after his father
  • Pāṇḍava – son of Pandu – after his father
  • Kṛṣṇa – He who is of dark complexion and conducts great purity.
  • Bṛhannalā – 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.
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 Bhagavad Gita which is remarkably consistent between the numerous manuscripts, the rest of the epic exists in many versions. The differences between the Northern and Southern recensions are particularly significant, with the Southern manuscripts more profuse and longer. Scholars have attempted to construct a critical edition, relying mostly on a study of the "Bombay" edition, the "Poona" edition, the "Calcutta" edition and the "south Indian" editions of the manuscripts. The most accepted version is one prepared by scholars led by Vishnu Sukthankar at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, preserved at Kyoto University, Cambridge University and various Indian universities.

Biography

Birth and early life

Arjuna is half-divine by birth, being the son of a human queen and the king of devas. He is one of the five Pandava brothers, who are recognized as the sons of Pandu. However, the Pandavas were each fathered by different devas through the practice of niyoga, a custom in which a revered man may father a child on behalf of another who is deceased or incapable of procreation. Although Pandu was of royal lineage, belonging to the Lunar dynasty and having once ruled as king of the Kuru kingdom, he was rendered impotent due to a curse that would result in his death were he to engage in sexual relations. To circumvent this curse, Pandu's wife Kunti utilized a sacred mantra granted to her by the sage Durvasa during her maidenhood. This mantra enabled her to invoke various gods to beget children. At Pandu’s behest, she first summoned Dharma and Vayu, resulting in the births of Yudhishthira and Bhima respectively. Each child was born a year apart. Arjuna was the third son, conceived through the invocation of the god Indra, with whom he remains connected throughout his life.
The Adi Parva, the first book of the Mahabharata, narrates Arjuna's birth. Prior to Arjuna’s birth, Pandu deduces that he would get the best son from Indra, the Vedic storm-sky god and king of the gods, and performs intense austerities to propitiate, desiring that the king of the gods father his third. Pleased by Pandu's devotion, Indra appears before him and promises to grant a son who will achieve fame across the three worlds. When Kunti invokes Indra through the mantra, Indra, assuming human form, approaches her and begets a son. His birth is marked by the appearance of a significantly greater number of sages and celestial beings—including adityas, rudras, saptarishis, gandharvas, apsaras, etc.—compared to those present at the births of his elder brothers, indicating his far-superior prominence in the narrative. A divine voice praises him and prophesizes his future heroic deeds and names him Arjuna, while drums are heard, and flowers fall from the sky. Arjuna is born under the auspicious lunar constellation of Phalguna.
Arjuna, along with his two elder brothers and two younger half-brothers, is raised in the forests of Shatashringa under the care of the resident sages. Following the deaths of Pandu and his second wife, Madri, Kunti returns to Hastinapura—the capital of the Kuru Kingdom—with all five sons. According to the Southern Recension of the Mahabharata, Pandu dies on Arjuna’s birthday.

Education and training

In Hastinapura, Arjuna and his brothers are brought up alongside their paternal cousins, the Kauravas. Their early education in archery is entrusted to Kripacharya, the royal preceptor, under the overall supervision of Bhishma, the grand patriarch of the Kuru dynasty. Soon after, the Brahmin warrior Drona is appointed to instruct the princes in the arts of warfare and martial discipline. Upon his first encounter with them, Drona asks that they repay him a favour in the future. While the other princes remain silent, Arjuna alone gives his assent, which deeply pleases Drona. Arjuna quickly distinguishes himself as the most skilled and devoted among Drona’s pupils, eventually becoming his favourite and favoured student. When Arjuna's preeminence is seemingly challenged by a tribal boy Ekalavya, Drona takes steps to ensure that Arjuna remains the greatest of his students.
The Mahabharata presents several episodes that affirm Arjuna’s distinction as Drona’s most accomplished and devoted disciple. On one occasion, Drona is seemingly attacked by a crocodile, but Arjuna reacts the fastest, rescuing his teacher. Impressed by his presence of mind and alacrity, Drona rewards him with the Brahmashira, a powerful celestial weapon. This marks the beginning of Arjuna’s acquisition of divine armaments, and it is at this moment that Drona declares, “No other man in the world will be an archer like you”. In another episode, Drona tests the perceptiveness and concentration of his pupils through an archery trial. He places an artificial bird atop a tree and asks each student what they perceive. The princes respond by describing both the target and its surroundings, but Drona is dissatisfied with their answers. When Arjuna is questioned, he replies that he sees only the bird’s head—demonstrating absolute focus and singular vision. Drona is pleased, and this refined capacity for perception and precision becomes emblematic of Arjuna’s unique abilities.
Once Drona is satisfied with the progress of his pupils, he organises a public exhibition of martial skills, attended by members of the royal court, the Kuru clan, and the citizens of Hastinapura. Arjuna makes a dramatic entrance, and Drona publicly proclaims him his favourite disciple. The crowd responds with enthusiastic acclaim, celebrating Arjuna, who demonstrates his command over divine weaponry, manipulating elemental forces such as fire, wind, water, and rain. It is during this event that Karna, who later becomes Arjuna’s principal rival, first challenges him. From this moment onward, the two figures are consistently portrayed as adversaries within the epic’s narrative structure.
The culmination of Arjuna's education is marked by his fulfilment of the teacher’s customary fee, in accordance with Indian tradition. Drona requests as payment the defeat of his longstanding rival, King Drupada of Panchala. This task is accomplished collectively by the Pandavas—or, in some versions, by all of Drona's pupils. However, the Mahabharata underscores Arjuna’s central role in this achievement, also reminding that he alone, among Drona’s disciples, had pledged in advance to deliver the fee.