Uttarā | |
---|---|
![]() Abhimanyu consoles Uttarā before leaving for the war. | |
Information | |
Family |
Virata (father) Sudeshna (mother) Uttara (brother) Shankha (brother) |
Spouse | Abhimanyu |
Children | Parikshit |
Origin | Matsya Kingdom |
Uttarā ( Sanskrit: उत्तरा, romanized: Uttarā) was the princess of Matsya, described in the epic Mahabharata. She was the daughter of King Virata and Queen Sudeshna, at whose court the Pandavas spent a year in concealment during their exile. During that period, she learnt music and dance from the third Pandava, Arjuna, and later married his son, Abhimanyu. Unfortunately, Uttarā was widowed during the Kurukshetra War, and she and her unborn son were attacked by the enemy warrior Ashvatthama, but were saved by the divine intervention of Krishna. Her son Parikshit saved the Kuru lineage from extinction, and became a wellknown monarch celebrated both in the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata Purana. [1]
Uttarā is a major character 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. [2]
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. [3] 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. [4]
Uttarā also appears in few of the later written Puranic scriptures, most prominent being the Krishna-related Bhagavata Purana. [5]
Uttarā learned dance under Arjuna's training during the Pandavas' year of exile in the Matsya Kingdom. Living incognito, as required by the terms of banishment, Arjuna lived as a eunuch named Brihannala, teaching the skills that he had learned from the apsaras in heaven. [6]
Once King Virata realized who Uttarā's dance teacher was, he offered his daughter's hand to Arjuna. However, Arjuna clarified to King Virata the relationship that a teacher has with a student is like that of a parent to a child, but suggested that Uttarā become his daughter-in-law by marrying his son Abhimanyu. [7]
Uttarā was widowed at a very young age when Abhimanyu, himself only sixteen years old, was killed in the Kurukshetra War. Overwhelmed with grief at the sight of her husband's body, she was consoled by Krishna. [8]
Towards the end of the Mahabharata war, when Uttarā was pregnant, Ashwathama, son of Dronacharya, while trying to avenge the defeat of Duryodhana and the Kaurava army, was challenged by Arjuna. Knowing he could not win with conventional arms, Ashwatthama invoked the Brahmashira. When Arjuna fired a Brahmastra to match, Narada and Vyasa intervened, commanding both men to withdraw their weapons. While Arjuna successfully did so, Ashwatthama did not possess the required capacity. [9] Still consumed by the desire for vengeance, Ashwatthama decided that if he could not end the Pandavas, he would end their lineage, aiming the weapon at Uttarā's womb, killing the unborn Parikshit. [10]
When Uttarā went into labour, Krishna revived the stillborn baby, and the infant was then named Parikshit, meaning 'he who has been tested'. [11]
Furious at the thought of a warrior turning his weapons on an unborn child, Krishna cursed Ashwatthama to live for millennia, completely alone and burdened by diseases, repelled by the stench of his own pus. [12]
According to the Ashramavasika Parva, fifteen years after the war Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, Kunti, and Vidura departed for the forest. Months later, when the Pandavas sought to meet their elders, Sage Vyasa was also present. Through the rishi's power, the dead were given life for a night; [13] as day dawned, Vyasa asked all the widows who wished to join their spouses to walk into the river Ganga, [14] and Uttarā might have accepted the offer.
Significantly, when the Pandavas finally renounced the world it was Subhadra, and not Uttarā, who was entrusted to take care of the young Parikshit. [15]
Uttarā | |
---|---|
![]() Abhimanyu consoles Uttarā before leaving for the war. | |
Information | |
Family |
Virata (father) Sudeshna (mother) Uttara (brother) Shankha (brother) |
Spouse | Abhimanyu |
Children | Parikshit |
Origin | Matsya Kingdom |
Uttarā ( Sanskrit: उत्तरा, romanized: Uttarā) was the princess of Matsya, described in the epic Mahabharata. She was the daughter of King Virata and Queen Sudeshna, at whose court the Pandavas spent a year in concealment during their exile. During that period, she learnt music and dance from the third Pandava, Arjuna, and later married his son, Abhimanyu. Unfortunately, Uttarā was widowed during the Kurukshetra War, and she and her unborn son were attacked by the enemy warrior Ashvatthama, but were saved by the divine intervention of Krishna. Her son Parikshit saved the Kuru lineage from extinction, and became a wellknown monarch celebrated both in the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata Purana. [1]
Uttarā is a major character 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. [2]
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. [3] 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. [4]
Uttarā also appears in few of the later written Puranic scriptures, most prominent being the Krishna-related Bhagavata Purana. [5]
Uttarā learned dance under Arjuna's training during the Pandavas' year of exile in the Matsya Kingdom. Living incognito, as required by the terms of banishment, Arjuna lived as a eunuch named Brihannala, teaching the skills that he had learned from the apsaras in heaven. [6]
Once King Virata realized who Uttarā's dance teacher was, he offered his daughter's hand to Arjuna. However, Arjuna clarified to King Virata the relationship that a teacher has with a student is like that of a parent to a child, but suggested that Uttarā become his daughter-in-law by marrying his son Abhimanyu. [7]
Uttarā was widowed at a very young age when Abhimanyu, himself only sixteen years old, was killed in the Kurukshetra War. Overwhelmed with grief at the sight of her husband's body, she was consoled by Krishna. [8]
Towards the end of the Mahabharata war, when Uttarā was pregnant, Ashwathama, son of Dronacharya, while trying to avenge the defeat of Duryodhana and the Kaurava army, was challenged by Arjuna. Knowing he could not win with conventional arms, Ashwatthama invoked the Brahmashira. When Arjuna fired a Brahmastra to match, Narada and Vyasa intervened, commanding both men to withdraw their weapons. While Arjuna successfully did so, Ashwatthama did not possess the required capacity. [9] Still consumed by the desire for vengeance, Ashwatthama decided that if he could not end the Pandavas, he would end their lineage, aiming the weapon at Uttarā's womb, killing the unborn Parikshit. [10]
When Uttarā went into labour, Krishna revived the stillborn baby, and the infant was then named Parikshit, meaning 'he who has been tested'. [11]
Furious at the thought of a warrior turning his weapons on an unborn child, Krishna cursed Ashwatthama to live for millennia, completely alone and burdened by diseases, repelled by the stench of his own pus. [12]
According to the Ashramavasika Parva, fifteen years after the war Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, Kunti, and Vidura departed for the forest. Months later, when the Pandavas sought to meet their elders, Sage Vyasa was also present. Through the rishi's power, the dead were given life for a night; [13] as day dawned, Vyasa asked all the widows who wished to join their spouses to walk into the river Ganga, [14] and Uttarā might have accepted the offer.
Significantly, when the Pandavas finally renounced the world it was Subhadra, and not Uttarā, who was entrusted to take care of the young Parikshit. [15]