Who is abhimanyu in mahabharata

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We will be happy to have you on board as a blogger, if you have the knack for writing. So the question has always arisen why Lord Krishna did not try to help Abhimanyu, who, besides being a brilliant fighter, was also his nephew. Mythology analysts have tried to find explanations for this indifference on the part of Shri Krishna. The most common explanation is that Krishna knew that Abhimanyu was destined to die young.

The young man who was Abhimanyu in Mahabharata was actually the son of the Moon-god Soma and his name was Varchas. Lord Brahma had once asked the Devas demi-gods to go to earth to help in the fight against evil, and many of them agreed to his request. One of those selected to go to earth was Varchas. However, Soma loved his son dearly, and thoroughly disliked the idea of being separated from him for long. So Lord Brahma promised Soma that his son would be returned to him soon. He also told him that his son would be one of the most valiant fighters during the brief period he lived on earth.

Abhimanyu was born to Arjuna to fulfill this decision of the gods and Lord Krishna was aware of it. He had no interest to interfere in the grand plan of destiny. But before he could explain the rest of it, i. So, there is even a suggestion that Krishna deliberately denied Abhimanyu the knowledge to get out of the set-up, in order to prepare him for his destiny.

It is a well-known fact that Arjuna was initially reluctant to fight and that Krishna had to spur him on to action through a series of advice in the form of Bhagavad Gita. Abhimanyu 's education began while he was still in Subhadra's womb.

He overhead Arjuna telling Subhadra the secrets of how to enter, exit, and destroy various battle formations. Of these, it is of note, that he only heard how to enter but not exit or destroy the secret of the Chakravyu formation as Subhadra fell asleep and thus Arjuna didn't complete his explanation. He was trained by Pradyumna , the son of Sri Krishna , and by his great warrior father Arjuna , and brought up under the guidance of Lord Krishna and Balrama. Arjuna arranged Abhimanyu 's marriage to Uttara, the daughter of King Virata.

The Pandavas had been hiding incognito in the Matsya kingdom during their final year of exile. During that time, Arjuna played the role of dance teacher to Uttara. At the end of the period of exile, upon finding out who the Pandavas were, the king offered to marry Uttara to Arjuna , however, Arjuna had come to think of her as his daughter, so, he asked to have her married to Abhimanyu instead.

The warriors he fought were far more experienced and seasoned than him and he exhibited courage and valor far greater than what his age, experience and training demanded. His most important contribution was the fact that he stood between victory and defeat of Pandavas in the war on the 13th day.

Without his presence, Yudhisthira would have been captured by the Kaurava forces and the war would be lost. Unfortunately, they were dragged into a war with the Samsaptaka forces led by Susharma at the other end of the battle-field and too far from the formation to know about it. Drona at the head of the formation was wreaking havoc with the Pandava forces. Seeing the destruction of his army, Yudhishthira asked Abhimanyu for help. Abhimanyu informed him that he how to enter the Chakravyu formation but not the way out.

Yudhishira, Bheema, Nakul, Sahadeva , and other warriors were to follow Abhimanyu into the chakravyu to assist him in getting out. Unfortunately, they were not able to follow him in due to Jayadratha, the king of the Sindhus who utilized a boon that he had received from Shiva to single-handedly hold off the Pandava forces for the day.

Another reason that the rest of the Pandava forces could not accompany him could be that in his zeal, he rushed through the forces and did not wait for his senior colleagues to support him [4].

Abhimanyu lacked the knowledge and strategy required to defeat the chakravyuha battle strategy. He attacked whoever came his way, and vanquished many - but once he entered the cakra vyuha, he lacked a specific direction to move, and kept wandering, trying to find his way out because he only learned how to enter but not how to exit.

In the terrible conflict with Bhishma , Abhimanyu broke Bhishma's flagstaff. After that, he assisted his father Arjuna to fight against Bhishma. The Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata describes Abhimanyu's fight with Lakshmana in the second day's battle. Then he took his place in the Ardha Candra Vyuha semi-circular phalanx formed by Arjuna. He fought fiercely with the Gandharas. He attacked Shalya and killed Jayatsena , King of Magadha , along with his elephant.

We find Abhimanyu assisting Bhimasena. After that Abhimanyu defeated Laksmana in battle. Then he defeated Vikarna , Chitrasena and others. Later he took his position in the Vyuha created by Dhrishtadyumna. He started fighting with Bhagadatta. He defeated Ambastha and Alambusha.

Next he fought a duel with Sudeshna. After that he encountered Duryodhana , Brihadbala and others. The Kaurava commander-in-chief Drona planned to divert Arjuna and Krishna away to chase an army of the Samshaptakhas whom Arjuna defeated that very day. The Kaurava army was grouped into the giant discus formation, which caused great loss for the Pandavas. If the formation continued till end of that day, the Pandavas would have no army by sunset.

The only two people on the Pandava army who completely knew about how to enter and break this formation were Arjuna and Krishna, who were away. Hence, without option, all other Pandava generals turned to Abhimanyu, Arjuna's son. Abhimanyu's story came to prominence when he entered the powerful Chakra Vyuha battle formation of the Kaurava army.

Abhimanyu claimed that he could decimate the entire Kaurava and Pandava army in a fair combat. Abhimanyu was trained in all types of warfare by Krishna and Arjuna themselves, and later by Pradyumna Krishna's son. Abhimanyu learnt the art of breaking into the Chakra Vyuha when he was in Subhadra's womb, It was then Arjuna was narrating the art of breaking into Chakra Vyuha to Subhadra.

But he did not know how to destroy the formation once he was inside, as Subhadra fell asleep while listening to the story and Abhimanyu in her womb could learn only half of the technique. As soon as Abhimanyu entered the formation, Jayadratha , the ruler of Sindh blocked the other Pandavas, so that Abhimanyu was left alone.