Abhimanyu

Abhimanyu
Abhimanyu fighting with a chariot wheel after his weapons were shattered by enemy troops, illustration by Pratap Mullick, c. 1970
Information
Affiliation	Kshatriya, Kuru Descendant
Weapon	Bow and arrows, sword
Family	Arjuna (Father) Subhadra (Mother)
Spouse	Uttarā[a]
Children	Parikshit (from Uttara)
Relatives	Paternal uncles Yudhishthira Bhima Nakula Sahadeva Maternal uncles Krishna Balarama Half-brothers Shrutakarma Iravan Babruvahana Paternal Cousins Prativindhya Sutasoma Shatanika Shrutasena Ghatotkacha

Abhimanyu (Sanskrit: अभिमन्यु, IAST: Abhimanyu) is a warrior in the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. He was a young and valiant warrior of the Kuru lineage, born to Arjuna—the third Pandava brother—and Subhadra—the sister of the deities Krishna and Balarama. He was also one of the few individuals, along with his father, who knew the technique to enter the Chakravyuha, a powerful military formation. Abhimanyu was raised by his maternal family in Dvārakā because the Pandavas had been exiled for thirteen years by their cousins, the Kauravas. After his father's return, his marriage was arranged with Uttarā, the princess of the Matsya Kingdom.

Abhimanyu played a significant role on the Pandava side during the Kurukshetra War. The Kaurava soldiers banded together on the thirteenth day of the battle to build the Chakravyuha in an effort to defeat the Pandavas. Since Arjuna had been persuaded to move to another side of the battleground, Abhimanyū was the only one who was able to burst through the formation and take on the Kaurava soldiers. At that point, six maharathis (powerful warriors)— Karna, Duryodhan, Dronacharya, Kripacharya, Dushasan, Jayadratha and Shakuni, launched simultaneous attacks on him while violating several kshatriya codes, and he was unfairly killed at the age of sixteen. His death remains one of the most tragic events in the epic.

Abhimanyū's posthumous son Parikshit saved the Kuru lineage from extinction, and became a well known monarch celebrated both in the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata Purana.
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