Least Known Characters Of Mahabharata – Babruvahana

People believe even though there were many warriors equally strong or even stronger than Arjuna, nobody was able to defeat him. But, there was a warrior who did not play any role in Kurukshetra war in Mahabharata but, still was able to defeat Arjuna. His name was, Babruvahana or Babhruvahana, Arjuna’s own son!

Babruvahana was son of Arjuna and Chitrangadaa the princess of Manipur. Babruvahana was adopted by Chitravahana the King of Manipur and father of Chitrangadaa. He was surrounded by wealth and splendor. He was a very strong warrior and well built. He learned the art of war from his grandfather. He did not know Arjuna was his father until he was a child. He came to know it later on. When Arjuna saw Babruvahana at first, he did not recognize him. Babruvahana is believed to be avatar/incarnation of Prabhasa, a Vasu out of Ashtavasu.

Once when the Ashwamedha yagya horse enters the Kingdom of Manipur, the horse was stopped by Babruvahana. Arjuna went ahead to fight with Babruvahana who stopped it. Babruvahana in the war defeats Arjuna, yes defeats Arjuna and kills him. When Babruvahana realizes that he has killed his own father he tried to kill himself. Just then his stepmother the Naga princess Uloopi comes forward with a gem and puts it on Arjuna’s chest and makes him alive again.

Actually, Uloopi encourages Babruvahana to fight with Arjuna, because she knew the curse on Arjuna given by Ashtavasus after Arjuna kills Bhishma. Uloopi knew that she could bring Arjuna to life by putting a gem on his chest. So, to set Arjuna free from this curse, Uloopi arranges Babruvahana to fight and Kill Arjuna in a battle. After this battle, Babruvahana goes to Hastinapur with his father Arjuna.

This story of the warrior who defeated Arjuna on the battlefield is really interesting. There are film and play adaptations done based on Babruvahana’s story and he is famous in Northeast region of India till date.