Hindu PantheonHero
Arjuna
Also known as Partha
Third of the five Pandava brothers and the Mahabharata's greatest archer, whose crisis of conscience on the battlefield of Kurukshetra prompts the god Krishna's teaching, the Bhagavad Gita.
About Arjuna
Foremost of Archers
Arjuna, son of Kunti and the god Indra, is celebrated throughout the Mahabharata as the finest archer of his age, trained alongside his brothers and their rival cousins the Kauravas by the master Drona. He wins his wife Draupadi, who becomes shared wife to all five Pandava brothers, by stringing an impossibly stiff bow and striking a revolving target's reflection in a bowl of oil below it.
Exile and Preparation
After the Pandavas lose their kingdom to the Kauravas in a rigged game of dice, they spend years in exile, during which Arjuna undertakes a solitary quest to win divine weapons, including a direct trial of combat against the god Shiva in disguise, whose favor he ultimately earns.
The Bhagavad Gita
As the two armies face each other at Kurukshetra for the war that will decide the throne, Arjuna is overcome by grief and doubt at the thought of killing his own kinsmen, teachers, and friends arrayed on the opposing side, and lets his bow fall. His charioteer, the god Krishna in human form, responds with an extended teaching on duty, the eternal soul, and detached action, the Bhagavad Gita, which restores Arjuna's resolve to fight.
On parentage: Each of the five Pandava brothers has a different divine father, invoked by Kunti with a mantra; Arjuna's is Indra, king of the gods and god of war and storms.
Key deeds
- Won Draupadi's hand by stringing a great bow and hitting a reflected target
- Undertook a solitary quest for divine weapons, including combat with Shiva in disguise
- Received the Bhagavad Gita from Krishna before the battle of Kurukshetra
- Fought through the eighteen-day war and killed his secret half-brother Karna
Fate
Survived the Kurukshetra war and reigned alongside his brothers, but later Mahabharata tradition (the Mahaprasthanika Parva) has him fall on the Pandavas' final journey toward heaven, a fall the text attributes to his pride in his own archery.
Across traditions
Parallel figures
Heroes and gods who play a part like Arjuna's in other traditions.
Greek PantheonAchillesIllustrationBoth are the finest warrior of their army, and both stories pause the war itself for the hero to reckon with what fighting will cost.
Sources and further reading
Source notes
These references are recorded in the catalog. Their passage wording and translation have not been checked, so quotations are not displayed here.
- Bhagavad Gita (within the Mahabharata)
Appears in
Ancient and classical works featuring this figure.
Pandava warrior who receives the Bhagavad Gita (throughout; the Gita is in the Bhishma Parva (Book 6))
About this entry
By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. About the author. Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.
Hero legends were retold for centuries, and the sources often disagree on parentage, deeds and death. This entry follows the best-known versions and notes the main alternatives.
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