Irāvanta Vadha
Irāvanta was a son of Arjuna by the Nāga princess Ulūpī. This narrative from the Bhīshma Parva of the Mahābhārata (chapter 90) tells how he was killed on the eighth day of the Kurukshetra war by the rākshasa Alambusha, and how Ghaṭotkaca then took up the fight against Alambusha.
Irāvanta at Kurukshetra
Irāvanta came to Kurukshetra from Nāgaloka, where his mother Ulūpī had raised him. He came to fight for his father Arjuna and for the Pāṇḍavas. Through his mother he was of the Nāga line, and through his father he was of the Pāṇḍava line of warriors. He fought through the early days of the war on the Pāṇḍava side.
On the eighth day, before his last battle, Irāvanta did a great deed. He killed the six brothers of Śakuni, the princes of Gāndhāra, who had come with the Kaurava army. Their names were Gaja, Gavāksha, Vrishabha, Carmavān, Ārjuna and Śuka.
After this he met Alambusha, a rākshasa who fought for the Kauravas. Alambusha was a strong rākshasa. He fought not only with weapons but also with māyā (the power of illusion), which the rākshasas have.
The battle and Irāvanta’s death
Against Irāvanta, Alambusha used the Garuḍa-māyā. He took the form of Garuḍa, the great eagle who is the ancient enemy and terror of the Nāgas. Irāvanta had the Nāga nature of his mother Ulūpī, and so this form of māyā was especially dangerous to him, more than to any ordinary warrior. It struck at the one weak point in his nature. Alambusha’s Garuḍa-māyā decided the fight, and Irāvanta fell.
His death was a heavy loss for the Pāṇḍava army. A son of Arjuna, who had come to fight for his father, was killed before the war was won. The Pāṇḍava side grieved, and the anger it raised had quick results.
Ghaṭotkaca’s answer
After Irāvanta’s death, Ghaṭotkaca went into battle against Alambusha. Ghaṭotkaca is the son of Bhīmasena by the rākshasī Hiḍimbā, and he is himself half rākshasa and of great power. The fight became rākshasa against rākshasa. Both fought with māyā, with changing of shape, and with every power that rākshasas have.
The fight was fierce and long. Ghaṭotkaca fought with all his strength, out of loyalty to the Pāṇḍavas and the natural fighting spirit of a rākshasa.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Bhīshma Parva, chapter 90