Dhṛshṭaketu
Dhṛshṭaketu was the king of Cedi. He joined the Pāṇḍava side before the Kurukshetra war and brought one akshauhiṇī (a full army division) in support of Yudhishṭhira. He was the son of Śiśupāla.
Background
Dhṛshṭaketu ruled the kingdom of Cedi, an important realm of Bhārata in the age of the Mahābhārata. His father was Śiśupāla, the king of Cedi, whom Śrī Kṛshṇa killed at the Rājasūya yajña (royal fire ritual) in the Sabhā Parva. Śiśupāla had been an enemy of Kṛshṇa, yet Dhṛshṭaketu took the side of the Pāṇḍavas.
In the Udyoga Parva
The Pāṇḍavas gathered their allied forces before the Kurukshetra war. Dhṛshṭaketu was counted among the seven great kings who brought akshauhiṇī armies to the Pāṇḍava side. He came with one akshauhiṇī. An akshauhiṇī is an army of about 21,870 chariots, 21,870 elephants, 65,610 cavalry and 109,350 infantry.
Chapter 19 of the Udyoga Parva lists the seven armies of the Pāṇḍava side. They were led by Sātyaki, Dhṛshṭaketu of Cedi, Dhṛshṭadyumna of Pāñcāla, Jayatsena of Magadha, the Pāṇḍya king, Drupada and Virāṭa. Together these were seven akshauhiṇīs, set against the eleven akshauhiṇīs of the Kaurava side. (Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Chapter 19)
Fallen at Kurukshetra: the Strī Parva
In Chapter 25 of the Strī Parva, Gāndhārī walks the battlefield with Kṛshṇa and describes Dhṛshṭaketu’s body and the grief of his wives. She says: “The Chedi king, the great-souled one, slain by Droṇa — his wives carry him with restless, inconsolable hearts.”
She tells how he fell. He met the full force of Droṇa’s astra (divine weapon) and fell “like a great tree uprooted by the rush of a river.” He was a mighty mahārathī (great chariot-warrior) who had killed thousands of enemies in battle. Now he lay fallen. Birds tore at his body, and his wives tried in vain to drive them off. The women sat with him in their laps and wept sorrowfully.
Gāndhārī also sees his son lying dead close by. He was a young man with a handsome face and fine earrings (kuṇḍalas), and his body was pierced by many of Droṇa’s arrows. The son had refused to leave the battle while his father was being overpowered. He fought on until he was killed too. Even in death he lies at his father’s side. (Mahābhārata, Strī Parva, Chapter 25)
Ascent to svarga and return to the Viśvedevas
Dhṛshṭaketu, lord of Cedi, fell at Kurukshetra in the cause of dharma and reached the higher worlds. The Svargārohaṇa Parva names him among the great souls who, when their prārabdha-karma (the karma already begun to bear fruit) was spent, entered the Viśvedevas. The Viśvedevas are a shining class of devas. Dhṛshṭaketu entered them together with Virāṭa, Drupada and the assembled Yādava and allied heroes. The text calls this the aṃśī (the whole) into which his aṃśa (portion) was taken back. (Mahābhārata, Svargārohaṇa Parva, Chapter 5)
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Chapter 19
- Mahābhārata, Strī Parva, Chapter 25
- Mahābhārata, Svargārohaṇa Parva, Chapter 5