Lakshmaṇa Dhārtarāshṭra

Lakshmaṇa was the son of Duryodhana and fought on the Kaurava side in the Kurukshetra war. He is a different person from Lakshmaṇa of the Rāmāyaṇa.

In Bhīshma’s list of rathas

Lakshmaṇa, Duryodhana’s son, is named among the Kaurava rathas (warriors who fight from a chariot) in Bhīshma’s Rathātiratha-Saṃkhyāna, the count of rathas and atirathas. He is part of the next generation of the Dhārtarāshṭra line in battle. Bhīshma’s list gives the Dhārtarāshṭras and their allies who make up the Kaurava host, and Lakshmaṇa is on it. (Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Rathātiratha-Saṃkhyāna Parva, Chapters 165–172)

In the Strī Parva: Gāndhārī’s lament

Lakshmaṇa appears in the Strī Parva at three points in Gāndhārī’s grief.

In Chapter 17, Gāndhārī looks at the body of Duryodhana. She grieves for her son and also for the women whom grief has struck. She sees Duryodhana’s wife, who is Lakshmaṇa’s mother, “shining like a golden altar”. She lies over her husband’s blood-soaked body and weeps without holding back. Gāndhārī says the sight breaks a mother’s heart, for she sees her daughter-in-law who has lost both husband and son.

In Chapter 20, Gāndhārī lists the young warriors who lie fallen on the battlefield and turns Kṛshṇa’s eyes to them. She says: “Uttara, Abhimanyu, the Kāmboja king, Sudakshiṇa, Lakshmaṇa, and other young warriors, see them lying fallen in the midst of the battlefield.” Lakshmaṇa is counted here among the young princes who gave their lives at Kurukshetra.

In Chapter 25, Gāndhārī makes a direct comparison. As the son of Dhṛshṭaketu died fighting beside his father, so did Lakshmaṇa. She says: “my son’s son Lakshmaṇa, having slain many enemy heroes, followed his father in death.” (Mahābhārata, Strī Parva, Chapters 16–25)

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Rathātiratha-Saṃkhyāna Parva, Chapters 165–172
• Mahābhārata, Strī Parva, Chapters 16–25