Subhadrā Haraṇa (Mahābhārata)

This is the account of how Arjuna married Subhadrā, as the Mahābhārata tells it in the Ādi Parva. The Subhadrā Haraṇa Parva and the Haraṇāharaṇa Parva (Chapters 219 to 221) tell how Arjuna, in his twelve years of vanavāsa (life in the forest), came to Dvārakā and saw Subhadrā, the younger sister of Kṛshṇa, at the festival on the Raivataka mountain. He fell deeply in love. Kṛshṇa had already thought of this match and advised him to carry her off. Balarāma’s anger was calmed by Kṛshṇa’s words. Subhadrā was brought to Indraprastha, where Draupadī and Kuntī welcomed her, and from her union with Arjuna the great warrior Abhimanyu was born.

The Raivataka festival

Each year the Vṛshṇi and Andhaka clans held a festival on the Raivataka mountain near Dvārakā. All the great families came: warriors, women, elders and priests. There was music, there were offerings and there was a feast. Arjuna came as Kṛshṇa’s guest.

Subhadrā, Kṛshṇa’s younger sister, was at the festival. When Arjuna saw her, radiant and graceful as she moved through the celebration, he was moved at once and deeply. He could not take his eyes from her. He went to Kṛshṇa and said: I have seen your sister and my heart has been taken. Is there a way?

(Ādi Parva, Chapter 219)

Kṛshṇa’s advice

Kṛshṇa listened with a slight smile. He had in fact already thought of this match. He thought it right that Arjuna, the greatest warrior, the son of Indra and his own closest friend, should be his sister’s husband. But he also knew that if the matter went through the usual steps, with a svayaṃvara (a bride’s own choice of husband among the suitors), the result might not be sure.

He advised Arjuna to carry Subhadrā off. This was not wrong in dharma, he said. The Gāndharva and rākshasa forms of marriage were both known to kshatriyas. A direct taking of the bride by a worthy king or warrior from a family of equal standing was the rākshasa vivāha, a recognised form. Kṛshṇa would see that the needed approval came from Yudhishṭhira at Indraprastha.

(Ādi Parva, Chapter 219)

Yudhishṭhira’s approval

A messenger was sent to Yudhishṭhira at Indraprastha to explain what was planned. Yudhishṭhira saw the wisdom of the plan and trusted Kṛshṇa’s judgment, and he sent back his approval.

(Ādi Parva, Chapter 219)

The abduction

Subhadrā had walked around the Raivataka mountain and was on her way back to Dvārakā. Arjuna, fully armed and ready, stopped her chariot. He lifted her with both arms into his own chariot, a golden chariot with the white horses Śaibya and Sugrīva, and drove swiftly away.

The soldiers who saw the abduction ran to Dvārakā, sounding the alarm. The Vṛshṇi assembly gathered at once. Warriors took up arms and chariots were made ready. The news reached Balarāma, who was furious. He was blazing with anger that his sister had been taken by force, as though the Vṛshṇis had no honour.

(Ādi Parva, Chapter 220)

Balarāma’s anger and Kṛshṇa’s answer

In the great assembly of the Vṛshṇi, Andhaka and Bhoja leaders, Balarāma stood up and spoke of his outrage. He said that Arjuna had eaten at their table, had been honoured as their guest and received as one of their own, and had repaid their welcome with this insult. He spoke of revenge.

The assembly roared its support and rose to arm.

Kṛshṇa raised his voice, calm, steady and sure. He told them: Arjuna has done no dishonour. He has done the opposite. He did not treat our family as merchants selling a daughter for wealth. He did not accept a svayaṃvara arranged for others, which might have shamed us. He came with the full strength of his own worth and took Subhadrā as a hero takes a wife, in the way that kshatriya dharma allows and honours. He loves her. She is not dishonoured. She is raised up.

Kṛshṇa went on: who in the three worlds is equal to Arjuna in birth, in courage and in nobility? Who would refuse such a husband for a sister? The match is perfect. Let us follow them with a blessed ceremony, not with weapons.

The Vṛshṇis were persuaded. They sat down, and their anger turned into joy.

(Ādi Parva, Chapters 220–221)

Arrival at Indraprastha

Arjuna brought Subhadrā to Indraprastha. On Kṛshṇa’s advice, she came to the Pāṇḍava palace dressed as a gopī (cowherd woman), in a plain red garment and jewels, so that Draupadī’s welcome would not be touched by jealousy. Subhadrā entered and bowed before Draupadī and said: “I am your dāsī (servant).”

Draupadī rose, embraced her warmly and blessed her: “May your husband be without enemies.” Subhadrā replied: “May it be so.” The two women formed a bond of warmth and respect that held the household together.

Kuntī received Subhadrā with deep love and welcomed her into the family in the proper way. The marriage was celebrated at Indraprastha.

(Ādi Parva, Chapter 221)

Kṛshṇa’s gifts

Kṛshṇa himself then came to Indraprastha with Balarāma and all the leading Vṛshṇi heroes to celebrate the marriage. His gifts were splendid. He gave a thousand chariots with gold flags, each with four trained horses, ten thousand pure white cows from Mathurā, a thousand horses decked in gold, a hundred she-mules for the great carriages, servants and attendants, robes and jewels. Balarāma himself sent Arjuna a thousand fully equipped war elephants as his gift.

Nakula and Sahadeva received the Vṛshṇi guests. The Kuru and Vṛshṇi families celebrated together for many days, and Indraprastha was full of music and joy.

(Ādi Parva, Chapter 221)

The birth of Abhimanyu

In time Subhadrā gave birth to a son whose qualities went beyond all hope. The child was born with the mark of the cakra on his right hand and the marks of the padma (lotus) on his feet. These are the body signs of a future cakravartī (ruler of the whole earth). Even as a baby he shone. Kṛshṇa took special joy in him from the first day and himself oversaw all his birth saṃskāras (rites).

The child was named Abhimanyu, the one who fought with great courage against his enemies. He grew quickly. His father Arjuna trained him in every part of dhanurveda (the science of the bow), and he matched Kṛshṇa in courage and beauty. Yudhishṭhira gave thousands of cows as dakshiṇā (gifts) to brāhmaṇas to mark his birth.

(Ādi Parva, Chapter 221)

Draupadī’s five sons

Draupadī had also borne a son to each of her five husbands, one son for each, born a year apart. They were:

• Prativindhya, son of Yudhishṭhira, as steady as a mountain.
• Sutasoma, son of Bhīma, born with the lustre of a thousand somas.
• Śrutakarma, son of Arjuna, named for the great deeds Arjuna had done.
• Śatānīka, son of Nakula, who bore the name of a famous ancestor of the Kuru line.
• Śrutasena, son of Sahadeva, born under the Kṛttikā nakshatra (star).

All five were known as the upapāṇḍavas. Arjuna trained them in astra-śāstra (the science of weapons) along with Abhimanyu. All five would die in the night attack by Aśvatthāmā after the Kurukshetra war.

(Ādi Parva, Chapter 221)

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Chapters 219–221 (Subhadrā Haraṇa Parva and Haraṇāharaṇa Parva)