Babhruvāhana

Babhruvāhana was the son of Arjuna and Citrāṅgadā, born in Maṇipura. His parents were joined by the putrikā form of marriage, so he belonged to his mother’s line. He grew up in Maṇipura and became its king. During the Aśvamedha yajña (horse sacrifice) of the Pāṇḍavas, he fought Arjuna without knowing who he was and struck him down. Ulūpī then brought Arjuna back to life with the sañjīvana maṇi (life-giving gem). She told them that the Vasus had decreed the whole event as a penalty for Arjuna’s killing of Bhīṣma.

Birth and upbringing

Babhruvāhana was born in Maṇipura to Arjuna and Citrāṅgadā. Under the putrikā marriage that his parents had made, he belonged to his mother’s family. He was to be raised as the heir of his mother’s father, Citravāhana, and not as a Pāṇḍava.

After his birth, Arjuna took leave of Citrāṅgadā and Citravāhana and left to go on with his pilgrimage. Citrāṅgadā raised Babhruvāhana in Maṇipura, and he grew into a very powerful warrior.

King of Maṇipura

After Citravāhana, Babhruvāhana became king of Maṇipura. This carried out the purpose of the putrikā arrangement. He ruled the eastern kingdom with strength.

The battle with Arjuna

During the Aśvamedha of the Pāṇḍavas, the yajña horse wandered into Maṇipura. Babhruvāhana was bound by his duty as a kṣatriya to resist anyone who obstructed it. He fought Arjuna and, not knowing him, struck down his own father in battle.

Citrāṅgadā fell to the ground in grief and spoke bitterly to Ulūpī. Babhruvāhana decided to end his own life as prāyaścitta (atonement) for killing his father. Ulūpī then called for the sañjīvana maṇi, the greatest life-restoring gem of the world of the nāgas. She laid it on Arjuna’s chest, and he came back to life at once.

Why it happened

Ulūpī then told them why this had to be. Arjuna had struck down Bhīṣma at Kurukṣetra from behind the screen of Śikhaṇḍin. The Vasus and Gaṅgā judged this to be adharma. They decreed that Arjuna would go to naraka (hell) unless one day his own son overthrew him in battle. Ulūpī herself had brought about the battle at Maṇipura so that this penalty could be paid. She told Arjuna that in this plan Babhruvāhana had no pāpa (sin) at all.

Arjuna, now at peace with his son, invited him to the Aśvamedha of Yudhiṣṭhira at Hastināpura. Babhruvāhana went, bringing both his mothers, and later returned home with great honour.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Chapter 215
• Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapters 79–81, 87, 89