Bhagadatta
Bhagadatta was the mighty king of Prāgjyotisha, also called Prāgjyotishapura, the great eastern kingdom. He was a famous warrior of the Dvāpara Yuga and was known for his skill in gaja-yuddha (war with elephants). His kingdom lay in the far east, next to the regions of Kāmarūpa and the mountains of the north-east.
When Arjuna went out on his northern and eastern digvijaya (campaign of conquest) for Yudhishṭhira’s Rājasūya, Bhagadatta was a hard opponent. He also came to the Rājasūya itself and sat among the gathered kings. At Kurukshetra he fought on the Kaurava side and fell to Arjuna.
Kingdom and family
Bhagadatta ruled Prāgjyotisha, the same eastern kingdom that was later the realm of Narakāsura. He was counted among the foremost kings of Bhārata. He had strong battle-elephants trained for direct combat. In war he used both the chariot and command of the elephant divisions.
Some traditions say he was the son of Narakāsura. After Kṛshṇa destroyed Narakāsura, Bhagadatta was the royal heir of Prāgjyotisha who was left.
The Āśramavāsika Parva of the Mahābhārata names the tāta (father’s father) of Bhagadatta as Śailālaya. Śailālaya reached svarga (heaven) through tapas (austerity) in the forest near Kurukshetra, where Dhṛtarāshṭra later lived (Chapter 20).
The digvijaya
On his northern and eastern campaigns for the Rājasūya, Arjuna met Bhagadatta at Prāgjyotisha. The battle between them was fierce and long. Bhagadatta was no ordinary opponent. After hard fighting in which both sides showed great strength, Bhagadatta bowed to Arjuna and agreed to send tribute to Yudhishṭhira’s Rājasūya. He came to the Rājasūya as a king under Yudhishṭhira and sat among the kings of Bhārata (Sabhā Parva, Chapters 25–26, 34).
His standing
Even his enemies respected Bhagadatta for his fearlessness. His kingdom of Prāgjyotisha lay on the north-eastern edge of Bhārata. He ruled over the peoples of the Lauhitya (Brahmaputra) region.
At Kurukshetra Bhagadatta was one of the most dangerous warriors the Pāṇḍavas faced. His Vaishṇavāstra caused great harm until Bhagavān Kṛshṇa himself turned it aside by taking it on his own chest.
At Kurukshetra: Days 4 to 10
Bhīshma Pitāmaha led the Kaurava forces for ten days. In that time Bhagadatta was one of the strongest warriors the Pāṇḍavas met. From Day 4 he rode Suprātīka, his great war-elephant of unusual strength, into the Pāṇḍava ranks.
Suprātīka was trained in the advanced skills of elephant war. It answered Bhagadatta’s commands with terrible effect. Ordinary chariot fighters could not stop its charge. It crushed chariots, killed horses and scattered foot soldiers. Bhagadatta guided Suprātīka with the skill of the greatest gaja-yodha (elephant-warrior) of his age.
Bhīmasena had the strength to meet elephants face to face, as few warriors could. He took on the task of stopping Bhagadatta’s advance. The fight between Bhīma’s chariot force and Bhagadatta on Suprātīka was one of the fiercest clashes of the middle days of the war (Bhīshma Parva, Chapters 61–65 and later chapters).
The Droṇa Parva: Garuḍa Vyūha and his death
In the Droṇa Parva, from Day 11 on, Bhagadatta stayed one of the most dangerous Kaurava warriors. On Day 12, under Droṇācārya, the Kaurava forces formed the Garuḍa Vyūha (the eagle formation). Droṇa stood at the beak, Kṛpa and Kṛtavarman at the wings, and the massed forces in the body. Bhagadatta rode Suprātīka as part of this formation, and his elephant’s attack on the Pāṇḍava forces did great harm.
Arjuna came forward to stop Bhagadatta. Their duel was one of the fiercest of Days 12–13. Bhagadatta fought on his elephant, and Arjuna with the Gāṇḍīva bow. At the critical moment Bhagadatta let loose his Vaishṇavāstra, a divine weapon of great power which no warrior could stop by its own nature. It sped toward Arjuna.
Bhagavān Kṛshṇa rose from the chariot seat, stepped forward and took the weapon on his own chest. He said that this weapon had been given originally by Bhagavān Vishṇu himself, and so it could not harm him. It became a garland of flowers on his body. With his greatest weapon turned aside by Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, whom it served, Bhagadatta had no answer left. Arjuna then killed him with his arrows, and Suprātīka fell with him. Bhagadatta died as a mahāvīra (great hero), having fought to the end with full commitment to his cause (Droṇa Parva, Chapters 20–28).
The Strī Parva: Gāndhārī’s lament
In the Strī Parva, Gāndhārī mourned Bhagadatta among the great allied kings who had come from distant lands to fight for the Kauravas and died on the field of Kurukshetra. She named him a warrior of great stature from the eastern edge of Bhārata. His power in elephant war had made him one of the strongest forces on the Kaurava side. He died by Arjuna’s arrow after his Vaishṇavāstra had been turned aside by Kṛshṇa. This account says the Vaishṇavāstra was a divine weapon given to him by Indra.
Gāndhārī’s lament speaks of him as one of the allied kings who had no part in the first quarrel between the Pāṇḍavas and the Kauravas. They came out of loyalty or duty and were consumed by a war that was not their own (Strī Parva, Chapters 16–25).
His son Vajradatta
Bhagadatta’s death did not end the enmity between Prāgjyotisha and the Pāṇḍavas. Years later Yudhishṭhira’s Aśvamedha horse, guarded by Arjuna, came into Prāgjyotishapura. Bhagadatta’s son Vajradatta had followed him as king. He rode out on a great war-elephant in his father’s own style of elephant war and struck the horse himself. This began a three-day battle with Arjuna.
Vajradatta called his father’s memory to mind and vowed to avenge “my old father” upon “his killer”. Arjuna brought down Vajradatta’s elephant and defeated him. Yudhishṭhira had ordered that no king be killed in this digvijaya, so Arjuna spared his life (Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapters 75–76).
Reunion at the Gaṅgā
In the Āśramavāsika Parva, Vyāsa called up the whole host of the fallen at the Gaṅgā. Bhagadatta rose from the sacred waters among the risen warriors. He was young again and free of enmity. He spent one night in reunion and then went back to his loka (world) (Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapter 32).
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapters 25–26, 34
- Mahābhārata, Bhīshma Parva, Chapters 61–65 and later chapters
- Mahābhārata, Droṇa Parva, Chapters 20–28
- Mahābhārata, Strī Parva, Chapters 16–25
- Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapters 75–76
- Mahābhārata, Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapter 20
- Mahābhārata, Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapter 32