Citrasena the Kaurava
Citrasena was one of the hundred sons of Dhṛtarāshṭra, a prince of the Kuru line and a warrior in the Kaurava armies. He is a different person from the gandharva king Citrasena.
Who he is
Citrasena is one of the named sons of Dhṛtarāshṭra. He must not be confused with Citrasena the Gandharva king. That Citrasena rules a gandharva clan and appears elsewhere in the Mahābhārata. In the Vana Parva he captures Duryodhana. The Kaurava Citrasena is a warrior-prince who fought in the Kaurava armies.
The Uttara Gograhana
The Uttara Gograhana was the northern cattle raid on the kingdom of Virāṭa. The Kauravas made it at the same time as Suśarman’s southern raid from Trigarta. The two raids together were meant to bring the Pāṇḍavas into the open if they were hiding in Matsya.
The Virāṭa Parva lists Citrasena among the Kaurava mahārathī-s (great chariot warriors) who gathered for the northern raid. The force also included Bhīshma, Droṇa, Karṇa, Kṛpa, Aśvatthāman, Duryodhana and others. Arjuna met this force in battle and defeated each Kaurava mahārathī in turn (Virāṭa Parva, Chapter 35).
Gāndhārī mourns Citrasena
In Chapter 19 of the Strī Parva, Gāndhārī walks over the battlefield of Kurukshetra with Kṛshṇa and the widowed women. She stops before the body of her son Citrasena and says:
“Madhusūdana! This is my other son Citrasena. He was a great wielder of the bow, and he has fallen to the ground.”
His wives, wearing beautiful garlands and ornaments, had gathered around him. They beat their breasts and wept. Wild beasts also moved about the same place. The cries of the women and the growls of the beasts mixed together and reached Gāndhārī’s ears as a strange and terrible sound. Even in death, the beauty of his face remained.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Virāṭa Parva, Chapter 35
- Mahābhārata, Strī Parva, Chapter 19
- Mahābhārata, Vana Parva (for Citrasena the gandharva king, who captures Duryodhana)