Viviṃśati

Viviṃśati is one of the hundred sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra. He was a Kaurava prince and a mahāratha (a great chariot-warrior). He took part in the Uttara Gograhaṇa, the northern cattle raid of the Kaurava army on the Matsya kingdom, while the Pāṇḍavas were living in hiding (ajñātavāsa). He is named among the Kaurava commanders, and he fought Arjuna in that battle.

Among the Kaurava warriors

Viviṃśati is counted among the known warrior-princes of the Kaurava side. He was listed among the Kaurava mahāratha-s who gathered for the Uttara Gograhaṇa. That force included Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Karṇa, Kṛpa, Aśvatthāmā and Duryodhana.

The Uttara Gograhaṇa

Viviṃśati is named among the Kaurava commanders in the assembly that launched the northern cattle raid on the kingdom of Virāṭa. The raid had two aims. It would take plunder, and it would draw out the Pāṇḍavas if they were hiding in Matsya.

In the battle that followed, Viviṃśati faced Arjuna and was defeated. Arjuna fought alone against the whole Kaurava army and drove back each mahāratha in turn. Viviṃśati was one of those he overcame (Virāṭa Parva, Chapters 35 and 63).

Gāndhārī’s lament in the Strī Parva

In the Strī Parva (the Strī Vilāpa Parva, Chapter 19), Gāndhārī looks at Viviṃśati’s body on the battlefield and describes him to Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa. She says: “This is Viviṃśati, a youth, and beautiful. Every day many beautiful young women served him in devotion.”

Now he lies torn to pieces in the dust, and vultures have gathered to eat him. Gāndhārī says that he had pushed deep into the Pāṇḍava forces and met the hero’s death (vīraśayana).

She asks Kṛṣṇa to look at his face: “How beautiful! A fine nose, perfect eyebrows, a face like the moon, and a smile still on his lips.” Women of noble birth had once served him, and he had been like a gandharva playing among divine women. In battle he had killed enemy soldiers fiercely and had rejoiced in the fight.

The lament for Viviṃśati speaks of his beauty and of his nature as a warrior. It also sets the man he was against the body that now lies for the vultures.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Virāṭa Parva, Chapters 35 and 63
• Mahābhārata, Strī Parva, Chapters 16–25 (the lament for Viviṃśati is in Chapter 19)