Vrishaketu

Vrishaketu is a figure in the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata. He was the son of Anga Raja Karna and his wife and also the youngest of Karna's sons. In Kashidasi Mahabharata, a regional version, Padmavati is described to be his mother. He was the only surviving son of Karna as he didn't participated because of his young age. After Arjuna got to know that Karna was his brother, he trained Vrishaketu. Later he went to the kingdom of Manipura with Arjuna and was killed by Babruvahana but was revived by Krishna.

Vrishaketu
Mahabharata character
Vrishaketu shoots Babruvahana into the air.
In-universe information
GenderMale
Family

Life

Vrishaketu was the youngest son of Karna with his wife Padmavati (Supriya) and the only son of Karna to survive the Mahabharata war. Once Karna's identity was revealed, he was taken under the patronage of the Pandavas. He was the last mortal who had the knowledge of divyastras like brahmastra and varunastra. It is said that all the Pandavas especially Arjuna had great affection towards him. So Arjun taught him all the skills of archery. Krishna asked Vrishaketu for something; Vrishaketu told him he will give him whatever he asks for; and Krishna asked him to not teach anybody the knowledge of divine and celestial weapons.

He was an active participant in Yudhishthira's Ashvamedha yagna. During the campaign he married the daughter of King Yavanata. Later in the conquest both Vrishaketu and Arjuna were killed by Babruvahana, Arjun was revived by Nagmani.[1]

Some may claim that he was revived by Krishna and was made the king of Anga.

References
  1. Ganguli, Kisari Mohan (1883–1896). "SECTION LXXIX". The Mahabharata: Book 14: Anugita Parva. Internet Sacred Text Archive. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  • Mrityunjaya, the Death Conqueror: The Story of Karna.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.