Abhimanyu: Born for a Purpose.

“Uske raan kaushal aur raanniti se Jab haar ek yoddha haara tha Chaal, kaapat, chal aur prapanch se Tab veer Abhimanyu ko maara tha”

Arjun’s son Abhimanyu. source: in.pinterest.com

Abhimanyu… the name itself brings goosebumps to those who are familiar with this brave 16 years teenage boy. The most heart-wrenching moment of the Hindu epic Mahabharata was the inevitable death of legendary and tragic hero Abhimanyu, son of great Arjuna.

Abhimanyu was born to Arjuna and Subhadra, Lord Krishna's sister. He was a brilliant warrior prince who learned the most advanced strategic combat techniques from his father Arjuna and maternal uncle Sri Krishna.

Abhimanyu was born for a reason and, despite his brief life, played a significant role in the Mahabharata conflict.

He had been personally trained in the military arts by Krishna and Balaram since a young age, and he possessed advanced and extraordinary abilities. At the age of 16, he already knew tricks that his father lacked, such as the art of wearing his armor loosely so that he could close the gaps between the plates in the event of incoming arrows with subtle movements of his body, rendering his armor impenetrable. When Subhadra was pregnant with Abhimanyu, Arjuna decided to tell his wife about the Chakravyuh battle strategy.

A maze created by armed soldiers to trap the adversary is known as Chakravyuh. He explained how to break the Chakravyuh to Subhadra. Abhimanyu, who was in Subhadra's womb at the time, memorized the entire process. Subhadra fell asleep as Arjuna was explaining Chakravyuh's strategy. As a result, Abhimanyu only learned how to enter the maze from the Chakravyuh but was unable to learn how to exit it.

The Pandavas' children, Abhimanyu, were the most adored. Following their year in hiding, King Virat gave his daughter, Uttara, in marriage to Arjuna, but because he was her dance teacher, he considered her his daughter and married Uttara to Abhimanyu.

Abhimanyu was a brave and dashing warrior since he was the grandson of Lord Indra, the god of mystical weapons and warfare who was responsible for the deaths of thousands of enemy heroes and hundreds of thousands of warriors. Abhimanyu was able to hold renowned heroes like Drona, Karna, Duryodhana, and Dushasana at bay, and was considered equal to his father's level due to his remarkable exploits. He was commended for his bold boldness and unwavering devotion to his father, uncles, and goal.

Abhimanyu was only 16 years old and the youngest warrior of Mahabharata. He killed many many important personalities in the war.

On the 13th day of battle, the Kauravas challenge the Pandavas to break a circular whirlpool formation known as the Chakravyuha, to capture king Yudisthria and thus defeat the Pandavas.

Part of the plot was to use Sushama to challenge Krishna and thus lure him to a distant part neutralizing that he is the biggest threat to the plan because only Arjun and Krishna were the ones who got the knowledge of how to defeat such a formation.

In the chakravyuha, an army is organized as a gigantic moving circle that acts like a chakra penetrating the opposing force to capture the targeted one, and with properly organized the chakravyuha is considered unstoppable.

Using this formation, the Kauravas army gradually penetrated the Pandavas formation and planned to capture Yudhisthira who didn’t know how to stop. If the Kauravas succeed to capture the king, it would mean the end of the war in their favor ultimately just like in a game of chess where the game ends with the capture of the king.

Abhimanyu volunteered to attack the formation and break it open, opening a path so others could also enter and also destroy it from inside.

The plan was that Abhimanyu would be followed by Bhima and the other Pandavas generals, who would exploit the gap created by him.

It was an extremely dangerous mission, if the others could not exploit the gap, the formation would close and the Abhimanyu would be trapped inside. And the fear of this came true.

The Pandava brothers and allies try to follow him inside the formation, but they are effectively blocked off by Jayadratha, the Sindhu king, who uses a Shiva-given boon to keep all Pandavas except Arjuna at bay for one day only. Abhimanyu is left to fight the entire Kaurava army on his alone.

But this brave 16 years old boy without a dot of fear was firing different types of arrows, volley after volley. He seemed like the river Ganges meets the ocean.

He was firing his arrows at such speed that the Kauravas had the impression of fighting hundreds of Abhimanyu. He was slaying the Kauravas by the thousands, including many powerful generals, using celestial weapons.

The attack of Abhimanyu was so fierce that he turned the table, injuring Karna and threatening the life of Duryodhan, forcing the Kaurava warriors to go on the defensive and were bound to form a flange to protect their king.

In other wars when a soldier is surrounded, it almost means to surrender but he was the son of brave Arjuna, surrendering was not in his dictionary.

He kept fighting, even when the odds of surviving seemed impossible.

At first, the Kauravas generals attacked him one at a time, honoring the Ksatriya code but as Abhimanyu would resist the advance, they started attacking in groups.

Even then this brave boy held his own and kept defeating all the assaults by expertly firing his arrows. He defeated Drona, Ashwathama, Kripa, Karna, Shalya, and many more.

Incapable of defeating Abhimanyu by honest means, the Kauravas generals decided to attack him simultaneously from all sides.

Karna shot an arrow from behind, breaking his bow, while the others attacked him from different directions breaking his chariot and killing the horses but undefeatable Abhimanyu resorted to his sword, viciously attacking the Kauravas warriors, moving swiftly like the wind.

But unfortunately, Drone broke his sword with a sharp arrow and at the same time, Karna broke his shield. This young boy’s body was bleeding profusely but he still didn’t surrender, using the wheel of a chariot as a weapon he continued to attack the Kauravas warriors.

After a while, his body was completely exhausted with an arrow protruding from every part of his body and that was when this brave boy was finally defeated. Abhimanyu gets killed shortly thereafter when Dushasana's son crushes his skull with a mace.

It is said that it’s Abhimanyu’s death that was the turning point of the war in favor of Pandavas as they were not fighting with their full will, only after the death of their most beloved son, the furious Pandavas were unstoppable. Abhimanyu’s birth was for bringing victory to Pandavas.

Vargas, the moon god's son, is reincarnated as Abhimanyu. When the other devas requested the moon god to let his son incarnate himself on earth, he made a deal with them that his son would only live on earth for 16 years since he couldn't endure being separated from him. When Abhimanyu was killed in the war, he was 16 years old.

Parikshita, his son, is the last survivor of the Kuru clan after the Mahabharata conflict and continues the Pandava dynasty.

veer Abhimanyu fighting in chakravyuha alone. source: in.pinterest.com