Bhagadatta

Bhagadatta was the son of Naraka, king of the Pragjyotisha Kingdom and second in line of kings of Naraka dynasty. He was succeeded by his son Vajradatta. He sided with Kaurava in the Mahabharata war as he was an enemy of Lord Krishna. He was a leader of great army of Kirat and Chinas were also joined with Kiratas .

For other uses, see Bhagadatta (disambiguation).

Part of a series on the
Mythology of Pragjyotisha
Ruling dynasties
Krishna Storms the Citadel of Naraka - showing Prince Bhagadatta and his grandmother offering prayers to Krishna.
Arjuna shoots Bhagadatta.

Life in mythology

In the Battle of Kurukshetra, Bhagadatta fought on the side of the Kauravas. He was very well known for his skill on his elephant. On the 12th day of the war, he was involved in a fierce battle with Arjuna on his World Elephant Supratika, who was being attacked by Bhima. During the course of this battle, Bhagadatta fired the irresistible Vaishnavastra on Arjuna.[1] However, Arjuna even before countering it Krishna intervenes it by standing up at the Charioteers position. Krishna let His Chest to be cushion for His potent weapon, which turned into a garland and fell on Krishna (a weapon given to Bhagadatta by Lord Vishnu finally returned to his avatar). Bhagadatta was killed by a lethal arrow shot into his chest by Arjuna.[2][3][4]

In Kalika Purana, Harshacharita, Puranas and in other epics; Naraka is said to have sons namely Bhagadatta, Mahasirsa, Madavan and Sumali. Vajradatta and Pushpadatta are sons of Bhagadatta.

See also
  • Kamarupa kingdom

References
  1. Menon, Ramesh (2006) The Mahabharata: A Modern Rendering iUniverse, Inc., New York, page 231-232, ISBN 978-0-595-40187-1
  2. "Bhagadatta - King of Pragjyotisha - Indian Mythology". Archived from the original on 28 August 2005.
  3. "The Mahābhārata, Book 6: Bhishma Parva: Bhagavat-Gita Parva: Section LXIV".
  4. Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam (ed.). India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 75.


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