Arjuna

The word Arjuna means "white", "clear" and "silver".

• Vijaya – always victorious, invincible and undefeatable.
• Dhanañjaya – one who brings prosperity and wealth in the region wherever he goes to.
• Savyasāchin – ambidextrous, only Arjuna was expert in using both hands equally in archery.
• Shvethavāhana – one with milky white horses mounted to his pure white chariot. Only Arjuna had this.
• Parantapa – one who concentrates the most, destroyer of enemies.
• Gāndīvadhanvan – one who possessed the mighty bow named Gandiva which was created by Lord Brahma.
• Gudākesha – one who had control over sleeps; also one who has curly hair.
• Bībhatsu – one who always fights wars in a fair manner.
• Kapidhvaja – having flag of Kapi (monkey) on his chariot. Lord Hanuman stayed on Arjuna's flag during Kurukshetra war.
• Kirītin – one who wears the celestial diadem, Kiriti, presented by King of Gods- Indra.
• Gāndīvadhari – holder of celestial bow "Gandiva".
• Jishnu – triumphant.
• Pārtha – son of Pritha, also known as Kunti.
• Phalguna – born under the star Uttara Phalguni (Denebola in Leo).
• Madhyapāndava – the middle of the Pandavas, younger than Yudhisthira and Bhima and elder than Nakula and Sahadeva.[3]
• Anagha - the one with pure soul.
• Mahabahu - the one with extraordinary biceps

Indra bestows a favour on Kunti

Arjuna's birth is most celebrated one and he was born 7 months after the birth of Krishna. A prophecy is said about his birth and so many gods attended to see him.[4]

After the death of Pandu (and Madri's subsequent sati), the Pandavas and their mother lived in Hastinapura, where they were brought up together with their cousins, the Kaurava brothers. Along with his brothers, Arjuna was trained in religion, science, administration and military arts by Bhishma, their granduncle.[5]

One day, when the princes were playing a game, they lost their ball in a well. When the rest of the children gave up the ball as being lost, Arjuna stayed behind trying to get it. A stranger came by and extracted the ball for him by making a chain of "sarkanda" (a wild grass). When an astonished Arjuna related the story to Bhishma, Bhishma realised that the stranger was none other than Drona. Bhishma asked Drona to become the Kuru princes' teacher. Seeking refuge from Panchala, Drona agreed.[6] Many asuras were killed by him.

Under Drona's tutelage, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, along with the princes of Hastinapura's allies and vassals, learned weaponry. Arjuna became Drona's favourite and most accomplished pupil; specifically, he became a master in using the bow and the arrow. In a famous incident, Drona deemed that out of all his students, even his own son Ashwatthama, none but Arjuna had the steadfast focus to shoot the eye of a bird on a tree; he was proven right.[7] One day, on being questioned by Ashwatthama; why was Drona being partial to Arjuna, Drona replied that he was not being partial to anyone, but his favourite was Arjuna. His intention was very clear that he loved Arjuna but didn't ill-treat anyone. He ordered Ashwatthama to gather all of his students and assemble at a nearby lake that evening. They did as per Drona's instructions. When they reached the lake, Drona was taking a bath; suddenly a crocodile appeared and attacked Drona. Nobody except Arjuna dared to enter the lake. Arjuna jumped into the lake and began to attack the mighty crocodile with his bare hands. Suddenly the crocodile disappeared. Drona told everyone that the crocodile was just an illusion and was created by himself to test all the princes and Ashwatthama. Drona also scolded the rest for not taking the initiative to save their teacher. Thus Drona proudly declared that Arjuna was his favourite and pet student.[8]

After completion of teaching and education of the Kauravas and the Pandavas, as his gurudakshina, Drona asked the princes to defeat and capture Drupada. Dritharashtra and Bhishma refused this because they got worried about lives of Kuru princes as Drupada was a mighty warrior and he might kill them. When Drona was about to leave the court, Arjuna politely stopped him and vowed to defeat Drupada. Next day, all the Kauravas, along with Karna and 1 Akshouni infantry, attacked Drupada. Drupada formed Chakravyuha in which all Kauravas and Karna get trapped. Karna fought valiantly but Drupada defeated all Kauravas and Karna.[9] Then the Pandavas led by Arjuna attacked Drupada. Arjuna, by protecting his brothers destroyed chakravyuha successfully and defeated Drupada. Binding Drupada in ropes, Arjuna brought him to Drona. Drona set Drupada free, but retained half of the kingdom and made Ashwatthama king for that half Kingdom. Drona gave Arjuna a tight hug for defeating Drupada. Arjuna became popular for defeating mighty Drupada.[9]

The Swayamvara of Panchala's princess, Draupadi

Pandavas secretly went from Varnavrat after saving themselves from evil plan of Duryodhana, Shakuni and Karna.[10] Still in hiding, the Pandavas disguised themselves as brahmins and attended the Swayamvara of Panchala princess Draupadi. Out of all of the great kings and other Kaurava princes, only Arjuna was able to do the established challenge. The test is to lift, string, and fire Pinakin to pierce the eye of a golden fish only by looking at its reflection; Drupada had designed this test with Arjuna in mind. All Kings including Karna and Shalya failed to string the bow and got defeated in task.[11] At last Arjuna came forward and lifted bow with just one hand and hit the target, hence he won Draupadi.[12] Later Karna attacked Arjuna out of jealousy but Arjuna easily defeated him. When Karna asked about his real identity, Arjuna smiled and said that he is brahmin. Then Karna praised him by comparing him with Lord Vishnu. Arjuna threatened to kill Karna which made Karna flee from battlefield. When the brothers returned with Draupadi, Arjuna joked to his mother that he had brought alms. Dismissively, and without looking because she was preoccupied, Kunti asked him to share it with his brothers. Holding his mother's orders as a divine command, he requested his elder brother to accept Draupadi. Draupadi had to marry all five of the Pandavas. Her five sons, one from each of the Pandava brothers, are known as the Upapandavas. Srutakarma is the son of Arjuna.

At this point in the Mahabharata, the Pandavas revealed that they were alive. With both Duryodhana and Yudhishthira being crown princes, tensions were high. Under Bhishma's advice, the kingdom is split, with the Kauravas getting Hastinapur and the Pandavas getting Khandavaprastha. Khandavaprastha, however, was an extremely underdeveloped land and had infertile soil, requiring extensive tilling, so the Pandavas set to work rebuilding the land by burning thousand acre of forest. Their cousins Krishna and Balarama helped them.

The friendship bond of Lord Krishna and Arjuna is the most celebrated bond in Hindu mythology followed by the bond of Lord Rama and Lord Hanuman. According to Mahabharata, Arjuna was the incarnation of Lord Nara who was the best friend of Lord Vishnu and along with Nara, Lord Vishnu defeated all the demons after the churning of Ocean Samudra Manthan. According to Lord Shiva, Nara and Lord Vishnu holds the whole universe and incarnates in every Yuga to end the evil and establish righteousness. The love of Lord Krishna for Arjuna is evident from Adi Parva where after the fight in Khandava forest instead of asking any weapon or power Lord Krishna asked Indra that his friendship with Arjuna will remain forever when the latter asked Lord Krishna to ask for a boon. Lord Krishna also described his love for Arjuna in Vana Parva by saying that whoever will hate Arjuna will hate Lord Krishna and whoever will follow Arjuna will follow Lord Krishna. He even said that nobody in the whole world is dearer to him than Arjuna and he can sacrifice anything including his sons, wives and citizens just for the sake of Arjuna. During his final conversation with his father Vasudeva he told him that he wants Arjuna to perform his last rights and also said that Lord Krishna is Arjuna and Arjuna is Lord Krishna. Such was the greatness of Arjuna that the supreme god Lord Krishna was ready to sacrifice anything for him.[13]

The story, this was the first time Arjuna meets Krishna. In any case, Khandavaprastha was where Arjuna and Krishna's friendship is truly forged. Once when roaming in the Khandava Vana, Arjuna and Krishna met the god of fire, Agni. Agni was in great hunger and needed to burn down the entire Khandava Vana to quench his hunger. But Takshaka, the serpent-king lived in the same forest and was a friend of Indra's. So the latter brought down heavy rains to thwart Agni's plans to burn the woods. Agni requested Krishna and Arjuna to help him realise his goal.[14]

Arjuna asked Agni for Gandiva as normal bows were not capable to bear the strength of his arms. The three of them then invoked Varuna, the God of the oceans. Varuna blessed Arjuna with the Gandiva – the bow created by Brahma. In this way, Arjuna came into possession of his famous bow. Agni also gave Arjuna an incandescent chariot with four pure white horses yoked, and bearing a flag that would one-day be occupied by celestial apes of Vishvakarma. Arjuna also obtained his famous conch Devadatta,[15] and Krishna obtained his Sudarshana Chakra.[16] Arjuna, directed by Krishna, waged a successful battle against Indra and helped Agni burn down the entire Khandava Vana. Indra's pride in Arjuna's success overcame his anger, and he bestowed greater powers on him. At last all gods, demons and snakes got defeated by Arjuna at this Khandava war.

Saving Mayasura

Sri Krishna tells Mayasura to build a palace.

In their demolition of Khandava, Krishna and Arjuna had saved one demon, Mayasura to build their palace.[14] Thus owing Arjuna a favour, and after being so directed by Krishna, Mayasura said that he would build a palace for Yudhishtra. As Mayasura was a great architect of the Asuras, he soon constructed the Maya assembly hall – a gigantic palace for the Pandavas, filled with ancient books, artefacts, and jewels. This hall was famous for visual illusions. Thus, Khandavaprastha was renamed Indraprastha.[17]

Arjuna enters Dharma's Boudoir

Arjuna violated Yudhishthira and Draupadi's privacy while they were playing the game of dice, as he had left his Gandiva in their room. Despite of understanding of all and being forgiven by both Yudhishthira and Draupadi; Arjuna accepted the punishment, agreed with Narada and set off on a twelve - year tirtha-yatra. According to Narada, Arjuna must retire to forest and pass his days as Brahmacharin. So Arjuna retired to forest for 12 years.

Reaching Dwarka and Subhadra

Arjuna and Subhadra,
painting by Raja Ravi Varma

Arjuna moved to other Tirthas, including the southern regions in Kerala. Finally he reached Dwarka, the place where his cousin Krishna resided. Arjuna had heard about Krishna's sister Subhadra in his childhood. Krishna, wishing to further tie their families, knew of Arjuna's visit and devised a plan to arrange their meeting. Accordingly, Arjuna disguised himself as a Yati and stayed at Krishna's palace. Arjuna was attracted to Subhadra and desired to marry her, Krishna understood Arjuna's intention and advised him to kidnap Subhadra then Arjuna kidnapped Subhadra and married with her. After this Balarama became furious upon learning of the abduction but was pacified by Vasudeva, his father, because Lord Krishna knew that whole Dwarka warriors can not defeat Arjuna alone as Arjuna was invincible and undefeatable in battle.[20] The couple stayed in Dwaraka for a year, and then another year in Pushkar. However, Draupadi had made it clear that no other Pandava wife would be allowed to stay in her city, so Arjuna, as Krishna had advised, tricked Draupadi into meeting Subhadra as a milkmaid. Draupadi realised she had been tricked, but she forgave Subhadra and allowed her to stay in Indraprastha; allowing her to keep company with Arjuna in the four years when he was not with Draupadi. In due course, the union of Arjuna and Subhadra produced a son, Abhimanyu.[21][22]

Gaya, a Gandharva king, while moving across the skies, spits the pan down his divine plane. It falls into the open palms of Sri Krishna, offering prayers to Sun god Surya. Sri Krishna gets very angry and vows to kill him. Gaya is a great devotee of Krishna. Krishna could not take back his vow. Narada advices Gaya to approach Arjuna and first seek his assurance of protecting him, before revealing about the person set to take his life. As per Narada's advice, the king takes Arjuna's promise for his protection before revealing Krishna's vow to kill him. Arjuna, though surprised, sticks to his word to Gaya. Both Arjuna and Krishna feel very sad about the situation that each of them is going to fight against the most beloved ones. Any number of dialogues between both sides makes no dent in the situation. Intervention of Subhadra, Narada, Rukmini, Satyabhama and others fail resulting in direct combat. War breaks-out and Krishna v/s Arjuna archery-duel starts. Both of them go into fierce fight. The weapons and astras used by both causes heavy destruction. Because Krishna had Sharanga and Arjuna had Gandiva. Both are undefeatable and none of them gets injured. Finally Krishna uses Sudarshana chakra and Arjuna uses Vaishnavastra. Lord Brahma appears before them and asks them to withdraw their respective destructive weapons to prevent disaster to the world. Krishna explained the intention behind fighting against Arjuna. Many of people including Balarama complained that Krishna was partial to Pandavas. Through this, he proved that he was not partial to any-one but to justice. Also he meant that Krishna and Arjuna were equal and the same. He meant that Pandavas were right followers of justice, Arjuna being the most sincere person and that's the reason why he loved them and especially Arjuna very much.[23]

Arjuna on his way in Rajasuya Yaga

Possible route taken by Arjuna for the Rajasuya sacrifice

Arjuna was sent North by Yudhishthira to subjugate kingdoms for the Rajasuya Yagya, so that he could be crowned Emperor of Indraprastha. The Mahabharata mentions several kingdoms to the north of Indraprastha which were conquered (or otherwise peacefully bent-the-knee) by Arjuna.[24] In this conquest, Arjuna had conquered Northern kurus which was the territory of Lord Indra.[25] It was very herculean task for any warrior to achieve this but Arjuna easily achieved many feats in Rajasuya conquest.

After Yudhishthira succumbed to Shakuni's challenge in the game of dice, the Pandavas were forced to be in exile for 13 years, which included 1 year in anonymity.

Penance for Pashupatastra

From the epic poem Kiratarjuniya: Arjuna recognises Shiva and surrenders to him. Painting by Raja Ravi Varma, 19th century.

After the battle at Khandava, Indra had promised Arjuna to give all his weapons as a boon for matching him in battle. Following the advice of Yudhishthira to go on a meditation or "tapasya" to attain this divine weapon, Arjuna left his brothers for a penance.

Arjuna travelled for a while before reaching the mountain Indra keeladri, Vijayawada. Here he sat in meditation in the name of Lord Shiva. Arjuna managed to please Lord Shiva by his severe penance in just months because his penance generated so much intense heat that was unbearable to all living creatures of earth which ultimately forced Lord Shiva to come to the Earth.[28] Shiva appeared soon enough in the guise of a hunter, who challenged Arjuna to a fight. In that fierce battle, even 8 forms of Lord Shiva failed to defeat Arjuna,[29] At last Arjuna gratified Mahadeva in battle by showing his prowess. Then Hunter(Shiva) transformed himself to show his real avatar and blessed Arjuna with the Pashupatastra. Shiva lectures Arjuna on the abilities of the weapon, as well as the judgement he must use while wielding it. It is said that, apart from Lord Shiva and Arjuna, no one possessed Pasupata weapon which was capable of destroying multiverse.[30]

At Virata's kingdom

Arjuna alias Brihannala – Eunuch at Virata's kingdom

Along with his brothers, Arjuna spent his last year of exile in the kingdom of Matsya. This is the place where Urvashi's curse is implemented and Arjuna becomes a eunuch called Brihannala (within themselves Pandavas called him Vijaya).[33] At the palace, he teaches song and dance, qualities he had learnt from Chitrasena [King of the Gandharvas in Devalok], to the King Virata's daughter, Uttarā. Later, Arjuna arranges for Uttara to become his daughter-in-law by marrying his son Abhimanyu to her. At the same time, he prevents Subhadra from marrying Abhimanyu to Balarama's daughter Vatsala, as the Kurus find marriages between cousins taboo. But Arjuna and Subhadra are cousins too since Kunti (Arjuna's Mother) and Vasudeva (Subhadra's father) are brother and sister.

Hearing about the death of Kichaka, Duryodhana surmises that the Pandavas were hiding in Matsya. A host of Kaurava warriors attack Virata, presumably to steal their cattle, but in reality, desiring to pierce the Pandavas' veil of anonymity. Full of bravado, Virata's son Uttar attempts to take on the army by himself while the rest of the Matsya army has been lured away to fight Susharma and the Trigartas. As suggested by Draupadi, Uttar takes Brihannala with him, as his charioteer. When he sees the Kaurava army, Uttar loses his nerve and attempts to flee. There, Arjuna reveals his identity and those of his brothers'. Switching places with Uttar, Arjuna takes up the Gandiva and Devadatta. Eager to defend the land that had given him refuge, Arjuna engaged the legion of Kaurava warriors. All the warriors including Bhishma, Drona, Karna, Kripa and Ashwatthama together attacked Arjuna to kill him but Arjuna defeated all of them multiple times.[34] During the battle, Arjuna also killed Sangramjit-the foster brother of Karna and instead of taking the revenge of his brother, Karna took heroic flight in order to save his life from Arjuna.[35]

Arjuna saved Matsya kingdom from Kurus and brought back all the cattle, sheep etc. As a gratitude, Virata king offered his daughter to Arjuna. Arjuna replied Virata king gently that he had taught dance to Uttara. So he was a teacher to Uttara, a teacher treat a student as a child but not as a spouse. Arjuna suggested Virata King to marry Uttara to his son Abhimanyu. Virata king was very much pleased with this offer. In some versions, it is also said that Abhimanyu and Uttara were already in love as Abhimanyu already met Uttara while he was in search of his parents who were in exile. This was noticed by Draupadi and Yudhishtira. Everybody in Dwaraka agreed Arjuna's proposal and soon Balarama with his wife; Krishna with Rukmini; Arjuna, Subhadra and Abhimanyu reached Matsya kingdom. Abhimanyu married Uttara very soon; 4 months before the commencement of the war.[36] Before the war, on one day; Krishna took a promise from Arjuna that Arjuna wouldn't use any of Pashupatastra, Vaishnavastra, Brahma-shira astra and Vajra astra. If Arjuna would have used any one of them, war would end within a minute but Krishna wanted most of the warriors to be dead from Pandavas' side as well. Thus Arjuna fought war without using any of Pashupatastra, Vaishnavastra, Brahma-shira astra and Vajra astra.

After the conclusion of the war, the Pandavas took charge of Hastinapura, the undivided realm of their ancestors. Yudhishthira appointed Arjuna as the Prime Minister of Hastinapura.[39] Yudhishthira decided to hold the Ashvamedha Yagna, or "horse sacrifice", to grant them the title of Chakravarti ("Emperor"). Arjuna led the armed forces which followed the horse around its random wanderings. He received the submission of many kings, either without or following an armed confrontation. He was thus instrumental in the expansion of the Pandava domains. Arjuna was the only warrior who alone conquered whole world in Mahabharat, Apart from Arjuna no one warrior ever achieved this feats. In the Ashvamedha Yagna, the horse was stopped by Babruvahana. Babruvahana defeated Bhima and killed Vrishaketu without knowing that they were his relatives and he was the son of Arjuna. Arjuna fought with Babruvahana and went on upper hand since Arjuna was invincible. Arjuna defeated Babruvahana and went to collect the horse. Babruvahana then used the divine weapon to kill Arjuna. This divine weapon would kill any person-even monstrous demons. Soon Arjuna got killed and the news reached Chitrāngadā. She scolded him and revealed the truth that he was the son of Arjuna. With the help of Ulupi, Arjuna's life was restored by a gem called Nagamani. Arjuna was very impressed with his son's bravery.

Arjuna built the Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple during his conquest in South India. Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple is one of the "Divya Desams", the 108 temples of Vishnu revered by the 12 poet saints, or Alwars[40] located near Aranmula, a village in Pathanamthitta District, Kerala, South India.

Arjuna throws his weapons in water as advised by Agni

After Sri Krishna left his mortal body, Arjuna took the citizens of Dwaraka, including 16,100 wives of Krishna, to Indraprastha. On the way, they were attacked by a group of bandits. Arjuna desisted fighting seeing the law of time.

Upon the onset of the Kali yuga and acting on the advice of Vyasa, Arjuna and other Pandavas retired, leaving the throne to their only descendant and successor Parikshit (Arjuna's grandson & Abhimanyu's son). Giving up all their belongings and ties, the Pandavas accompanied by a dog, made their final journey of pilgrimage to the Himalayas. The listener of the Mahabharata is Janamejaya, Parikshit's son.[41]

Except for Yudhishthira, all of the Pandavas grew weak and died before reaching heaven (only Yudhishthira is allowed to keep his mortal body). Arjuna was the fourth one to fall after Draupadi, Sahadeva and Nakula. When Bhima asks Yudhishthira why Arjuna isn't permitted the same, the reason given is Arjuna's over confidence in his skills. Draupadi also falls because while she claimed to love all the Pandavas equally, she had a soft spot for Arjuna. Bhima was the fifth to fall after Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva. The reason why Bhima fell is because he enjoyed the sufferings of other people. People may cause suffering sometimes, but not allowed to enjoy them. Nakula fell because he liked his appearance a lot instead of being royal.[42]

Arjuna is considered as 22nd avatar of Lord Vishnu in chaubis avtar, a composition in Dasam Granth traditionally and historically attributed to Guru Gobind Singh.

Arjuna is a popular choice of name for a Hindu male child in the Indian subcontinent. As told in the verses in Harivamsha or Harivamsha Purana, the name Arjuna is cursed by the sage Parashurama. After the defeating the mighty and evil king Kartavirya Arjuna aka Sahasra Arjuna, Sage Parashurama cursed that whosoever holds the name Arjuna will never become a king and always be a servant of others.[51]

Arjuna Wijaya monument in Jakarta, Indonesia

Arjuna's extraordinary talents and skills have made him a common name in popular culture.

• The American astronomer Tom Gehrels named a class of asteroids with low inclination, low eccentricity and earth-like orbital period as Arjuna asteroids.[52][53][54]
• The Arjuna Award is presented every year in India to one talented sportsman in every national sport.
• Arjun is a third generation main battle tank developed for the Indian Army.
• Mayilpeeli Thookkam is a ritual art of dance performed in the temples of Kerala. It is also known as Arjuna Nrithyam (lit. Arjuna's dance) as a tribute to his dancing abilities.

There have been a serial and a film based on Arjuna's life and exploits.

• Earth Maiden Arjuna is a Japanese animated television series created by Shoji Kawamori. This series is based on Arjuna and the Mahabharata. Arjuna: Into the Another World is the soundtrack produced for the series.
• Arjun: The Warrior Prince is a 2012 mythological action film narrating the events in Arjuna's life.
• "Arjuna" is a character in Orson Scott Card's Earth Afire and Earth Awakens made in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

Additionally, the protagonist in Steven Pressfield's book The Legend of Bagger Vance, Rannulph Junuh, is based in part on Arjuna (R. Junuh).[55]

Arjuna is also an Archer class Servant in the mobile game Fate/Grand Order. He is a minor antagonist in the E Pluribus Unum story chapter, where he wishes to fight Karna again.