Babruvahana

Manipura was a kingdom in Eastern India, which was ruled by a king named Chitravahana. He had a daughter named Chitrangada and for multiple generations, for the dynasty it was the first time they had only a daughter and have not a heir. Since Chitravahana did not have any other heir, he trained Chitrangada in warfare and rule. Chitrangada was well-versed in warfare and acquired the skills to protect the people of her land. The account is described in Rabindranath Tagore's play Chitra,[1] where Tagore depicts Chitrangada as a warrior dressed in male clothes.[2] Arjuna fell in love with her on account of her honesty and courage. They had a son named Babruvahana, whom Chitrangada reared up after Arjuna left them.[3]

Mahabharata loses mention of Chitra and her kingdom for several chapters. On the other side, the Pandavas went through various ordeals and finally winning the war against the Kauravas. Yudhishthira became the king of Hastinapura. His mind was restless since he always felt bad about killing his own kith and kin during the war. On the advice of sages, he conducted Ashvamedha yagna, where a decorated horse would be sent across the kingdom and wherever it goes unopposed, the land would be acquired by the king who sent it. Arjuna was tasked to take care of the horse. When Arjuna went to Manipura with the wandering sacrificial horse of the Ashvamedha, Babruvahana captured the horse, which, by tradition, meant war against the Pandavas. Arjuna tried to persuade Babruvahana to leave the horse as there was no enmity between Manipura and Hastinapura.

Arjuna, reluctant to fight a young boy, left and informed a small troop of his army to convince Babruvahana to give the horse back. Babruvahana defeated the army. He also defeated Bhima, and wounded Vrishaketu. Knowing this, Arjuna grew enraged as Vrishaketu had been very dear to him, as he had been his elder brother Karna's son, and took an oath to kill Babruvahana or immolate himself if he gets defeated. Arjuna fought with Babruvahana, and got the upper hand. Babruvahana defeated Arjuna, and killed him with a powerful astra. Repenting his deed after knowing Arjuna's identity, he was determined to kill himself, but he obtained from his stepmother, the Naga princess Ulupi, a gem called Nagamani, which restored Arjuna to life, with the help of Krishna. The Pandavas, Ulupi, Chitrangada, Babruvahana, Draupadi, and their armies returned to Hastinapura.[3]