Uttarā (Mahabharata)

For the brother of Uttarā, see Uttara (Mahabharata).

Uttarā
Uttara
Abhimanyu consoles Uttarā before leaving for the war.
Information
FamilyVirata (father)
Sudeshna (mother)
Uttara (brother)
Shankha (brother)
SpouseAbhimanyu
ChildrenParikshit
OriginMatsya Kingdom

Uttarā (Sanskrit: उत्तरा, romanized: Uttarā) was the princess of Matsya, described in the epic Mahabharata. She was the daughter of King Virata and Queen Sudeshna, at whose court the Pandavas spent a year in concealment during their exile. During that period, she learnt music and dance from the third Pandava, Arjuna, and later married his son, Abhimanyu. Unfortunately, Uttarā was widowed during the Kurukshetra War, and she and her unborn son were attacked by the enemy warrior Ashvatthama, but were saved by the divine intervention of Krishna. Her son Parikshit saved the Kuru lineage from extinction, and became a wellknown monarch celebrated both in the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata Purana.[1]

Literary background[edit]

Uttarā is a major character in the Mahabharata, one of the Sanskrit epics from the Indian subcontinent. The work is written in Classical Sanskrit and is a composite work of revisions, editing and interpolations over many centuries. The oldest parts in the surviving version of the text may date to near 400 BCE.[2]

The Mahabharata manuscripts exist in numerous versions, wherein the specifics and details of major characters and episodes vary, often significantly. Except for the sections containing the Bhagavad Gita which is remarkably consistent between the numerous manuscripts, the rest of the epic exists in many versions.[3] The differences between the Northern and Southern recensions are particularly significant, with the Southern manuscripts more profuse and longer. Scholars have attempted to construct a critical edition, relying mostly on a study of the "Bombay" edition, the "Poona" edition, the "Calcutta" edition and the "south Indian" editions of the manuscripts. The most accepted version is one prepared by scholars led by Vishnu Sukthankar at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, preserved at Kyoto University, Cambridge University and various Indian universities.[4]

Uttarā also appears in few of the later written Puranic scriptures, most prominent being the Krishna-related Bhagavata Purana.[5]

Biography[edit]

A relief sculpture at Hayagriva Madhava Temple depicting Brihannala and Uttarā

According to the Mahabharata, Uttarā was born to Virata, the king of Matsya Kingdom, and his consort Sudeshna, the daughter of Suta king of Kekaya. She had two elder brothers—Uttara and Shankha—and a half sibling Shveta.[6]

Uttarā is introduced into the main narrative in the Virata Parva, the fourth book of the epic, which narrates about the last year of the exile of the five Pandava brothers and their common wife Draupadi, which they had to spend in anonymity. They stayed together in the Matsya and took various disguises in the court of Virata. The third Pandava Arjuna lived as a eunuch named Brihannala, and was appointed as the tutor of Uttarā, teaching her the skills of dance, instrumental and vocal music that he had learned from the apsaras in heaven. Uttarā is praised by Arjuna for being exceptionally talented. After the end of their exile, the Pandavas revealed their real identities to Virata. Virata immediately offered Uttarā's hand in marriage to Arjuna, but he refused, reasoning that that a teacher has with a student is like that of a parent to a child. Instead, Arjuna suggested that Uttarā become his daughter-in-law by marrying his son Abhimanyu. With approval from both sides, the marriage ceremony of Uttarā and Abhimanyu was held in the city of Upaplavya in presence of their relatives and allies.[1][7] While residing in Upaplavya, the Pandavas were approached by a poor brahmin who, upon seeing Uttarā, prophesied,

"While the Kuru line will become extinct, a son will be born to thee. This thy son for that reason, will be called by the name of Parikshit (lit. 'One who has been tested')."[8]

Uttarā pleads to Abhimanyu as he leaves for the war.

The next few parvas (books) of the Mahabharata describes the Kurukshetra War fought between the Pandavas and their cousins Kauravas, in which Matsya allied with the Pandavas. Uttarā lost her father, brothers and entire Matsya army in the course of the war. She was also widowed at a very young age when Abhimanyu, himself only sixteen years old, was killed in the war. Overwhelmed with grief at the sight of her husband's body, she was consoled by her uncle-in-law and the divine avatara Krishna.[1][9]

After the conclusion of the Kurukshetra War, which ended in the victory of the Pandavas, Ashwatthama—the son of Dronacharya, who was the commander-in-chief of the Kaurava forces—tried to avenge their defeat by massacring the remaining Pandava army. This incident is chronicled in the Sauptika Parva. Ashwatthama was confronted by Arjuna and aware of his inability to defeat Arjuna with conventional means, Ashwatthama resorted to invoking the powerful divine weapon known as Brahmashira. In response, Arjuna also prepared to unleash a Brahmashira. Narada and Vyasa, revered sages of Hindu mythology, intervened and instructed both warriors to withdraw their celestial weapons. Arjuna complied with their directive and withdrew the Brahmashira he had unleashed. However, Ashwatthama lacked the ability to retract the Brahmashira once it was invoked, as he did not possess the requisite control over the weapon. Driven by a consuming desire for vengeance, Ashwatthama decided that if he could not annihilate the Pandavas, he would eliminate their lineage. In a heinous act, he directed the Brahmashira towards Uttarā's womb, ultimately leading to the death of the unborn child, Parikshit.[8][10][11]

When Uttarā went into labour, Krishna revived the stillborn baby, and the infant was then named Parikshit, meaning 'he who has been tested'.[12]

Furious at the thought of a warrior turning his weapons on an unborn child, Krishna cursed Ashwatthama to live for millennia, completely alone and burdened by diseases, repelled by the stench of his own pus.[13]

According to the Ashramavasika Parva, fifteen years after the war Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, Kunti, and Vidura departed for the forest. Months later, when the Pandavas sought to meet their elders, Sage Vyasa was also present. Through the rishi's power, the dead were given life for a night;[14] as day dawned, Vyasa asked all the widows who wished to join their spouses to walk into the river Ganga,[15] and Uttarā might have accepted the offer.

Significantly, when the Pandavas finally renounced the world it was Subhadra, and not Uttarā, who was entrusted to take care of the young Parikshit.[16]

In popular culture[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Mani, Vettam (1975). Puranic encyclopaedia : a comprehensive dictionary with special reference to the epic and Puranic literature. Robarts - University of Toronto. Delhi : Motilal Banarsidass. p. Uttarā. ISBN 978-0-8426-0822-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  2. ^ Brockington, J. L. (1998). The Sanskrit Epics. Brill Academic. p. 26. ISBN 978-9-00410-260-6.
  3. ^ Minor, Robert N. (1982). Bhagavad Gita: An Exegetical Commentary. South Asia Books. pp. l–li. ISBN 978-0-8364-0862-1. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  4. ^ McGrath, Kevin (2004). The Sanskrit Hero: Karna in Epic Mahabharata. Brill Academic. pp. 19–26. ISBN 978-9-00413-729-5. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  5. ^ Prabhupada, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami (31 December 1972). Srimad-Bhagavatam, First Canto: Creation. The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. ISBN 978-91-7149-634-8.
  6. ^ Mani, Vettam (1975). Puranic encyclopaedia : a comprehensive dictionary with special reference to the epic and Puranic literature. Robarts - University of Toronto. Delhi : Motilal Banarsidass. p. Virāṭa. ISBN 978-0-8426-0822-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  7. ^ "The Mahabharata, Book 4: Virata Parva: Go-harana Parva: Section LXXII".
  8. ^ a b Mani, Vettam (1975). Puranic encyclopaedia : a comprehensive dictionary with special reference to the epic and Puranic literature. Robarts - University of Toronto. Delhi : Motilal Banarsidass. p. Aśvatthāmā. ISBN 978-0-8426-0822-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  9. ^ "Mahabharata,Book 20:Section 20". Wisdom Library. 17 August 2021.
  10. ^ "The Mahabharata, Book 10: Sauptika Parva: Section 15".
  11. ^ "The Mahabharata, Book 14: Aswamedha Parva: Anugita Parva: Section LXX".
  12. ^ "The Mahabharata, Book 14: Aswamedha Parva: Anugita Parva: Section LXX".
  13. ^ "The Mahabharata, Book 10: Sauptika Parva: Section 16".
  14. ^ "The Mahabharata, Book 15: Asramavasika Parva: Putradarsana Parva: Section XXXII".
  15. ^ "The Mahabharata, Book 15: Asramavasika Parva: Putradarsana Parva: Section XXXIII".
  16. ^ "The Mahabharata, Book 17: Mahaprasthanika Parva: Section 1".
  17. ^ "31 years of Mahabharat on Doordarshan: Interesting facts about one of most popular TV shows ever". The Financial Express. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  18. ^ "An epic for an epic, on small screen - All-new Mahabharata". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
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