Babhruvahana- Hindu DemigodDemigod"King of Manipura"

Birth and Upbringing in Manipura

During his twelve-year exile from Indraprastha, Arjuna traveled to the eastern kingdom of Manipura, where he married Princess Chitrangada, daughter of King Chitravahana. Their union produced a son, Babruvahana, but Arjuna had agreed that any male child would remain in Manipura as heir to Chitravahana's throne, since the king had no other successor (Mahabharata 1.214, Adi Parva). Arjuna departed, and Babruvahana grew to manhood in his mother's kingdom, trained in the arts of war and kingship without ever meeting his father. He inherited the throne of Manipura and ruled as a kshatriya king in his own right.

The Battle at the Ashvamedha

Years later, after the great war at Kurukshetra, Yudhishthira performed the Ashvamedha sacrifice to establish his sovereignty. The sacrificial horse wandered freely across the land with Arjuna following as its guardian, obliged to fight any king who challenged the horse's passage. When the horse entered Manipura, Babruvahana faced an impossible duty: as a sovereign king, he could not allow the horse to pass unchallenged, yet the warrior he must oppose was his own father.

The two met in single combat. Babruvahana proved a formidable archer, and in the fierce exchange of shafts he struck Arjuna down. The great Pandava hero lay dead on the field, and Babruvahana, learning the identity of the man he had slain, collapsed in grief (Mahabharata 14.79-80, Ashvamedhika Parva).

Ulupi, Arjuna's Naga wife who had followed the campaign, intervened with the Nagamani, a celestial jewel possessing the power to restore life. She placed the gem upon Arjuna's chest and he rose again. Ulupi revealed that a curse had required Arjuna to fall at his own son's hand, and that the battle had in fact lifted the curse rather than caused lasting harm. Father and son were reconciled, and Babruvahana returned to rule Manipura with Arjuna's blessing (Mahabharata 14.80, Ashvamedhika Parva).