The Birth of Iravan and Babhruvahana

The Pandavas had transformed the barren Khandavaprastha into a flourishing, fertile kingdom called Indraprastha. The newly-built mansion that bested the best in the entire country was designed by Mayasura, an Asura architect par excellence. 

The astounding palace was filled with marvellous wonders. In addition to the stunning beauty and intricate embellishments of the structure itself, this palace had illusionary features too. There were floors that looked solid but were actually pools of water, and there were those that looked like pools of water but were actually solid ground. The five brothers spent many happy years in this magnificent home with their mother, Kunti, and their common wife, Draupadi.

They revelled in their newfound luxury and prosperity, especially after living in poverty and exile for many years, to be safe from their jealous and powerful cousins, the Kauravas, who were ready for murder to keep the Kuru kingdom for themselves. The enmity between the cousins seemed to be abated, at least for the moment. With the intervention of the elders, the Kauravas ruled over the prosperous Hastinapur and the Pandavas ruled over Indraprastha. 

However, the Pandavas were still not entirely free from problems. Worse ones were yet to come. But before all that and while still in Indraprastha, Arjuna was compelled to go on a self-imposed one-year exile for having broken a pact with his brothers, driven by unforeseen and uncontrollable circumstances. He set out towards the east and had many adventures. 

He met two beautiful women on this sojourn. First was Uloopi, the daughter of the Naga king, Kauravya. She was so smitten by the handsome warrior that she proposed to him. Arjuna, however, did not feel the same way for her. And yet, he couldn't say no to her, and disrespect a lady. He agreed to be with her for a day. 

Although Uloopi was hurt by Arjuna's indifference, she was happy to embrace whatever form of love he was willing to give her. Their union happened in the magical mistiness of the ocean’s depths,  surrounded and shielded by exotic sea creatures. Uloopi conceived a son named Iravan who inherited the 32 special marks from his illustrious father. 

 Arjuna then took leave of Uloopi and continued on his journey. He met Chitrangada, the princess of Manipur. This time, Arjuna was as smitten by Chitrangada as she was with him. He married her after receiving her father, King Chitravahan’s approval. However, the condition laid down by Chitravahana was that his daughter should remain in Manipur even after marriage and that his grandson should be the heir to the throne of his kingdom. Arjuna agreed, and Babhruvahana was born to Chitrangada and Arjuna.

When the year of exile was completed, he left for Indraprastha promising Chitrangada that he would return soon to take his new family to Indraprastha. But, the life of the Pandavas took a vicious turn very soon after Arjuna’s return, and he was so caught up in his family’s problems that the thoughts of Uloopi and Iravan and Chitrangada and Babhruvahana were relegated to the background. 

But the two single mothers had found companionship in each other and left no stone unturned in bringing up their children in the best way possible, especially Uloopi who took both the boys, Iravan and Babhruvahana, under her wings. While Chitrangada pined for Arjuna’s return, Uloopi did not have even the consolation of pining for her unrequited love. But, Uloopi found consolation in being the mother of two strong and loving sons and training them to be skilled and outstanding warriors. 

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The Kurukshetra war was imminent. Duryodhana was unyielding despite the best efforts by Krishna for a reconciliation. In the face of war, Krishna realized the Pandavas needed a lot of help. He knew that the Kauravas were extremely powerful and to defeat them, divine intervention was a necessity. Krishna recommended a human sacrifice to please Goddess Kali so that She would bless them with a victory in the war.

But Goddess Kali would not accept any sacrifice. It had to be a man born with 32 special characteristics. Uloopi heard of this condition and a sense of dread surfaced in her heart. She now realized the seemingly senseless purpose of her attraction to Arjuna. She was the conduit for the birth of Iravan, the man with the 32 special traits inherited from his father. 

The only other two people born with these special traits were Krishna and Arjuna, both of whom could not be sacrificed because they were the ones fighting the war, Uloopi scoffed angrily to herself.  But she was helpless and she knew they would come for her son sooner than later.

Krishna did come for Iravan’s help and her son didn't even bat eyelid to do his duty towards his father. While Uloopi was furious at her son for giving in so easily she also knew that Iravan would have never said no to his father’s calling. After all, the strength of his character was a result of her own upbringing!

Iravan got ready to be sacrificed to Goddess Kali. He, however, put forth two conditions. The first was that he didn't want to die unmarried. Krishna readily agreed to this. He himself took his splendid female form, Mohini, and married Iravan. The second condition was that he wanted to die a glorious death on the battlefield. Krishna agreed to this too.

Then, the son of Uloopi cut himself up into 32 pieces and his body was sacrificed to Goddess Kali who pleased with her offering appeared to Arjuna and Krishna and blessed them with certain victory in the Kurukshetra War. 

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It was the 10th day of the Kurukshetra War. Ganga looked down with helpless rage and grief as she saw her son, Bhishma being felled by a relentless shower of arrows sent forth by Arjuna. The fight was completely unfair. It was not a head-on battle. Arjuna had hidden behind Shikhandi, the eunuch. 

Bhishma’s Kshatriya principles did not allow him to take up weapons in front of a woman even if the feminine aspect was only a part of the entire personality. Using this weakness, Arjuna attacked the grandsire of the Kuru clan in a cowardly manner, taking shelter behind Shikhandi. 

Ganga was livid with rage and in that moment of anger, she cursed Arjuna that he would die at the hands of his own son! 

In the mayhem of the Mahabharata war, only one person paid heed to Ganga’s ferocious curse. It was Uloopi who continued to stay close to her son. According to his second condition, Krishna had revived Iravan after the sacrifice so that he could fight on his father’s side until the last day of the War. 

Aghast at hearing that her lover would die at the hands of his own son, Uloopi rushed to Ganga and fell at her feet begging for forgiveness on behalf of her lover. 

Ganga relented and said, “I cannot take back the curse. But he can be killed by his son from Chitrangada, and you can use the Mrithasanjeevani stone to revive him.” Uloopi thanked the Goddess profusely for giving her a way out. 

When Iravan was killed for the second time on the 18th day of the war by the giant, Alamvusha, Uloopi was beyond any feelings. The depth of her misery was unparalleled. Not only did she have a son with a man who didn't love her but she let the child die too! She didn't know whether to be angry at the turn of events or at herself for not saying no to Arjuna when he made his intentions with her clear. She failed as a lover and she failed as a mother! 

She wept until there were no tears left to shed. But she couldn't stop living because she had another purpose to serve. She needed to be there for Babhruvahana who would otherwise suffer the consequences of fratricide.

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The war was over and the Pandavas had won! Yudhistra decided to conduct the Ashwamedha Yajna to proclaim his supremacy throughout the region. According to the norms of the yajna, a beautifully decorated and duly anointed sacrificial horse is let to roam around freely. The kingdoms into which this horse entered would be subordinated to Hastinapur. If any king resisted the move, he would have to fight the mighty Pandavas.

Arjuna was given the task of following the sacrificial horse, to fight in case of resistance and complete the formalities of annexure including terms of tributes in case of surrender. All the kings welcomed the horse and agreed to pay tribute to Hastinapur. No one had the courage or the resources to stand up against the powerful Pandavas. 

Soon, the animal was set to enter Manipur. Even if Arjuna remembered his tryst with this kingdom, he was focused on his present duty towards the Kuru clan. Uloopi heard the news of the approaching horse and rushed to Manipur. 

She went directly to Babhruvahana who was the ruler now and told him to challenge Arjuna in single combat, and not to give in to the Pandavas easily. Babhruvahana loved and revered Uloopi as much as his own mother. He agreed to challenge Arjuna as he was not yet aware of his father’s identity. Chitrangada was still waiting for her husband to come and take his family to Indraprastha as he had promised. Until then, she chose not to reveal anything to Babhruvahana.

Babhruvahana came out and challenged Arjuna, confidence and power oozing out of his every vein. Arjuna was shocked as well as transfixed at the sight of the strapping young king. Moreover, Arjuna had become quite arrogant at the seemingly unending string of successes he and his brothers had seen. He agreed to fight with Babhruvahana even as a condescending smile adorned his handsome face. 

It was fierce father-son combat and Arjuna realized he had underestimated the power and warrior skills of this young king. Babhruvahana was able to defend himself against some of his most powerful weapons too. Intrigued, he pondered on the boy's identity, and he lost concentration for just a moment which was more than enough for Babhruvahana’s arrow to find its mark. Arjuna fell down dead, and there was a deafening silence in the Pandava camp.

When the moment of numbing horror had passed, everyone rushed towards the body of Arjuna, wailing and mourning for the death of their bravest warrior. By now, Chitrangada had heard about the arrival of Arjuna and was running towards the battlefield. She reached in time to see her son’s arrow pierce his father’s heart.

She rushed to Arjuna’s lifeless body and cried out agonizingly, “My dear son! What have you done? You have killed your father!” Uloopi came out of her hiding place and approached Arjuna’s corpse too. “How could you goad my son to kill his own father?” accused Chitrangada. 

Babhruvahana was shocked into speechlessness by the unexpected drama. He looked at Uloopi with pleading eyes asking her for an explanation. He couldn't believe Uloopi would do anything wrong.  She gave Babhruvahana a comforting look. 

Quietly, she reached her hand into a little bag she was carrying and took out the Mrithasanjeevani stone she had brought from her kingdom, the land of serpents. She placed the stone on Arjuna’s heart and he was revived instantly. It was a happy family reunion scene with father, mother, and son hugging each other joyfully. 

Having finished her task, Uloopi took leave of everyone and returned to her land knowing that she did not fail as a mother. Babhruvahana’s parting look filled with gratitude and love for her confirmed this feeling. And Iravan looking down from the heavens felt proud of being the son of Uloopi.