Previous
Janamejaya
Abhimanyu is the son of Arjuna and Subhadra. Despite his youth, he is a powerful warrior, although during the Kurukshetra War, a group led by Drona manages to surround Abhimanyu and kill him. His death provides motivation for Arjuna, who in spite of all his skills in battle, is sometimes hesitant to kill his relatives on the Kaurava side. Abhimanyu also helps continue the Kuru lineage even after his death, with his son Parikshit eventually becoming king.
Abhimanyu Quotes in Mahabharata
The Mahabharata quotes below are all either spoken by Abhimanyu or refer to Abhimanyu . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 7. Drona Quotes
The hero who had laid waste the entire Kuru army, like an elephant in a lotus pond, now lay resplendent in death, like a wild elephant slain by hunters.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
This quote describes the death of Abhimanyu (Arjuna’s son), which is the most significant casualty on the Pandavas side at this point in the war. On the day of his death, Abhimanyu fights fiercely despite his young age, taking down countless enemies, but under Drona’s leadership, the Kauravas manage to kill him by overwhelming him with numbers, all while Jayadratha holds off the other Pandavas to stop them from intervening. Abhimanyu’s death captures many of the contradictions of the Kurukshetra War as a whole. On the one hand, his death causes mourning among the Pandavas, with many witnesses to the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perf
And he performed this last find and astonishing foe-slaying feat: at the time he was pierced in the heart by the Spear, he appeared, O king, huge as a cloud, or a mountain; then that Rakshasa prince fell headlong to earth from on high, body torn, limbs stilled, lifeless and speechless, but gigantic in form. Bhima’s son Ghatotkaca, doer of fearful deeds, fell with the terrifying, fearful form he had assumed; and thus even in death he smashed on whole section of your army, bringing terror to the Kauravas.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Not long after the death of Abhimanyu, the Pandavas lose another important ally in Ghatotkaca (son of Bhima), and this quote describes the moment when Karna kills him. While on the one hand it’s tragic for a strong soldier to fall in battle and for Bhima to lose a son, this quote emphasizes the glorious nature of Ghatotkaca’s final moments. Ghatotkaca is so devoted to fighting bravely that even his death becomes an attack on his enemies, with him using his dead body to take down some of the Kauravas with him. Whereas Abhimanyu’s death is a setback for the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusanti
Chapter 8. Karna Quotes
‘Karna, if you challenge Arjuna to battle, you are a hare challenging a mighty elephant with tusks like plough-shafts, its temporal glands bursting with rut. If you want to fight the son of Kunti, you are a silly child poking with a stick a deadly poisonous king cobra in its hole, its hood expanded.’
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
In this quote, the mighty Kaurava warrior and charioteer Salya tries to convince Karna not to challenge Arjuna in battle. Particularly since Karna has just used up his powerful celestial weapon against Ghatotkaca, Salya advises Karna that to fight Arjuna will only lead to death. To illustrate the point, Salya invokes the imagery of the snake—a common symbol for death throughout the poem—saying that Karna is like a child playing with a poisonous cobra. The comparison of Arjuna to a mighty elephant recalls previous descriptions of his son Abhimanyu, which also referenced elephants, thus hinting at a family resemblance. In Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est.
Get the entire Mahabharata LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Abhimanyu Character Timeline in Mahabharata
The timeline below shows where the character Abhimanyu appears in Mahabharata. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1. Beginnings
...Kali. Then there are the heroic five Pandavas brothers: Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva. Abhimanyu is Arjuna’s son. Karna is a chariot-fighter and has part of a sun god in...
(full context)
...his exile. Draupadi is jealous of Arjuna’s new wife. With Subhadra, Arjuna has the son Abhimanyu. Meanwhile, Draupadi has five sons: Prativindhya (with Yudhishthira) Sutasoma (with Bhima), Śrutakirti (with Arjuna), Śatanika...
(full context)
Chapter 4. Virata
...a wife. Arjuna believes it would be more proper for her to marry Arjuna’s son, Abhimanyu. Yudhishthira also approves of this marriage. Princes and distinguished guests, including Krishna, come from all...
(full context)
Chapter 5. Perseverance
PERSEVERANCE. After the wedding of Abhimanyu, Krishna gives a speech to try to avoid a destructive war between the Pandavas and...
(full context)
Chapter 7. Drona
...one Pandava chief. By the end of the day, Drona manages to slay Arjuna’s son, Abhimanyu. Dhritarashtra interrupts the story to ask Samjaya to tell this part in more detail, which...
(full context)
...how many arrows he keeps firing out. Yudhishthira sees how strong Drona is and puts Abhimanyu in charge of stopping him, since Arjuna himself is occupied with Duryodhana.
(full context)
Abhimanyu rides toward Drona to attack, and all the Kauravas in the area focus their attacks...
(full context)
Abhimanyu continues to slay great heroes, even after taking many arrows to his own body. Drona...
(full context)
Yudhishthira gives a speech to his army about Abhimanyu’s bravery. He regrets sending the young Abhimanyu to his death. When Arjuna returns that evening...
(full context)
...while he was fighting Satyaki, and that it was even worse that the Kauravas killed Abhimanyu while he was out of his chariot. Buriśravas prepares to die as he bleeds out....
(full context)
Chapter 10. The Night-Raid
...the Pandava wombs fulfills a prophecy—when the Kuru lineage fails, Virata’s daughter (and the late Abhimanyu’s wife) will bear a son named Parikshit. Aśvatthaman says the weapon will make the child...
(full context)
Chapter 14. The Horse Sacrifice
...the war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Initially, he leaves out the part about Abhimanyu dying (since he is Vasudeva’s grandson), but eventually Vasudeva finds out and asks to hear...
(full context)
...full of riches. Krishna comes back for the horse sacrifice. The wife of the late Abhimanyu gives birth to a son called Parikshit who dies right away (due to Aśvatthaman’s use...
(full context)
