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Śakuni
Ghatotkaca is the half-Rakshasa son of Bhima and the sister of a Rakshasa named Hidimba. He is a bald giant who slays many warriors on the battlefield, sometimes using the power of illusions. His most important role in the story is to force Karna to use his celestial weapon, which kills Ghatotkaca but allows Arjuna to later defeat Karna.
Ghatotkaca Quotes in Mahabharata
The Mahabharata quotes below are all either spoken by Ghatotkaca or refer to Ghatotkaca. 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:
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Chapter 7. Drona Quotes
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.
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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.’
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Ghatotkaca Character Timeline in Mahabharata
The timeline below shows where the character Ghatotkaca appears in Mahabharata. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1. Beginnings
...has sex with Bhima many times and gives birth to a half-Rakshasa son they call Ghatotkaca, who is “bald as a pot” and loves his Pandava brothers. It is Ghatotkaca’s fate...
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Chapter 6. Bhishma
...horses into battle to confuse the Pandavas. Meanwhile, on the opposite side, Bhima’s Rakshasa son, Ghatotkaca, fights against the Kauravas and Duryodhana, but the day again ends in a stalemate.
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Chapter 7. Drona
...strong fighting. The fighting doesn’t stop, however, as both sides continue in bloody battle, with Ghatotkaca getting hit with an arrow and dragged off the field of battle unconscious. Bhima manages...
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...to battle to the death against Karna, but Krishna says it’s not time and that Ghatotkaca, now revived, should go instead. Ghatotkaca goes on a rampage. Duryodhana sends a Rakshasa warrior...
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Ghatotkaca and Karna fight fiercely, with Ghatotkaca using illusions to distract his opponent, but Karna dispels...
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Karna doesn’t back down, however, and he destroys a shower of arrows headed at him. Ghatotkaca gets angry and is eager to strike Karna down. The two fight directly with each...
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...has been saving the Spear for Arjuna, at last he agrees to use it on Ghatotkaca. The Spear immediately turns all of Ghatotkaca’s illusions to ashes and rips through his heart....
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THE KILLING OF DRONA. All of the Pandavas grieve the fall of Ghatotkaca except Krishna, who rejoices. While Arjuna feels Krishna’s behavior is inappropriate, Krishna explains that now...
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When battle starts up on the 14th day, Yudhishthira fears what the loss of Ghatotkaca will do to his army and says they must take out the mighty enemy warriors...
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