A boon is a special gift from a god, usually to a mortal, similar to a wish or a miracle. Many figures in the Mahabharata receive boons that affect the plot, like Bhishma’s boon that allows him to choose the date of his own death, prolonging it for months after he falls in battle.
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Boon Term Timeline in Mahabharata
The timeline below shows where the term Boon appears in Mahabharata. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1. Beginnings
...comes to Janamejaya, he praises the sacrifice of snakes, and so Janamejaya offers him a boon. But then Astika takes his boon right before the sacrifice of Takshka—he says for his...
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...(nymphs), and seers shower Devavrata with flowers and proclaim that he is Bhishma. As a boon for his son, Śamtanu gives Bhishma the ability to choose the hour of his own...
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...Dhritarashtra and Gandhari have 100 sons, a feat that is only possible due to a boon Gandhari receives from Vyasa. Among these many sons is the future king Duryodhana. There’s also...
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...sparing his opponent’s life. In return, Citraratha gives up his titles and grants Arjuna the boon to see everything everywhere.
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...death than any other option). Eventually, when the fire recedes, Indra offers Arjuna and Krishna boons. Arjuna asks for celestial weapons, while Krishna requests Indra’s friendship.
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Chapter 2. The Hall
...and arms disappear when he sits on Krishna’s lap. His parents beg Krishna for a boon, hoping Krishna will forgive their son’s sins, and he agrees.
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Dhritarashtra, who has sympathy for the Pandavas, offers Draupadi a boon. She asks to rescue Yudhishthira from slavery. He gives her a second boon, and she...
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Chapter 3. The Forest
...He hears a story about how Rama Jamadagnya accidentally decapitated his mother but how a boon from his father allowed him to revive her. Later, King Kartavirya attacked Rama Jamadagnya’s hermitage,...
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...named Savitri. A king showed great loyalty to her, so she rewarded him with a boon. He asks for offspring with the highest dharma. She agrees, and when the king gives...
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Moved by Savitri’s words, Yama offers her several boons, with the stipulation that she can’t ask for the resurrection of Satyavat. She asks for...
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...the Sun. Indra seems to have expected this, and he says he’ll give Karna a boon in exchange for the earrings. He offers Karna a celestial weapon: a Spear that can...
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...Pandavas and then reveals that it is Dharma, Yudhishthira’s biological father. Dharma gives Yudhishthira three boons: he gets the firesticks back for the Brahmin, the Pandavas will remain unrecognizable in their...
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Chapter 4. Virata
...live unrecognized in the city of Virata for so long. Vaiśampayana answers. After receiving their boons from Dharma, the Pandavas debate where to spend their 13th year of exile. Yudhishthira proposes...
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Chapter 5. Perseverance
...with this outcome, wanting Bhishma dead, and so one day when Śiva offers her a boon, she asks to be reborn as a warrior who defeats Bhishma. To hasten this rebirth,...
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Chapter 6. Bhishma
...says he doesn’t know of how any man can beat him, since he has a boon that he can choose the time of his death and that time hasn’t arrived yet....
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Chapter 7. Drona
...his father’s death, Aśvatthaman wants to use the celestial weapon that Drona received as a boon from Narayana (a form of Vishnu). He uses the weapon, and a mighty storm gathers....
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Chapter 14. The Horse Sacrifice
...by Satyaki. They meet a seer named Uttanka in the desert. Krishna offers Uttanka a boon and then leaves. Since it’s dry in the desert, Uttanka decides to use his boon...
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