Who killed Abhimanyu?

imnowhere thumbnail
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Posted: 11 years ago
#1
Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna was killed on the 13th day of Kurukshetra war as he did not know his way out from the chakravyuh.
But the question here is that who actually killed him -
the 7 maharathis Dronacharya, Kripacharya, Karna, Ashwathama, Duryodhan, Dushasan and Salva or
Dushasan's son Durmashan

What was Jayadrath's role here that made Arjuna take a vow against him and not others involved in Abhimanyu's death?

I havn't read original Mahabharata and the sources from which I have read this incident have left me confused. Can anyone answer?

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Gold.Abrol thumbnail
Posted: 11 years ago
#2
Mridula dear Jaydrath had drove arjuna towards a different direction when chakravyu was formed n among pandavas only arjun knew the process completely n next was abhimanyu who could get inside pandavas tried to get beside abhimanyu but it was vain abhimanyu died and as jaydrath had dove arjun away he accused that he is the main culprit if arjuna was present the could have abhinayu 😊
imnowhere thumbnail
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Posted: 11 years ago
#3

Originally posted by: GOLD.A

Mridula dear Jaydrath had drove arjuna towards a different direction when chakravyu was formed n among pandavas only arjun knew the process completely n next was abhimanyu who could get inside pandavas tried to get beside abhimanyu but it was vain abhimanyu died and as jaydrath had dove arjun away he accused that he is the main culprit if arjuna was present the could have abhinayu 😊



Thanks for the reply. But I still fail to understand why Jayadrath, who just kept the pandavas away from the chakravyuh became more important to Arjun than the rest of the warriors who were involved in the actual killing.
Gold.Abrol thumbnail
Posted: 11 years ago
#4

Originally posted by: mridula.shome



Thanks for the reply. But I still fail to understand why Jayadrath, who just kept the pandavas away from the chakravyuh became more important to Arjun than the rest of the warriors who were involved in the actual killing.

Mridula its simple if Arjuna would be there abhimanyu would not have been dead so arjun accused jaydrath for his sons murder he was the one who kept him away n deceived arjuna 😊
Vr15h thumbnail
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Posted: 11 years ago
#5
This question actually belongs in this thread


But I agree w/ Mridula - Jayadrath didn't do anything heinous - he blocked the Pandavas not b'cos he wanted Abhimanyu dead, but b'cos he wanted Drona's plan of capturing Yudisthir to succeed. That wasn't gonna happen if the Pandavas and others successfully followed Abhimanyu - the entire chakravyuha would have been destroyed.

Abhimanyu was actually killed by Dushashan's son. From what I read, his name was Shrutakarna. What is the source of your name for Dushashan's son?

One thing I wonder - yeah, one can be wise after the event, but given what Abhimanyu told Yudisthir, couldn't Satyaki & someone else, say Ghatotkacha, have been put on Abhimanyu's chariot along w/ him, so that they too would have forged forward? That way, Jayadrath couldn't have stopped them, and they'd have been able to protect Abhimanyu just fine, while the Pandavas could have fought Jayadrath all day long in peace.
Vr15h thumbnail
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Posted: 11 years ago
#6

Originally posted by: GOLD.A

Mridula dear Jaydrath had drove arjuna towards a different direction when chakravyu was formed n among pandavas only arjun knew the process completely n next was abhimanyu who could get inside pandavas tried to get beside abhimanyu but it was vain abhimanyu died and as jaydrath had dove arjun away he accused that he is the main culprit if arjuna was present the could have abhinayu 😊



No, it was the Shamshaptakas - Krishna's army gift to Duryodhan - who distracted Arjun by challenging him.

Jayadrath's role in this was that after Abhimanyu had penetrated the formation, Jayadrath quickly plugged it again to prevent any further leakage of the enemy into the Kaurava ranks. The boon that Shiva had given him was that on a day, he'd defeat the 4 of the Pandavas, excluding Arjun, but he would still die @ Arjun's hands. That went into effect that day, and whereas normally, Jayadrath was a mediocre warrior, that day, he blocked not only the Pandavas, but everyone else - Satyaki, Drupada, Virata, Dhrishtadyumna, Ghatotkacha and so on.

Abhimanyu was deceptively disarmed by Karna breaking his bow from behind, Drona breaking the reins of his chariot & killing Sumitra, his charioteer. Then they broke his sword, shield and chariot, and there was that famous scene of him defending himself w/ just his chariot wheel. That too was broken.

From this point, most serials get it wrong. Even BRC and RS-SK showed Karna killing him, but that's not what happened. Abhimanyu next picked up his mace, and Dushashan's son attacked him w/ his mace. Now, this one was a fair 1:1 combat. Both of them fell unconscious after a while. Shrutakarna was the first to recover, whereas Abhimanyu, being exhausted, took more time. Here is where Shrutakarna cheated - instead of waiting for Abhimanyu to get up, he brought his mace down on Abhimanyu's head while he was still unconscious, slaying him.

If anyone ought to have been hunted down for Abhimanyu's killing, it should have been first Drona, and then Shrutakarna.
srujanahpvr thumbnail
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Posted: 11 years ago
#7
yes its true that jayadrath had stopped the pandava forces from entering into the chakravyuh because of the boon granted. arjuna wowed to slay him because if nt for jayadrath abhimanyu would have been alive or he could have been saved.

if jayadrath had not used his boon on the first hand then killing of abhimanyu would not have been possible hence arjuna took revenge on him
Gold.Abrol thumbnail
Posted: 11 years ago
#8
Ya I know that but I heard that Arjuna was distracted by him althou he had a boon that except Arjuna he wil not be defeated by any pandava once granted by lord shiva well thanks for the clearance 😊
imnowhere thumbnail
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Posted: 11 years ago
#9
Thanks, Vrish(if ur username is ur name) for the explanation. And sorry, I hadn't noticed the thread earlier coz it isnt sticky.
Even I have read about the Shamshaptakas distracting Arjun away from the chakravyuh.
And my source about Dushasan's son is 'wiki babaji'😆 So I am not very sure about the name.
This part of the battle is the most tragic and heart-wrenching even though the entire battle consists of many unethical actions from both sides.
Good that I have someone to support me on the fact that Jayadrath was not the only person who should have been the revengeful target of this incident. I havn't even read about anyone confronting Drona and his companions for such an unethical deed.
bobbiswas thumbnail
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Posted: 11 years ago
#10
EVen I felt Arjuna took vow on wrong person here. Actually it should be Drona. He was the senapati of Kauravas then post Bheeshma. Once Abhimanyu defeated everone on a 1:1 battle which included Drona and Karna as well ... Drona gives an order to attack him all together which was breaking law of war. And post that what happened we all know.
Drona was a complete corrupted man by nature. First he made Eklavya cut his finger as gurudakshina and then he followed all unfair means once he became senapati.
These two old men were real culprit of entire Mahabharata and we keep on fighting between Kauravas and Pandavas who is better etc. First Bheeshma took all these wrong oath to satisfy his fathers old age desire and created all the mess. Then he abducted against their will 3 Kashiraj kanyas and then kept mum while all worng happened by Duryodhan's wish. And then Drona started unfair war against Pandavas and the height example was Abhimanyu. Indeed he deserved a bad death.

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