Kārtaviryārjuna
By Swami Harshananda
Arjuna, the son of the king Kṛtavīrya of Candravanśa[1] was famously known as ‘Kārtaviryārjuna’. He was the king of Māhiṣmatī in the Vindhya mountain range. As a devotee of Dattātreya, he had secured the boon of getting one thousand arms during any war he fights.
He had once defeated the mighty Rāvaṇa in a battle and taken him as captive. Rāvaṇa’s father, the sage Pulastya, had to intervene to get him released.
One day during hunting, he happened to enter the hermitage of the sage Jamadagni and was sumptuously fed by him. The cow Kapilā endowed with divine powers had helped the sage to entertain the guests. When Kārtaviryārjuna asked for the cow to be gifted to him, the sage refused. Offended by this refusal, the king killed the sage. However, on hearing this Paraśurāma, Jamadagni’s son, went to Māhiṣmati. He killed the king, decimated his army and destroyed his city.
References[edit]
- ↑ Candravanśa means lunar dynasty.
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore