Abhimanyu

Abhimanyu (Sanskrit: अभिमन्यु, IAST: Abhimanyu) is a character in the ancient Hindu epic Mahābhārata. He was a young and valiant warrior of the Kuru lineage, born to Arjuna—the third Pandava brother—and Subhadra—a Vrishni princess. He was also one of the few individuals, along with his father, who knew the technique to enter the Chakravyuha, a powerful military formation. Abhimanyu was raised by his maternal family in Dvārakā because the Pandavas had been exiled for thirteen years by their cousins, the Kauravas. After his father's return, his marriage was arranged with Uttarā, the princess of the Matsya Kingdom. Abhimanyu played a significant role on the Pandava side during the Kurukshetra War. The Kaurava soldiers banded together on the thirteenth day of the battle to build the Chakravyuha in an effort to defeat the Pandavas. With Arjuna diverted to another part of the battlefield, Abhimanyu was the only one who was able to burst through the formation and take on the Kaurava soldiers. At that point, seven maharathis (powerful warriors) launched simultaneous attacks on him while violating several kshatriya codes, and he was killed at the age of sixteen. Abhimanyu's posthumous son Parikshit saved the Kuru lineage from extinction, and became a well known monarch celebrated both in the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata Purana.