The gatekeeper of one of Kurukshetra’s boundaries, as per Mahabharata Vanaparva Chapter 83 verse 52.

A holy place in ancient India, on the banks of Saraswati. Bathing here has the same effect as an agnishtoma yajna, as per Mahabharata Shalyaparva Chapter 53 verse 24.

A part of the Mahabharata.

A king of the Ikshvaku dynasty.

A place in ancient in India. As per Mahabharata Dronaparva Chapter 193 verse 13, after the death of Drona in the Kurukshetra war, Kritavarma ran away along with the warriors from Aratta.

Also known as Arajas. A daughter of maharishi Shukra.

Ikshvaku had three famous sons – Danda, Vikukshi, Nimi. After Ikhsvaku’s death, Danda became the ruler of the territory between Vindhya and Himachal. Once he went into the forests for a hunt, and reached the place where Shukra was staying with Ara. He was infatuated with Ara, who refused to entertain him. He raped her and she complained to Shukra. Shukra asked her to meditate and said that he would rain fire on Danda’s kingdom. Ara went off the meditate and as per Shukra’s instructions Indra rained fire on Danda’s kingdom and destroyed it. As per Uttararamayana, this place then became a dense forest named Dandakaranya.

A rakshasi. When Rama and Lakshmana were on the way to Matangashrama in search of Sita, she approached Lakshmana and asked him to marry her. As with Shoorpanakha, he cut off her nose and breasts, as per Ramayana Aranyakanda Chapter 69.

Also known as Ayobhuja. One of the Kauravas, as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 67 verse 98. He was killed by Bhima, as per Mahabharata Dronaparva Chapter 157 verse 19.

A sage. He had three disciples – Aaruni, Upamanyu, Aadeva.

Once his guru entrusted Aaruni to take care of the fields. But when he tried to set the boundaries of the field, he was unable to. So he lay down instead and stopped water from flowing into the field. Later, the guru enquired about him, and got to know the story from the other students. The guru went to the field and called Aaruni over, from then on Aaruni was also known as Uddalaka, as per Mahabharata Chapter 3 verses 21-33.

The sage once asked Upamanyu to take the cows for grazing. He did it and returned in the evening to the guru. The guru saw the plump disciple and asked him how he was making a living these days. Upamanyu answered that he begged for alms. The guru said that from then on, Upamanyu had to give him the day’s alms. Upamanyu did as he was asked and continued to take the cows for grazing. Even after many months, the guru noticed that Upamanyu hadn’t lost his plumpness and asked him how it was so. Upamanyu replied that he now did two rounds of begging – the first he would give to the guru, and the second he’d keep for himself. The guru asked him to stop the second round since he would take away from the others who survived on alms. Upamanyu agreed, but again, after several months, the guru noticed no change in his physique. He questioned Upamanyu and was told that the disciple drank the cows’ milk. The guru said that he did not have the permission to do that and Upamanyu agreed to stop doing it. But still Upamanyu remained plump. When he was asked the reason, he said he was drinking the milk that fell from the calves’ mouth after they were suckled by their mothers. The guru forbade him from doing that too since he realised that the calves were deliberately letting the milk fall for Upamanyu, and it would affect their health. Since he had no other choice, he began eating the Calotropis leaves. This made him blind and he once fell into an empty well. The guru began to search for him with the help of the other disciples. He called out to Upamanyu, who answered from the depths of the well. The guru asked him how he fell and was told what happened. He asked Upamanyu to pray to the Ashwinis to cure his blindness, and left along with the other disciples.

Upamanyu started praying to the Ashwinis, who soon appeared and gave him a morsel to eat. But he refused to eat it before giving it to his guru. The Ashwinis told him that a long time back, when his guru too had prayed to the Ashwinis, they had given him a morsel too, and he had eaten it without giving it to his guru. But Upamanyu still didn’t eat. The Ashwinis blessed that his guru’s teeth would turn to iron and Upamanyu’s teeth would be golden. They also cured his blindness and blessed that he would be prosperous. As per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 3 verses 34-77, he returned to his guru and the other disciples, who congratulated him.

Once the sage asked his disciple Veda to stay with him and take care of him. He agreed to that, and for a long while, stayed at the ashram and did all the work there, without once complaining. The guru blessed him with knowledge and prosperity, as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 3 verses 78-80.