As per Brahmandapurana Chapter 47, Arjuna, the son of Nimi took advice from the sage Asita.

The third Pandava.

Antecedents: Vishnu – Brahma- Atri – Chandra – Budha – Pururavas – Ayus – Nahusha – Yayati – Puru – Janamejaya – Prachinvan – Namasyu – Veetabhaya – Shundu – Bahuvidha – Samyati – Rahovadi – Bhadrashwa – Matinara – Santurodha – Dushyanta – Bharata – Suhotra – Suhota – Gala – Garda – Suketu – Brihalkshetra – Hasti – Ajameedha – Riksha – Samvarana – Kuru – Jahnu – Suratha – Viduratha – Sarvabhauma – Jayatsena – Ravyaya – Bhavuka – Chakrodhata – Devatithi – Riksha – Bhima – Pratiya – Shantanu – Vyasa – Pandu – Arjuna.

Arjuna and Krishna have been referred to as Naranarayanas. Arjuna and Krishna were the rishis Nara and Narayana in their previous birth. They were brothers and became the inseparable Krishna and Arjuna in their next birth too. They attained samadhi at the Badaryashram in the Himalayas. Narayana was an ansh avatar of Vishnu. As per the Devibhagavata, Dharma was born from the heart of Brahma. Dharma married the daughters of Daksha, and had four sons – Hari, Krishna, Nara and Narayana. Hari and Krishna became mahayogis and Nara and Narayana mahatapasvis. Nara and Narayana mediated in Badaryashram, in the Sanu region of the Himalayas for a thousand years. As per Devibhagavata Chaturthaskanda Nara was born as Arjuna in his third incarnation. The second incarnation was in the form of an asura named Raktaja.

Vichitravirya, son of Shantanu had two wives – Ambika and Ambalika from whom Dhritarashtra and Pandu were born respectively. Pandu had two wives – Kunti and Madri. Due to a sage’s curse, Pandu could not not touch his wives. Before Kunti got married to Pandu, she once took care of Durvasa, who was pleased enough to grant her five mantras. When Kunti thought of a person while chanting the mantra, she would get a son from that person. Kunti wanted to test the mantra and used it for Surya, and thus was born Karna. Surya blessed that her virginity would remain intact. Kunti placed the baby in a casket and threw it into the Ganga river. Later, since Pandu was not able to touch his wives, she started using the remaining mantras with his permission. Using three mantras, Yudhishtira was born from Kala (Yama), Bhima from Vayu and Arjuna from Indra. She gave the remaining mantra to Madri, who used it with the Ashwini twins, and Nakula and Sahadeva were born, as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 63 onwards.

When Arjuna was born, Kunti heard a divine voice, which stated thus -Arjuna would be as great a warrior as Shiva and as invincible as Indra; with his help, Agni would raze the Khandava forest; he would defeat kings and conduct three ashwamedhas; he would please Shiva and get the Pashupatastra; he would kill the Nivathakavachas at the behest of Indra. On hearing this, the devas began playing music and from the heavens there was a shower of flowers on Arjuna. The deva women started dancing and the saptarshis, prajapatis and other sages came to see Arjuna, as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 122 verses 50-74.

Sages from Shatashringa named Arjuna, according to Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter  123 verse 20. Pandu had named him Krishna as per Mahabharata Virataparva.

The Pandavas lived with the Kauravas in Hastinapura, and learned dance, music and weaponry, as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 129 verse 1. Kashyapa, the purohit of Vasudeva conducted the upanayana ceremony for Arjuna. He learned the first lessons of Dhanurveda from the rajarishi Shuka, after which kripa became the guru of the Pandavas. It was at this time that Drona reached Hastinapura, as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 131, and started teaching weaponry to the princes.

Arjuna showed great interest in weaponry. Drona wanted to teach his son Ashwathama some special lessons. He started sending all the princes and his son to fetch water daily. Ashwathama always got back earlier than the others, and before the others reached, Drona used to teach his those lessons. Arjuna understood this and started coming back with Ashwathama. Drona taught them both the special lessons. He told the cook not to feed Arjuna in the dark. Once when the princes were having their dinner, the wind extinguished the light. Arjuna continued because he knew the relative positions of his hands and mouth. He realised that the same could be true of archery too and started practicing it in the dark. Drona learned of this and stated that Arjuna would be unrivaled in his archery skills, as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 132.

Once Ekalavya, the son of the Nishada king Hiranyadhanus approached Drona to learn weaponry. But Drona refused to entertain him. Ekalavya left after prostrating himself at Drona’s feet. Back in his forest, he made a clay statue of Drona and started practicing archery. Once the Pandavas and Kauravas went into the forest for a hunt. Their dogs saw Ekalavya and started barking. One of the dogs advanced on Ekalavya, who fired seven arrows into its mouth. It ran back to the Pandavas who then met Ekalavya. Ekalavya claimed he was Drona’s disciple. A disappointed Arjuna went back and told Drona that though he had promised that Arjuna would be unrivaled in archery, another of Drona’s disciple was better. Drona went into the forest to meet Ekalavya, who bowed on seeing his guru. Drona told Ekalavya that if he considered him his guru, he would need to give a gurudakshina. Drona asked him to cut off his right thumb, and Ekalavya promptly did so. Arjuna remained unrivaled, as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 132.

Once Drona and his disciple went to the Ganga for a bath. While they were bathing, a crocodile caught hold of Drona’s leg. Though the disciples tried their best, the crocodile would not let go. Finally Arjuna’s arrows made it leave. As a reward, Drona taught Arjuna the Brahmashirastra. He also advised Arjuna that it wasn’t to be used on mortals, but was meant for higher beings, as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 133.

When the Pandavas and Kauravas had almost completed their lessons in weaponry, Dhritarashtra conducted an event to showcase their talents. Vidura and Sanjaya related the events to Dhritarashtra and Gandhari respectively. The princes started with archery. Then Duryodhana fought with Bhima and was pacified by Ashwathama. Then Karna battled Arjuna and everyone agreed that they were equals. But even after the event, Karna remained in the arena and soon Arjuna joined him. Arjuna asked Karna about his antecedents. Immediately Duryodhana proclaimed Karna as the king of Anga. The event served as a crucial point in the enmity between the Pandavas and Kauravas as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapters 136, 137.

When Drona began teaching the princes weaponry, he told them that he wanted something done by them as a gurudakshina once they had finished their learning. The others remained silent, but Arjuna volunteered to do it. Once the lessons were over, Drona asked for the king Drupada to be brought before him as a prisoner. The Pandavas proceeded to the kingdom of Panchala, and after a fierce battle, made Drupada prisoner. Bhima attempted to kill him, but Arjuna stopped him and took him to Drona. Drupada agreed to give half his kingdom to Drona. Drona was extremely happy with Arjuna and proclaimed that if ever there was a disagreement between the guru (drona) and the disciple (Arjuna), the latter was capable enough to do battle with his guru, as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 139 verse 14.

After giving the gurudakshina, Arjuna traveled to the nearby kingdoms and easily vanquished Yavana, Sauvira, Vipula, Sumitra and many other kings. The Kauravas were worried, as was their father Dhritarashtra, as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 138 verses 20-23. Duryodhana made up his mind to somehow eliminate the Pandavas. He built a palace of lac at Varanavat, and managed to transfer the Pandavas there. After a year, he burned the palace, but the Pandavas escape into the forests.

The Pandavas roamed in the forests and by nightfall, they reached the banks of the river Ganga. At that time the gandharva Angaravarna (Chitraradha) was frolicking there with apsaras. The gandharva didn’t like the presence of humans and a verbal spat with Arjuna led to a duel. Arjuna defeated him, but spared his life because of his wife’s pleas. The grateful gandharva entertained the Pandavas with many stories and presented them with the Chakshushividya and celestial horses. He also said that he had only attacked the Pandavas because they had arrived without fire or offerings, and that Arjuna defeated him because of his brahmacharya. Arjuna taught the gandharva the Agneyastra. The gandharva said that the Pandavas needed a purohit.

The Pandavas approached  the rishi Dhamya, and he received them with herbs and fruits. They accepted him as their purohit. Meanwhile, they also heard about the swayamwar of Krishnaa, the Panchala king’s daughter. They saw many people going for the event, and accompanied them. On the way, they met Vedavyasa, who blessed them. Drupada had wanted to get his daughter married to Arjuna, but had heard that he had been killed in the fire at Varanavat. The swayamvar was ready for the kings to show off their prowess. A huge bow was made and a mechanism was constructed, that almost reached the sky. A target was also set on the latter. Drupada proclaimed that he who strung the bow and hit the target would get his daughter, as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 185 verse 11. Duryodhana, Karna, Shishupala, Shimshumara and many other kings took their place. All the kings failed to even lift the bow. Arjuna easily lifted the bow and hit the target, and thus married Krishnaa, also known as Panchali or Draupadi. They reached their home, and  their mother Kunti, thinking that they had received some alms asked them to share among themselves whatever they’d gotten. To obey Kunti, Draupadi accepted all the Pandavas as her husbands, as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapters 190-191.

After the swayamwar, the news that the Pandavas were alive became public. Dhritarashtra got them to come back to Hastinapura and built them palaces in Khandavaprastha (Indraprastha) Yudhishtira started ruling several parts of the kingdom with Indraprastha as his capital. Once Narada visited the Pandavas and advised that having a common wife should not cause a quarrel amongst them. From then on, Draupadi decided to spend one year each with every husband, and stated that if any of the other husbands saw her during that period, they would go for a pilgrimage for one year. Once, a brahmin came to the palace and complained that his cows had been stolen. Arjuna agreed to help him, but his weapons were stored in Yudhishtira’s palace. That was the year that Draupadi was staying with Yudhishtira. Arjuna, in his haste, forgot about this, and entered Yudhishtira’s palace. Thus he had to go on a pilgrimage for a year.

Arjuna left the palace for the forests, accompanied by several brahmins. Arjuna reached the banks of the Ganga and went into the river for a bath. There, Ulupi, the daughter of the naga king, attracted him, and they got married. They had a son called Iravan. Arjuna left later to visit Agastyavata, Vasishtagiri , and finally reached Manalur. There he married the princess of the land – Chitrangada. He stayed there for three months and then proceeded southwards. A son called Babruvahana was born to Chitrangada.

Arjuna once reached Rameshwaram during his travels. He saw the bridge that Rama had built, to cross to Lanka, and was amazed. But he wasn’t pleased with the fact that Rama had taken the help of vanaras for this. Arjuna felt that he could’ve built a bridge of arrows. He saw a sage chanting the ramayana and approached him to clarify this. But neither he, nor the other sages who gathered around, could give an answer. Finally a vanara lad ran to Arjuna and said proudly that if Rama had built a bridge of arrows, it would’ve collapsed under the vanaras’ weight. Arjuna said that it was not possible, and further that even he could build a bridge that could withstand a vanara’s weight. The lad made a wager with Arjuna. If Arjuna could build such a bridge of arrows, the vanara would become Arjuna’s slave, else Arjuna would have to jump into a pyre and give up his life. Arjuna built a bridge of arrows, which collapsed as soon as the vanara stepped on it. He built a stronger bridge and that too collapsed though it required a little more effort from the vanara. Arjuna readied a pyre and prepared to jump into it. But before he could do so, a lad who was bathing in the sea, ran towards him and asked what was happening. When Arjuna told him what happened, the lad said that a wager without a mediator was invalid. But Arjuna felt he had lost. The lad asked him to wager again with him as the mediator, and if he failed, he could jump into the pyre. Arjuna agreed, but this time, the vanara failed to break the bridge. He bloated himself to a gigantic size and tried again, but still failed. He then prostrated himself in fron of the mediator lad and shouted “Sriramachandra”. At the same time, Arjuna also did the same, but said “Krishna”. The lad bade them to get up and chided them for their pride. He asked the vanara, who was Hanuman to fulfill the wager condition and become the mascot of Arjuna’s flag.

Arjuna continued his journey, reached Saubhadra and lifted the curse off an apsara called Varga. From there he reached Gokarna and then Prabhasa, where he met Krishna’s younger brother Gada. Gada described the beauty of Subhadra. Arjuna then  reached  Dwaraka and met Krishna. After a few days, a huge yadava festival took place in the Raivataka mountain. There, Arjuna, with Krishna’s permission, disguised himself as a sage and kidnapped Subhadra. Though the yadavas were initially angry, they soon calmed down and formalised the marriage, as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapters 218-224.

Once, when Arjuna and Krishna were in Dwaraka, a brahmin lad approached them for help. He claimed that his child had died at birth. Arjuna promised that he would protect the brahmin’s next offspring, failing which, he would jump into a pyre. When the brahmin’s wife approached her next delivery, he approached Arjuna. Arjuna covered the hut with his arrows, but the baby died, and its body disappeared too. The brahmin abused Arjuna, who prepared to jump into the pyre. But Krishna stopped him and said they would get back the baby. They went to vishnuloka and asked Vishnu for help. Vishnu said that he wanted to see them both and so had ‘kidnapped’ the baby. He told them to take back the baby to its father. The brahmin was overjoyed, as per Bhagavata Dashamaskanda Chapter 89.

Once, when Krishna and Arjuna were staying on the banks of the Yamuna in summer, Agni requested them to help him consume the Khandava forest. Arjuna agreed to help him, and Agni gave him the Gandiva,  a white horse and several divine weapons. When Agni started consuming the forest, it began raining, at Indra’s command. Arjuna made a layer of arrows to block the rain. Arjuna also killed Thakshaka’s wife and cursed a naga named Ashwasena. But he saved the asura architect Maya. In the end Indra gifted him more divine weapons, and Maya gave him a conch named Devadatta. This event also marked the end of Arjuna’s pilgrimage and he returned to Indraprastha, as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 233-239.

Maya, as a token of gratitude, also built a palace for Yudhishtira in Indraprastha, after which the Pandavas killed their enemies – Jarasandha, Kimpurushas, Hadakas, Shishupala, Kurundha, Bhagadatta in order to conduct the Rajasuya. The jealous Kauravas visited Indraprastha and made many slips in the palace built by Maya. They returned humiliated to Hastinapura and invited Yudhishtira for a game of dice. In the game, Yudhishtira lost his kingdom, assets and even Draupadi. Dushasana dragged Draupadi into the court and tried to disrobe her. As per the game’s terms, the Pandavas had to stay in the forest for twelve years and incognito for a year, as per Mahabharata Sabhaparva.

A few brahmins accompanied the Pandavas as they left for the forest. In Dwaitavana, Yudhishtira consoled a brahmin named Shaunaka, but he was worried because he didn’t have any food to feed the brahmins. Draupadi prayed to Surya and he blessed her with the akshayapatra. They then entered the Kamyaka forest with the brahmins, as per Mahabharata Aranyaparva Chapter 36.

Yudhishtira secretly asked Arjuna to go to the Himalayas and start amassing divine weapons. Arjuna traveled alone towards the north, and first stopped at the Indrakeela mountain to see Indra. Indra gifted him weapons. There, Arjuna also slayed Mukasura. After that, he reached Kailash and started praying to Shiva. Shiva appeared in the form a hunter. (See Pashupatastra) Then he prayed to Yama, Varuna and Kuber and received the Dandastra, Pashastra and Anthardhanastra respectively, as per Mahabharata Vanaparva, Chapters 37-41.

Indra was pleased that Arjuna had amassed so many weapons and sent Matali, a charioteer, to bring Arjuna to devaloka. Arjuna learned more about weaponry and dancing there. The apsaras were infatuated with him. Urvashi sent Chitrasena as her messenger to him, but Arjuna told her that she was like a mother to him. An angered Urvashi cursed that he would become a eunuch, but Indra consoled him that it would prove useful later. Arjuna spent a few more days in devaloka with Chitrasena, the gandharva, during which time he also slayed the Nivatakavacha Kalakeyas.

Once the sage Lomasha came to devaloka to meet Indra, where he met Arjuna. He promised to take care of Yudhishtira and returned to earth. Arjuna finally returned to his brothers and met them in the Gandhamadana mountain, five years after he had left them in the Kamyaka forest, as per Mahabharata Vanaparva Chapters 42-47.

A brahmin once recounted to Dhritarashtra the difficulties the Pandavas were facing. This pleased Duryodhana and the other Kauravas, but they shed a few crocodile tears. Duryodhana wanted to see the Pandavas in that state, so he took permission from Dhritarashtra to go for a hunt, and set out with 8000 chariots, 30000 elephants, 90000 horses and a large set of foot soldiers. In addition, his entourage also had merchants, jewelery, prostitutes, hunters, as per Mahabharata Aranyaparva Chapter 239 verses 25-29. Duryodhana’s men set up a camp in the forest, but were stopped by a few gandharvas. Duryodhana battled with one of them, named Chitrasena, and was imprisoned. Finally Arjuna had him released. An embarrassed Duryodhana returned to Hastinapura, as per Mahabharata Aranyaparva Chapters 239 -253.

Once , Jayadratha abducted Draupadi, but she was saved by the Pandavas. But as they were returning, they became thirsty. As per Yudhishtira’s instructions, Nakula climbed a tree to see if there was some water body nearby. He saw a stream nearby, and went to fetch water. But as he was about to drink some, a voice announced that he must answer a question before he could do so. Nakula ignored the voice, and drank the water, but fell unconscious immediately. Sahadeva went looking for Nakula, and the same thing happened to him, followed by Bhima and Arjuna. Finally Yudhishtira reached the stream and asked for permission to drink the water. A yaksha appeared and asked Yudhishtira a question, which he answered. (See Yudhishtira for details) The yaksha turned out to be Yama and he revived the other Pandavas, as per Mahabharata Aranyaparva Chapters 312-315.

The 12 year exile was coming to an end. The Pandavas decided to go to the kingdom of Virata and live incognito there. Arjuna hid his Gandiva and other weapons in a Shamivriksha. Yudhishtira became Kanka, Bhima – Valhala, Arjuna – Brihannala, Nakula – Grandhika, Sahadeva – Arishtanemi and Draupadi – Malini. When they’d spent almost a year in Virata, the Kauravas heard a rumour that the Pandavas were living there. They decided to wage a war on Virata to lure the Pandavas out. They stole cows belonging to Virata and used that as an excuse for war. Uttara, the prince of Virata, claimed that he could battle the Kauravas if he had a good charioteer. Brihannala agreed to do the job, and they set out. On seeing the massive Kaurava army, Uttara’s bravado vanished and he attempted to flee. Brihannala tied him up in the chariot and proceeded to the Shamivriksha where the weapons were hidden. Brihannala then battled the Kaurava army and defeated them. The Kauravas realised that Brihannala was Arjuna, but by then, the 13 years had been completed. The king of Virata got his daughter married to Arjuna’s son, Abhimanyu, as per Mahabharata Virataparva.

After the 12 years of exile, and 1 year of living incognito, the Pandavas asked the Kauravas for their share of the kingdom. But the Kauravas refused. Krishna, the mediator, asked for 5 regions, then 5 houses, and finally, at least one house for the Pandavas, but Duryodhana refused to even part with the space required for one needle. The mission having failed, war became imminent. Duryodhana reached Dwaraka to ask Krishna for help in the war. Since krishna favoured the Pandavas, he pretended to be asleep. Duryodhana waited and soon Arjuna joined him for the same purpose. Duryodhana was sitting near Krishna’s head, and Arjuna stood near Krishna’s feet. When Krishna ‘woke up’, he saw Arjuna, talked to him, and then saw Duryodhana. Krishna heard their claims, and said that one of them could have him-Krishna, and the other the Yadava army. Arjuna asked for Krishna, and Duryodhana happily agreed for the army, as per Mahabharata Udyogaparva.

Both armies set up camp at Kurukshetra. Krishna was Arjuna’s charioteer. On the day of battle, Arjuna asked Krishna to take the chariot to the middle of the battlefield to survey the Kaurava army. On seeing his relatives on the enemy side, he was distressed, and laid down his weapons. Krishna then advised him on the merits of Karmayoga, and thr nature of existence. This advice is known as the Bhagavad Gita. During the discourse, Krishna showed him his vishwarupa – the all encompassing form.

On the first day, Arjuna battled Bhishma. On the second day, Krishna was frustrated and wanted to kill Bhishma, but Arjuna stopped him. On the third day, Arjuna defeated Bhishma, Ashwathama, Trigarta, Bhagadatta etc and the battles became intense. The war lasted for 18 days, and according to Mahabharata Bhishmaparva, Dronaparva, Karnaparva, Shalyaparva and Sauptikaparva, some of the other key events which involved Arjuna are as below –

Arjuna’s son Iravan was killed. Arjuna fought with Drona and Susharma and also vowed to kill Bhishma. He encouraged Shikhandi as part of the plan to kill Bhishma. Arjuna fought with Dushasana and had another battle with Bhagadatta. He battled with Bhishma, who fell unconscious. He continued the fight with Dushasana. Later, he attacked Bhishma, keeping Shikhandi in front of him. When Bhishma collapsed to the ground riddled with arrows, Arjuna shot three arrows as a headrest for him. He also used a divine weapon to provide water for Bhishma.

He defeated Drona’s army, and asked Satyajit to guard Yudhishtira. He killed Sudhanva and once again battled Bhagadatta. He killed Bhagadatta’s elephant Suprateek. He slayed Achala and Vrishaka, and defeated Shakuni. Arjuna killed three of Karna’s foster brothers and fought with him. During this time Arjuna heard that his son Abhimanyu was killed, and fell unconscious. He soon woke and vowed to kill Jayadratha. Arjuna then prayed to Shiva. That night, he dreamed that Shiva had given him the Pashupatastra and other divine weapons.

He defeated Durmarsha’s elephant army, and made Dushasana flee from the battlefield. He engaged in battle with Drona, Kritavarma, Shrutayudha, and Sudakshina, the king of Kamboj. He killed Sudakshina, Shrutayu, Achyutayu, Niyutayu, Ambashta along with their entire armies. He then slayed Vinda and Anuvinda, and the battlefield was filled with his arrows. He then defeated Duryodhana and fought with nine other maharathis of the Kaurava army at the same time. On Krishna’s encouragement, Arjuna cut away the right hand of Bhurishrava.

Arjuna then beheaded Jayadratha with an arrow and made the arrow and Jayadratha’s head fall in the lap of Vridhakshatra, father of Jayadratha. He defeated the rakshasa king Alambusha. He killed Dandadhara along with his elephant. He killed six of Susharma’s brothers – Satyasena, Chandrasena, Mitrasena, Shrutanjaya, Saushruti, Mitradharma. He argued with Yudhishtira about killing Karna and ended up disrespecting him. He was pained by this and took his sword to kill himself, but was forgiven by Yudhishtira. He killed Karna’s son Vrishasena. Karna toppled Krishna’s crown with his snake-headed arrows. Arjuna killed Karna soon after. He also killed Satyakarma and Satyeshta. He finally met Vyasa and laid down his weapons.

At the end of the eighteen day war, the entire Kaurava army was annihilated. The Pandavas wondered what to do next. Krishna consoled a grieving Yudhishtira. As per the advice of Krishna and Vyasa, Yudhishtira started ruling from Hastinapura, and decided to conduct an ashwamedha. King Marutta promised to give them the wealth required. Arjuna defeated all the kings, as per Mahabharata Shantiparva.

As Arjuna was returning from his successful battles, he engaged in battle with his son Babruvahana, and was killed. But his wife Ulupi revived him with the mritasanjeevani. Arjuna wanted to know how Ulupi reached there and how he had been killed by Babruvahana. As per Mahabharata Ashwamedhaparva Chapter 79, she told him about the curse which had caused all this. Ulupi explained to Arjuna how he had killed Bhishma by deceit in the Kurukshetra war using Shikhandi. When Bhishma fell, Ganga and the eight Vasus cursed that Arjuna would go to hell. Ulupi had told this to her father, who had in turn begged the Vasus to lift the curse. They said that it would be so id Babruvahana killed Arjuna. As per Mahabharata Ashwamedhaparva Chapter 81, Ulupi had planned the battle.Arjuna continued the Ashwamedha, defeated Meghasandhi, and Shakuni’s son and returned to Hastinapura. The yajna happened there.

Sometime after this, the Yadavas were destroyed. Arjuna was deeply saddened by the loss of Krishna, and he performed the last rites of the Yadavas, as per Bhagavata Skanda 11 chapter 31. He then returned with Krishna’s wives, to Indraprastha. On the way, dacoits managed to defeat Arjuna and took away a few of the women. Arjuna was dismayed by this. As per Agnipurana Chapter 15, Vyasa then arrived there and told him that his powers would work only when Krishna existed.

It was time for the Pandavas to leave the world. Arjuna joined his brothers to start the climb. On the way, Agni appeared in front of him and asked him to deposit the Gandiva in the ocean. Arjuna did so as per Mahabharata Mahaprasthanaparva Chapter 1 verses 1-42. The Pandavas, led by Yudhishtira, reached the Himalayas. As they climbed, first Draupadi died. Bhima asked Yudhishtira the reason. Yudhishtira explained that she was partial to Arjuna. The rest climbed on, and soon Sahadeva died. Yudhishtira explained that he had been arrogant. The others continued, and noticed that a dog was following them. Soon Nakula died, and Yudhishtira told Bhima that he was proud of his handsomeness. Then Arjuna died. When Bhima asked the reason, Yudhishtira said that once Arjuna had sworn to kill the enemies by nightfall and he had failed. Bhima was the next to die, and Yudhishtira thought that it must be because of his greed for food. Yudhishtira continued alone, and presently, Indra appeared in his celestial chariot, but Yudhishtira refused to go to heaven without his brothers. Indra told him that they were already there. When he reached heaven, he found his brothers and wife there, and was happy, as per Mahabharata Mahaprasthanaparva and Swargarohana.

Arjuna also means white and grass as per Amarakosha, and Indra, as per Rigveda Chapter 1, Anuvachaka 7 Sukta 112.

In the Mahabharata, the following names were also used for Arjuna – Aindri, Bharata, Bhimasenanuja, Bhimanuja, Bibhatsu, Brihannala, Shakhamrigadhwaja, Shakraja, Shakranandana, Shakrasunu, Shakratmaja, Shakrasuta, Shwetashwa, Shwetahaya, Shwetavahana, Devendratanaya, Dhananjaya, Gandivabhrit, Gandivadhanwa, Gandivadhari, Gandivi, Gudakesha, Indrarupa, Indrasuta, Indratmaja, Indravaraja, Jaya, Jishnu, Kapidhwaja, Kapiketana, Kapipravara, Kapivaradhwaja, Kaunteya, Kaurava, Kaurashreshta, Kauravya, Kauraveya, Kireetabhrit, Kireetamali, Kireetava, Kireeti, Krishna, Krishnasarathi, Kuntiputra, Mahendranu, Mahendratmaja, Nara, Pakashasani, Pandava, Pandaveya, Pandunandana, Partha, Paurava, Phalguna, Prabhanjanasutanuja, Savyasachi, Surasunu, Tapatya, Tridasheshwaratmaja, Vanaradhwaja, Vanaraketana, Vanaraketu, Vanaravaryaketana, Vasavaja, Vasavanandana, Vasavatmaja, Vasavi, Vijaya.

Towards the end of the exile, Arjuna took Uttara to the Shamivriksha to retrieve the Gandiva. There he revealed his identity and told Uttara the meaning of his various names.

Arjuna’s wives were Draupadi, Ulupi, Chitrangada, Subhadra and his sons were Shrutakeerthi, Iravan, Babruvahana and Abhimanyu.