Shantanu’s son. Shantanu had 2 wives – Ganga and Satyavati. Bhishma was his son with Ganga. His sons with Satyavati were Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. They were learned and worthy. When Shantanu died, Chitrangada was made king since Bhishma had taken a vow earlier. Once, when Chitrangada went hunting, he met a gandharva by the same name, and had a fight with him since they both took exception to each other using the same name. They fought at Kurukshetra for many years and finally the king was killed. Bhishma was saddened on hearing this, made Vichitravirya perform the final rites and anointed him king as per Devibhagavata Prathamaskanda.

See Chitranga

Vishwakarma’s daughter. Once, when she was bathing with her friends in Naimisharanya Sudeva’s son Surathareached there and Chitrangada told her friends that he was smitten and she should offer herself to him. Her friends agreed to this. But she refused to listen to them. Vishwakarma was furious on hearing this and cursed that she would not get a husband. She fainted and didn’t wake up when her friends tried to revive her. They assumed she was dead and went to collect firewood for her final rites. Meanwhile Chitrangada woke up and not seeing anyone, jumped into the Saraswati. Saraswati transferred her to Gomati and from there she reached a jungle. There she met the sage Ritadhwaja and after hearing her story, he took pity on her, cursed that Vishwakarma would become a monkey and blessed that she would be reunited with her husband as per Vamanapurana Chapters 63, 64.

Arjuna’s wife.

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.

He married Ulupi during this time, and after visiting many places, reached Manalur. Its king was Chitravahana and his daughter was Chitrangada. Chitravahana’s ancestor Prabhanjana prayed to Shiva once for offspring, and was blessed that each generation would definitely be blessed with a child. From then on, usually a son was born per generation, but in Chitravahana’s case, it was a girl. Arjuna met Chitrangada by chance and they fell in love. They were married as per the king’s request and their son was Babhruvahana. Arjuna promised to take them both to Hastinapura later and continued his pilgrimage as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapters 219-222.

After the Mahabharata war, Yudhishtira conducted an ashwamedha and Arjuna led the horse. He reached Manalur and fought Babhruvahana without recognising his son. Arjuna was felled by Babhruvahana’s arrow, but Ulupi and Chitrangada arrived there and the former revived him using Mritasanjeevani. Following this, all four of them left for Hastinapura as per Mahabharata Ashwamedhaparva Chapter 79-82.

Chitrangada arrived at Hastinapura, paid respects to Kunti, Panchali etc and lived with Subhadra as per Mahabharata Ashwamedhaparva Chapter 88 verse 2. All of them gifted her with jewels as per Mahabharata Ashwamedhaparva Chapter 88 verse 3. She served Gandhari as a maid would as per Mahabharata Ashramavasikaparva Chapter 1 verse 23. She wept when Dhritarashtra, Kunti and Gandhari left for the forests in their final days as per Mahabharata Ashramavasikaparva Chapter 15 verse 10. She was beautiful as a flower as per Ashramavasikaparva Chapter 25 verse 11. After the Pandavas ascended heaven, she went to Manipur as per Mahabharata Mahaprasthanikaparva Chapter 1 verse 18.

A deva maiden. She danced in Kuber’s court once in honour of Ashtavakra as per Mahabharata Anushasanaparva Chapter 19 verse 44.

A warrior. When Rama conducted the Ashwamedha, he sent Shatrughna with an army to protect it. Chitranga fought them and was killed as per Padmapurana Patalakhanda Chapter 27.

Also known as Chitrangada, Shrutantaka. A Kaurava killed by Bhima as per Mahabharata Shalyaparva Chapter 26 verse 11.

A Kaurava who was killed by Bhima as per Mahabharata Dronaparva Chapter 136 verse 22.

A devastri. Once, when Ashtavakra went to Kuber’s court, she danced for him as per Mahabharata Anushasanaparva Chapter 14 verse 44.

A king who attained swargaloka for his vrat on Ashtamirohini. He had committed many sins and was notorious. He once went on a  hunt and after chasing a tiger, reached the banks of the Yamuna, tired. A few maidens were conducting their vrat there. Theya dvised him on the merits and he was converted. He joined them in the vrat and after his death, his soul went to Vaikuntha. Vasishta told this story to Dilipa as per Padmapurana Chapter 13.