Abhimanyu: Arjuna and Subhadra’s Son

Who Abhimanyu is

Abhimanyu is Arjuna and Subhadra’s son, husband of Uttara, father of Parikshit. He hears the chakravyuha from Arjuna while still unborn, and he hears only the way in.

On the thirteenth day Drona forms the wheel. The four other Pandavas are held at the rim by Jayadratha’s boon. Six warriors close on one boy. He dies in the middle. The next morning is Jayadratha’s last sunrise.

Names and spellings

Canonical name in this graph: Abhimanyu. Common Mahabharat spellings and titles stay in the aliases rather than being repeated in every heading.

Narrative role

1. The womb The usual telling: Subhadra falls asleep, or is sent away, before Arjuna explains the exit. The recitation keeps that incompleteness. It is the whole of his death.

2. Day 13 He cuts his way in. No one who loves him can follow. The six — including Karna, Drona, Kripa, Kritavarma, Ashwatthama, and Duhshasana’s son in the common listing — do not fight him one at a time.

3. After Uttara carries Parikshit. Ashwatthama aims at that womb and fails. Janamejaya, who listens to the Bharata, is this boy’s grandson.

How Abhimanyu is related

• How is Abhimanyu related to Arjuna? Father, drawn off the field that day, who vows that Jayadratha will not see another sunset. Arjuna

• How is Abhimanyu related to Jayadratha? The man who holds the rim. Day 14 is the collection of that debt. Jayadratha

• How is Abhimanyu related to Subhadra? Mother. The Yadava grief inside the Pandava camp. Subhadra

• How is Abhimanyu related to Uttara? Wife. Their son Parikshit is the line after the war. Uttara

Source notes

Mahabharata text (Drona Parva), Ganguli. The exact six warriors vary slightly across retellings; the graph records Jayadratha as the rim and the death as a many-on-one killing. Last reviewed 12 September 2026.

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