A sitting
The Boy in the Wheel
Who holds the rim so he cannot leave? Abhimanyu learns the chakravyuha in the womb — only the way in.
Arjuna explains the wheel to Subhadra when she is carrying their son. The usual telling is that she does not hear the exit — sleep, or a sending-away. Abhimanyu is born knowing how to go in.
On the thirteenth day Drona forms the chakravyuha. Arjuna is drawn off. Abhimanyu cuts his way into the formation. Jayadratha, holding a boon, stops the four other Pandavas at the rim. Inside, several of the Kuru greats close on one boy. He dies in the middle.
Arjuna vows that Jayadratha will not see another sunset. The fourteenth day is that vow. Uttara carries Parikshit. The line continues through a child who was not yet born when the wheel closed.
Ordered cast
Source notes
Mahabharata, Drona Parva, Ganguli. Last reviewed 12 September 2026.