A Short Note on Arjuna as a Semi-Divine Being: Journal of Vaishnava Studies

Abstract

Arjuna Pāṇḍava in epic Mahābhārata is a figure of warrior accomplishment who is both super-human and heroic.1 He is son of the Indo-Āryan deity Indra and of Kuntī, the paternal aunt of Arjuna’s cousin and friend, Krishna, his intimate companion and charioteer. The amity between Krishna and Arjuna is unparalleled in the poem and, as we shall see, their friendship exhibits profoundly archaic qualities.2 Arjuna in the course of the epic narrative exists in constant counterpoint to his bhāga or ‘appointed enemy,’ Karṇa, and it is their duel in the Eighth parvan that is the most superlative chariot duel of the poem.