Virata (Sanskrit: विराट, IAST virāṭa), was the king of the Matsya Kingdom, in whose court the Pandavas spent a year in concealment during their exile. Virata was married to Queen Sudeshna and was the father of Prince Uttara and Princess Uttarā, who married Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna. Abhimanyu and Uttara's son Parikshit succeeded Yudhishthira on the throne of Hastinapura, after the war of Mahabharata. He is the titular character of the Virata Parva, the fourth book of the epic Mahabharata [1]
Virata
A lithograph of Virata in his court by Ravi Varma Press, 1920
Virata was a good ruler. He was the incarnation of one of Maruts and his brother Sahtanika was portion of Mitra. married his commander-in-chief Kichaka's elder sister Sudeshna. Though he was a fierce warrior, he was afraid of Kichaka's might. So he obeyed all orders of Kichaka. He was warned by Kichaka that if he wouldn't obey his orders, he (Kichaka) will destroy his whole kingdom. He was unable to stop Kichaka when he was insulting Draupadi in disguise of Sairandhari. After Bhima killed Kichaka, Virata became independent. He also insulted Duryodhana who was blaming Virata for Kichaka's death. When Trigarta's king Susharma attacked him on Duryodhana's order from another direction, he fought with him bravely but when Susharma was about to kill him, he was saved by Bhima. His daughter Uttarā was married to Arjuna's son Abhimanyu whose son Parikshita succeeded Yudhishthira's throne.
Virata sitting on the throne watching Draupadi’s insult by Kichaka and is unable to take an action.
On the first day, both his sons Uttara and Shweta were killed by Shalya and Bheeshma, leaving only Shankha. On the second day, an enraged Virata killed Shalya's son Madranjaya as revenge for Uttara. During the war, he fought Bheeshma several times. On the seventh day, he confronted Drona but his horses, charioteer, banner and chariot were quickly destroyed by Drona. Then, he ran towards his son Shankha's chariot. Together, they managed to stop Drona's onslaught and wounded him. An enraged Drona shot a poisonous arrow at Shankha, killing him instantly. Virata, having no more sons left, fled the battlefield. During the night battle of the 14th day, he was vanquished by Shalya and taken away from the battlefield. He was killed by Drona on the 15th day of the war. In a different version, he was killed during a Kaurava attack in the Kurukshetra War along with his sons.
virata, other, uses, disambiguation, sanskrit, iast, virāṭa, king, matsya, kingdom, whose, court, pandavas, spent, year, concealment, during, their, exile, married, queen, sudeshna, father, prince, uttara, princess, uttarā, married, abhimanyu, arjuna, abhimany. For other uses see Virata disambiguation Virata Sanskrit व र ट IAST viraṭa was the king of the Matsya Kingdom in whose court the Pandavas spent a year in concealment during their exile Virata was married to Queen Sudeshna and was the father of Prince Uttara and Princess Uttara who married Abhimanyu the son of Arjuna Abhimanyu and Uttara s son Parikshit succeeded Yudhishthira on the throne of Hastinapura after the war of Mahabharata He is the titular character of the Virata Parva the fourth book of the epic Mahabharata 1 VirataA lithograph of Virata in his court by Ravi Varma Press 1920InformationFamilySahtanika brother SpouseSudeshnaChildrenShveta Shankha Uttara sons and Uttara daughter Contents 1 Life 2 Role in the Kurukshetra War and death 3 See also 4 ReferencesLife EditVirata was a good ruler He was the incarnation of one of Maruts and his brother Sahtanika was portion of Mitra married his commander in chief Kichaka s elder sister Sudeshna Though he was a fierce warrior he was afraid of Kichaka s might So he obeyed all orders of Kichaka He was warned by Kichaka that if he wouldn t obey his orders he Kichaka will destroy his whole kingdom He was unable to stop Kichaka when he was insulting Draupadi in disguise of Sairandhari After Bhima killed Kichaka Virata became independent He also insulted Duryodhana who was blaming Virata for Kichaka s death When Trigarta s king Susharma attacked him on Duryodhana s order from another direction he fought with him bravely but when Susharma was about to kill him he was saved by Bhima His daughter Uttara was married to Arjuna s son Abhimanyu whose son Parikshita succeeded Yudhishthira s throne Virata sitting on the throne watching Draupadi s insult by Kichaka and is unable to take an action Role in the Kurukshetra War and death EditHe supported Pandavas in the war Before the war Sahadeva preferred Virata to be the commander in chief of their army but Yudhishthira and Arjuna preferred Dhrishtadyumna On the first day both his sons Uttara and Shweta were killed by Shalya and Bheeshma leaving only Shankha On the second day an enraged Virata killed Shalya s son Madranjaya as revenge for Uttara During the war he fought Bheeshma several times On the seventh day he confronted Drona but his horses charioteer banner and chariot were quickly destroyed by Drona Then he ran towards his son Shankha s chariot Together they managed to stop Drona s onslaught and wounded him An enraged Drona shot a poisonous arrow at Shankha killing him instantly Virata having no more sons left fled the battlefield During the night battle of the 14th day he was vanquished by Shalya and taken away from the battlefield He was killed by Drona on the 15th day of the war In a different version he was killed during a Kaurava attack in the Kurukshetra War along with his sons See also EditVirata KingdomReferences Edit Dowson John 1888 A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion Geography History and Literature Trubner amp Co London p 1 Swami Ramsukhdas Shrimad Bhagvadgita Sadhaka Sanjivani translated into English by S C Vaishya Gita Press Gorakhpur ISBN 81 293 0063 X This Hindu mythology related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Virata amp oldid 1126673927, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
