Parikshit
Kuru king, grandson of Arjuna, saved in the womb by Krishna
- Known from
- Mahabharata; Atharvaveda; Bhagavata Purana
- Parents
- Abhimanyu and Uttara
- Grandfather
- Arjuna
- Son
- Janamejaya
- Death (legend)
- Bitten by the serpent Takshaka
- Historical view
- Possibly a real Kuru king of the Middle Vedic period
The Pandava heir killed in the womb by Ashvatthama's Brahmashira and revived by Krishna; possibly a real early Kuru king.
What is Parikshit known for?
In the Mahabharata, Parikshit is the son of Abhimanyu and Uttara and the grandson of Arjuna. When Ashvatthama turns the Brahmashira weapon on the wombs of the Pandava women, Parikshit is born dead, and Krishna restores him to life. He survives to inherit the Pandava kingdom.
Tradition says he was later killed by the serpent king Takshaka after a sage's curse. His son Janamejaya then held a great snake sacrifice, and it was at this event that the Mahabharata was first recited, by Vyasa's pupil Vaishampayana. The Bhagavata Purana is framed as a teaching given to Parikshit in his last days.
Unlike most epic characters, Parikshit may have a historical basis. A king named Parikshit is praised in a hymn of the Atharvaveda, and historians such as Michael Witzel treat him and Janamejaya as Kuru rulers of the Middle Vedic period, roughly 12th to 9th centuries BCE. The epic stories about him are later legend.
He is the unborn child struck by Ashvatthama's Brahmashira and revived by Krishna in the site's account of the weapon.
Mentioned on these pages
- Rabbit holeBrahmashira
- PassageThe Brahmashira burns the unborn (Mahabharata, Sauptika Parva)
- PersonAshvatthama
Sources
- The Mahabharata, trans. Kisari Mohan Ganguli, sacred-texts.comPrimary text
- Wikipedia, 'Parikshit'Reference
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Mahabharata'Reference
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