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Everybody knows that Abhimanyu, the son of Arjun and Krishn's sister Subhadraa, was killed at the age of 16 years in Chakra Vyooh created by Drone. The death of that young boy Abhimanyu on the 13th day of the war at Kuru Kshetra has triggered many a folklore. Although every Paandav had a child by Draupadi, and by other wives too, but his is the most popular tale of all, evoking great anguish.

When Subhadraa was pregnant with Abhimanyu, she often sat beside Arjun as he discussed the art of archery and war with Krishn. Simply by hearing his father and uncle speak, Abhimanyu mastered the art of archery and war while he was still in the womb. Thus he was already a great warrior by the time he was born.

As Arjun was in the middle of explaining how to break the whirlpool battle formation or the Chakra Vyooh, Krishn interrupted Arjun and made him leave Subhadraa's side. As a result, Abhimanyu learnt only how to break into the formation, not how to break out. This event played a key role in the death of Abhimanyu sixteen years later. Why did Krishn interrupt Abhimanyu's learning? The reason for this has triggered many folktales across India.

Note
It is said that Subhadraa slept hearing about the Chakra Vyooh, so she could not hear the way to come out of the Vyooh, not that Krishn interrupted. Krishn had no role to play in his death, except that when Abhimanyu asked his uncle Krishn to tell him the way to break out the Chakra Vyooh, he asked him to ask from Arjun.

Some Stories About Who Was Abhimanyu
(1) According to one story, Abhimanyu was actually a Raakshas. His demonic qualities would emerge if he survived the Kurukshetra war. Krishn knew this and so, through this action, ensured his death in the war itself.

(2) According to another story (Mahaabhaarat), Abhimanyu was actually the son of the Moon. He was cursed to live on Earth as a mortal. The Moon missed his son so much that he begged Krishn to find a way to kill his son in the sixteenth year of his life. The only way to do so was to prevent him from learning the secrets of Chakra Vyooh.

(3) The third reason, more sinister than reading it, is that Krishn knew how much Arjun loved his son. Only the death of his son at the hands of his teacher would goad Arjun to take the war more personally and fight intensely.

Note
But Arjun did not consider Drone as his killer, he took only Jayadrath as his killer, while he also did not kill him. The real killer were two people - Drone who told the way to kill Abhimanyu to Karn, and Dushaasan's son who really killed him.

Abhimanyu was barely two years old when the Paandav gambled away their kingdom and went on to their 13 year exile; he was 15 when they returned. It took a year to prepare for the war against Kaurav, who refused to return their kingdom to them. Thus he was sixteen when the battle started.

Abhimanyu's Marriages
Abhimanyu spent his childhood in Dwaarakaa with his uncles Krishn and Balaraam. He fell in love with Balaraam's daughter, Vatsalaa, also known in some versions as Shashirekhaa. But Balaraam wanted his daughter to marry a man with property, not a gambler's son. So he invited Duryodhan's son, Lakshman, to accept his daughter's hand in marriage.

A heartbroken Abhimanyu appealed to Krishn who said He could not interfere, but advised the young boy to take the help of his wild cousin, Bheem's son by the Raakshasee Hidimbaa, Ghatotkach. Ghatotkach carried both Abhimanyu and Vatsalaa out of Dwaarakaa and got them secretly married in the forest. Ghatotkach then used his magic to take the form of Vatsalaa. He presented himself in the wedding ceremony of Lakshman and Vatsalaa.

When Balaraam did 'Kanyaadaan' of his daughter Vatsalaa, Ghatotkach squeezed Lakshman's hand so hard that he fainted. When Duryodhan realized that Vatsalaa was actually Ghatotkach, he was furious. Just as Subhadraa had married Arjun instead of him, Vatsalaa had married Arjun's son instead of his own son. Duped a second time, the event further fuelled Duryodhan's hatred for the Paandav.

When the Paandav came back from from exile, Arjun came with a gift for his son a second wife, the princess Uttaraa of Matsya Desh, daughter of Viraat. The King wanted the princess to marry Arjun but Arjun felt she was more fit to be his daughter-in-law. Thus by the time Kurukshetra war was announced, Abhimanyu was a much married man with two wives.

When he entered the battlefield, his second wife, Uttaraa, was already pregnant with Pareekshit, the only descendent of Paandav who would survive the war.

On the 13th day of the war, Drone attacked the Paandav army with the dreaded Chakra Vyooh formation. The only warrior who would shatter this formation was Arjun but Krishn had taken Arjun to the far side of the battlefield to destroy the dreaded chariot-warriors, the Samsaptak. The whirlpool soon surrounded Paandav. Yudhishthir was desperate. "Can no one break this formation?" he asked.

Note
Krishn did not take Arjun far from the battlefield, in fact it was Duryodhan's plan that if he could capture Yudhishthir, the King of Indraprasth, Paandav will lose the battle. He told this to Drone and Drone said that till Arjun is in the battlefield, nobody can capture Yudhishthir, so if he wanted to capture Yudhishthir, he had to remove Arjun from he battlefield. Then Duryodhan planned to bring Sansaptak brothers to take away Arjun from the battlefield. So the 13th day Sansaptak brothers took Arjun away from the battlefield. Then Drone played a trick that he organized his army in Chakra Vyooh. He knew that only Arjun knew how to deal with Chakra Vyooh, so he was expecting that in the absence of Arjun, Yudhishthir will come to fight, and since he did not know the Chakra Vyooh, he will be captured. The plan was very simple and could be successful, but Abhimanyu had ruined everything. Drone etc warriors were not expecting that child to come there and fight. But when he had come, they had to deal with him. But that child also created so much havoc in Kaurav army that Karn got worried. He had to ask Drone the way to kill him otherwise he would have killed their lots of people. Drone told him the way and Karn used it.

Abhimanyu then revealed that he knew how to break into the formation, an act that would allow the Paandav army to escape. "But someone has to come back to save me as I do not know how to break out," he said. Yudhishthir promised to come to Abhimanyu's rescue once the army had escaped, but unfortunately he was unable to do so as his path was blocked by Duryodhan's brother-in-law Jayadhrath.

Trapped in the Chakra Vyooh, young Abhimanyu fought like a lion. He killed Duryodhan's son Lakshman. But then, against all rules of war, he was attacked simultaneously by a number of Kaurav warriors. Karn broke his bow and chariot. The other warriors surrounded him as hyenas attack an injured lion. The Paandav trapped outside could only hear his cries as he was hacked to death. The last blow was struck by Dushaasan's son. But before dying, Abhimanyu managed to kill him too.

"Beware of half-knowledge, " is a line often used by Guru. And Abhimanyu serves as a classical example for this.

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