Also called Partha, Dhananjaya, Savyasachi, Gudakesha, Kiriti.
Arjuna
अर्जुन
The archer the whole war is arranged around, who arrives at its opening unable to lift his bow because of who is standing on the other side.
Appears in
The birth of the Kuru princes — A blind heir, a pale one and a renunciant's vow leave the succession contested before any of the cousins can walk.
The house of lac — A guest house built to burn: the first attempt on the Pandavas' lives, and the escape that lets them be thought dead.
Draupadi's svayamvara — An archery test won by a supposed dead man in disguise, and a mother's careless word that binds five brothers to one wife.
The Rajasuya sacrifice — Yudhishthira's consecration as emperor — the height of the Pandavas' fortune, and the sight that decides Duryodhana to act.
Draupadi in the assembly — Dragged into a full court, the queen puts a question of law to the elders — and every one of them declines to answer it.
The yaksha's questions — Four brothers drink before answering and fall beside the lake, and the fifth is asked what a man must be before he may drink
Abhimanyu inside the wheel — A boy who knows how to break into a formation and not how to break out of it is sent in first, and the gap closes behind him
The night attack on the sleeping camp — The war has been won and the winners are asleep; three survivors of the losing side walk into their camp in the dark
Embodies
The impossible choice — Not good against evil, but duty against duty — every open course breaks an obligation the chooser also owes.
Divine counsel — Krishna advises, drives and arranges, but takes up no weapon — a god who works through others' choices.
Questions to explore
Why does the greatest archer of his generation need a chariot driver who refuses to fight?
Arjuna wins Draupadi and then shares her with his brothers on his mother's word — does the text think he had a choice?
Is Arjuna the epic's hero, or the character it uses to ask its questions?
