Jayadratha

In the epic Mahābhārata, Jayadratha ( _sa. जयद्रथ) is the king of Sindhu. He is married to Dushala, the sister of the Kaurava brothers.

Boon from Shiva

Jayadratha insults Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas, by attempting to abduct her and forcibly marry her. After Bhima chases and captures him alive, Jayadratha is saved from death by Yudhisthira, who takes him as his slave. Bhima then shaves Jayadratha's hair, making him bald. Desiring to avenge this humiliation, Jayadratha performs a tapasya to please Shiva. He asks for the power to defeat the Pandavas, but Shiva says that is impossible. Instead, Shiva grants Jayadratha the power to hold the Pandava brothers at bay for one day in battle - except for Arjuna who was protected by Lord Krishna. Although Lord Shiva loves his devotees equally and does not ignore the tapasya of rakshasas, asuras or anybody with bad intentions (such as Jayadratha), he always finds ways to protect dharma and does not allow evil to triumph over good. Arjuna ultimately defeated Jayadratha, confirming that Shiva protects those who uphold dharma.

In the War

Jayadratha sides with Duryodhana in the Kurukshetra War, using his boon to stop the Pandava brothers from entering the near-impenetrable "Chakra Vyuha" battle formation. When Arjuna's son Abhimanyu enters the formation, depending solely upon the support of the army to get out, he is trapped inside and murdered by unfair means.

The Pandavas are startled that Jayadratha was able to hold the most powerful warriors in the world at bay. Arjuna blames Jayadratha for Abhimanyu's death, and vows to kill him the next day.

Arjuna's revenge

Having pledged to enter the fire if he failed to kill Jayadratha by the end of the day, Arjuna killed an entire "akshauhini" during that day's battle. At a climactic moment, the sun had nearly set and thousands of warriors still separated Arjuna and Jayadratha. Seeing his friend's plight, Lord Krishna, Arjuna's charioteer, sent his "Sudarshana Chakra" to mask the sun, creating a solar eclipse and thus faking a sunset. The Kaurava warriors rejoiced over Arjuna's defeat and his imminent suicude, exposing Jayadratha from his hiding for a crucial moment. Upon the Lord's urging, Arjuna shot a powerful arrow that decapitated Jayadratha.

Jayadratha's father, the old and sinful king Vridhakshtra, had blessed his son with a boon prior to his death - anyone who caused Jayadratha's head to fall to the ground would suffer by having his own head burst. When Arjuna decapitated Jayadratha, he faced imminent death due to this boon, but Krishna intervened. Using his divine powers, Krishna caused Jayadratha's head to be carried by the decapitating arrow to his father, who was meditating near the battlefield. Vridhakshtra was shocked and dropped his son's head, which caused his own head to burst because of the boon he had granted his son.

An Alternate take on the story

"(with a reference from Mrityunjaya)"

When Arjuna pledged to kill Jayadratha before the end of next day, Krishna thought about how to make it possible. He called an astrologer the same night and confirmed that there would be a 'total solar eclipse' the next day. Knowing of Arjuna's pledge, the Kauravas keep Jayadratha behind a huge number of soldiers to prevent Arjuna from reaching him. Arjuna killed thousands of soldiers but still faced many more akshauhinis of soldiers. During the eclipse, the sky turned dark and everyone thought that the sun had set. To fulfil his pledge, Arjuna prepared to kill himself by entering the fire. The Kauravas informed Jayadratha of Arjuna's inevitable suicide. Hearing the good news, Jayadratha made his way through hordes of men to watch Arjuna's death. When Jayadratha arrived, Krishna surprised everyone by showing the sun reappearing out of the eclipse. Alerted by Krishna, Arjuna immediately picked up his bow and beheaded Jayadratha with an arrow.

Aftermath

After the war, Arjuna fights with the Sindhu army when it refuses to honor Yudhisthira as the World emperor. When Dushala (his cousin) comes out and begs for her son, the young king's life, Arjuna stops fighting and makes amends.

ee also

*"Mahabharata" (1999) by Krishna Dharma
*Hindu mythology, Wars of Hindu mythology