arjuna a. [ arj-unan Riluk ca Uṇ. 3. 58 ] ( nA-nI f. ). 1 White, clear, bright, of the colour of day; ahaSca kfzRamahararjunaM ca Rv. 6. 9. 1 ; piSaMgamOMjIyujamarjunacCaviM Śi. 1. 6. 2 Silvery. — naH 1 The white colour. 2 A peacock. 3 A sort of cutaneous disease. 4 A tree ( Mar. arjunasAdaqA ), with useful rind. 5 N. of the third Pāṇḍava who was a son of Kuntī by Indra and hence called EMdri also. [Arjuna was so called because he was ‘white’ or ‘pure in actions’ ( pfTivyAM caturaMtAyAM varRome durlaBaH samaH . karomi karma SudDaM ca tena mAmarjunaM viduH ). He was taught the use of arms by Droṇa and was his favourite pupil. By his skill in arms he won Draupadī at her Svayaṃvara (see Draupadī). For an involuntary transgression he went into temporary exile and during that time he learnt the science of arms from Paraśurāma. He married Ulūpī, a Nāga Princess, by whom he had a son named Irāvat, and also Citrāṅgadā, daughter of the king of Maṇipura, who bore him a son named Babhruvāhana. During this exile he visited Dvārakā, and with the help and advice of Kṛṣṇa succeeded in marrying Subhadrā. By her he had a son named Abhimanyu. Afterwards he obtained the bow Gāṇḍīva from the god Agni whom he assisted in burning the Khāṇḍava forest. When Dharma, his eldest brother, lost the kingdom by gambling, and the five brothers went into exile, he went to the Himālayas to propitiate the gods and to obtain from them celestial weapons for use in the contemplated war against the Kauravas. There he fought with Śiva who appeared in the disguise of a Kirāta; but when he discovered the true character of his adversary he worshipped him and Śiva gave him the Pāśupatāstra. Indra, Varuṇa, Yama and Kubera also presented him with their own weapons. In the 13th year of their exile, the Pāṇḍavas entered the service of the King of Virāṭa and he had to act the part of a cunuch, and music and dancing master. In the great war with the Kauravas Arjuna took a very distinguished part. He secured the assistance of Kṛṣṇa who acted as his charioteer and related to him the Bhagavadgītā when on the first day of the battle he hesitated to bend his bow against his own kinsmen. In the course of the great struggle he slew or vanquished several redoubtable warriors on the side of the ( pb ) Kauravas, such as Jayadratha, Bhīṣma, Karṇa &c. After Yudhiṣṭhira had been installed sovereign of Hastināpura, he resolved to perform the Aśvamedha sacrifice, and a horse was let loose with Arjuna as its guardian. Arjuna followed it through many cities and countries and fought with many kings. At the city of Maṇipura he had to fight with his own son Babhruvāhana and was killed; but he was restored to life by a charm supplied by his wife Ulūpī. He traversed the whole of Bharata khaṇḍa and returned to Hastināpura, loaded with spoils and tributes, and the great horse-sacrifice was then duly performed. He was afterwards called by Kṛṣṇa to Dvārakā amid the intestine struggles of the Yādavas and there he performed the funeral ceremonies of Vasudeva and Kṛṣṇa. Soon after this the five Pāṇḍavas repaired to heaven having installed Parīkṣit-the only surviving son of Abhimanyu-on the throne of Hastināpura. Arjuna was the bravest of the Pāṇḍavas, high-minded, generous, upright, handsome and the most prominent figure of all his brothers. He has several appellations, such as Pārtha, Guḍākeśa, Savyasācī, Dhanaṃjaya, Phālguna, Kirīṭin, Jiṣṇu, Śvetavāhana, Gāṇḍīvin &c. &c.] 6 N. of Kārtavīrya, slain by Paraśurāma. See kArtavIrya . 7 N. of a country Bṛ. S. 14. 25. 8 The only son of his mother. 9 N. of Indra. — nI 1 A procuress, bawd. 2 A cow. 3 A kind of serpent. 4 N. of Uṣā wife of Aniruddha. 5 N. of a river commonly called karatoyA . 6 ( nyO, -nyaH dual and pl. ) N. of the constellation Phalgunī. — naM 1 Silver. 2 Gold. 3 Slight inflammation of the white of the eye. 4 Grass. — nAH ( pl. ) The descendants of Arjuna. Comp. — upamaH the teak tree; also SAkaduma and mahApatrAKyavfkza . — kAMqa a. having a white stem or appendage. — Cavi a. white, of a white colour. — DvajaH ‘white-bannered’, N. of Hanūmat. — pAkI N. of a plant and its fruits.