Early in the epic the five brothers agree a rule about Draupadi: whoever enters while another is with her will go into exile for twelve years. Arjuna breaks it deliberately — to fetch his weapons and recover a brahmana's stolen cattle — and then insists on serving the full term despite being told it does not apply. That self-imposed exile is where he acquires three wives, three sons, the bow Gandiva and, later, the weapon that could end the world.
🏹 Arjuna at a Glance
Father: Indra · Mother: Kunti
Names: Savyasachi (ambidextrous) · Dhananjaya · Partha · Phalguna ·
Bibhatsu · Jishnu · Kiriti · Kapidhwaja
Bow: Gandiva, from Agni at the Khandava
Wives: Draupadi · Ulupi · Chitrangada · Subhadra
Sons: Shrutakarma · Iravan · Babhruvahana · Abhimanyu
Charioteer: Krishna
📑 Table of Contents
📜 The Rule, and the Choice
On Narada's advice the brothers set a rule to prevent conflict over Draupadi: each has a period with her, and whoever intrudes on another's will go into twelve years' exile.
A brahmana's cattle are stolen. Arjuna's weapons are in the room where Yudhishthira is with Draupadi. He goes in, takes them, recovers the cattle — and then declares he will serve the exile.
Yudhishthira tells him the rule does not apply, since the intrusion was to fulfil a higher duty and it was Yudhishthira's own period. Arjuna refuses the exemption, on the grounds that a rule accepted cannot be set aside by the person it favours.
📌 The Mahabharata's habit
This is the same shape as Bharata refusing the throne and Yudhishthira choosing Nakula: a character is offered a legitimate exemption and declines it. The epic repeatedly rates refusing an available advantage above the outcome the advantage would buy.
💍 Three Marriages
Ulupi — the naga princess
Bathing in the Ganga, Arjuna is taken to the naga realm by Ulupi, daughter of Kauravya, who asks him to marry her. Their son is Iravan, who fights at Kurukshetra and is killed by Alambusha on the eighth day. Ulupi later revives Arjuna after Babhruvahana kills him in the Ashvamedhika Parva.
Chitrangada — the princess of Manipura
Her father is putrika-bound: she is his only child and her son must inherit his kingdom, not Arjuna's. Arjuna agrees, marries her, stays until a son is born and leaves. The son is Babhruvahana, who much later defeats and kills Arjuna in battle during the horse sacrifice — not knowing him — and is himself devastated when he learns.
Subhadra — Krishna's sister
At Dwarka, Arjuna sees Subhadra and Krishna advises him to take her by force rather than wait on a swayamvara, since Balarama intends her for Duryodhana. Arjuna, disguised as an ascetic, carries her off in a chariot — and, at Krishna's suggestion, she drives it.
Balarama is furious; Krishna calms him by pointing out that Subhadra went willingly and that fighting Arjuna would gain nothing. Their son is Abhimanyu.
🔥 Khandava and the Gandiva
Back at Indraprastha, Arjuna and Krishna are approached by Agni, who is unable to consume the Khandava forest because Indra protects it — the naga Takshaka lives there.
Agni supplies the means: the bow Gandiva and two inexhaustible quivers for Arjuna, and the Sudarshana chakra and Kaumodaki mace for Krishna. They ring the forest and hold off Indra himself while it burns.
Two survivors matter. Mayasura, the asura architect, is spared and builds the hall at Indraprastha — the one Duryodhana humiliates himself in, which triggers the dice game. And Ashvasena, Takshaka's son, escapes and later returns as an arrow on Karna's bow, seeking revenge.
🗿 The Kirata and the Pashupatastra
During the forest exile Arjuna is sent to obtain divine weapons. Performing austerities in the Himalaya, he shoots a boar — and a kirata, a mountain hunter, claims the kill. They quarrel and fight; Arjuna is comprehensively defeated, his bowstring cut and his arrows exhausted.
He makes a clay linga and offers flowers to it, and sees the flowers appear on the hunter. The kirata is Shiva. He grants Arjuna the Pashupatastra, the weapon that cannot be countered.
Arjuna then goes to Indra's heaven and spends time there receiving weapons and training, and refuses the apsara Urvashi — for which she curses him to be a eunuch. Indra moderates it to a single year of Arjuna's choosing, and he spends it as Brihannala in Virata's court during the thirteenth year, teaching dance to the princess Uttara.
💡 A curse that becomes the perfect disguise
Urvashi's curse is the only reason the thirteenth year works. The greatest archer alive spends it unrecognised in a women's quarter because an apsara was refused — and the girl he teaches becomes Abhimanyu's wife and Parikshit's mother.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Arjuna go into exile for twelve years?
He broke the agreed rule about Draupadi, entering while Yudhishthira was with her — in order to fetch his weapons and recover a brahmana's cattle. Yudhishthira told him the rule did not apply, but Arjuna refused the exemption, holding that a rule accepted cannot be set aside by the person it favours.
Who were Arjuna's wives and sons?
Four of each. Draupadi → Shrutakarma. Ulupi, a naga princess → Iravan, killed on day eight. Chitrangada of Manipura → Babhruvahana, who later killed Arjuna during the horse sacrifice without knowing him. Subhadra, Krishna's sister → Abhimanyu.
Did Arjuna abduct Subhadra?
In form yes, and with her consent. Krishna advised taking her rather than waiting on a swayamvara, since Balarama intended her for Duryodhana. Arjuna, disguised as an ascetic, carried her off — and at Krishna's suggestion Subhadra drove the chariot herself. Balarama's objection was to the manner, not the match.
How did Arjuna get the Gandiva?
From Agni, at the burning of the Khandava forest. Agni could not consume it because Indra protected it, so he supplied the means — the Gandiva and two inexhaustible quivers for Arjuna, the Sudarshana chakra and Kaumodaki for Krishna — and the two held off Indra himself while it burned. Mayasura survived and built the Indraprastha hall.
How did Arjuna get the Pashupatastra?
From Shiva, who came as a kirata, a mountain hunter. They quarrelled over a boar and fought, and Arjuna was comprehensively defeated — bowstring cut, arrows gone. He made a clay linga and offered flowers, and saw the flowers appear on the hunter. Shiva then granted the Pashupatastra.
Why did Arjuna spend a year as Brihannala?
Urvashi's curse. He refused her in Indra's heaven and she cursed him to be a eunuch; Indra moderated it to a single year of Arjuna's own choosing. He spent it as Brihannala at Virata's court in the thirteenth year, teaching dance to Uttara — who becomes Abhimanyu's wife and Parikshit's mother. The curse is the only reason the year in disguise works.
🙏 Conclusion
Arjuna's twelve years are the epic's quiet demonstration that its heroes are made in the gaps rather than the set pieces. He takes an exile he has been formally excused from, and out of it come a naga son who dies on the eighth day, a son in Manipura who will later kill him, the bow he carries at Kurukshetra, a wife whose brother is Krishna, and the son whose death on the thirteenth day breaks the war open. Even the curse he earns by refusing Urvashi turns into the disguise that makes the thirteenth year survivable.