Partha

Arjuna
Arjuna statue in Bali, Indonesia
Information
Parent(s)	Indra

Arjuna (in Devanagari: अर्जुन arjuna) along with Krishna is the protagonist of the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata and plays a key role in the Bhagavad Gita alongside Krishna. Arjuna was the son of Indra, the king of the celestials, born of Kunti, the first wife of King Pandu in the Kuru Kingdom. In a previous birth he was a saint named Nara who was the lifelong companion of another saint Narayana an incarnation of Lord Vishnu who took rebirth as Lord Krishna . He was the third of the Pandava brothers and was married to Draupadi, Ulupi, Chitrangada and Subhadra (Krishna's sister) at different times. His children included Srutakarma, Iravan, Babruvahana, and Abhimanyu. Karna was an archer equivalent to Arjuna in the Mahabharata, who was his lifetime opponent.

The name Arjuna has among its meanings "white"/"clear" and "silver". Cognates of "Arjuna" are Latin "regens" meaning "ruler", Hindi "raj" meaning "king", and English "regal".

The Mahabharata refers to Arjuna by twelve different names. In the story, these names are given when Prince Uttara of Matsya asks Arjuna to prove his identity. The first ten names are spoken by Arjuna himself, while the name "Kapi Dhwaja" is also used to refer to his chariot, the "Nandi Ghosha". The names and their meanings are as follows:

After the death of Pandu (and Madri's subsequent sati), the Pandavas and their mother lived in Hastinapura, where they were brought up together with their cousins, the Kaurava brothers. Along with his brothers, Arjuna was trained in religion, science, administration and military arts by Bhishma.