Ulupi

Ulupi
Ulupi induced an unwilling Arjun to take her for wife
Information
Spouse(s)	Arjuna
Children	Iravan

Ulūpī or Uloopi (also known as Uluchi or Uloochi), is a character in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. The daughter of Kouravya, the king of serpents, she was the second among the four wives of Arjuna. She also finds a mention in the Vishnu Purana and the Bhagavata Purana.

Ulupi is said to have met and married Arjuna when he was in exile; she had a son with him, Iravan. She played a major part in the upbringing of Babruvahana, Arjuna's son with Chitrāngadā. She is also credited with redeeming Arjuna from the curse of the Vasus by restoring his life after he was slain in a battle by Babruvahana.

Little is said about Ulupi in the Mahabharata. Ulupi is known by numerous names in the Mahabharata—Bhujagatmaja, Bhujagendrakanyaka, Bhujagottama, Kauravi, Kauravyaduhita, Kauravyakulanandini, Pannaganandini, Pannagasuta, Pannagatmaja, Pannagesvarakanya, Pannagi, and Uragatmaja. Ulupi is described as a mythical form of a Nagakanya (Naga princess), half-maiden and half-serpent.Michael Mott in his Caverns, Cauldrons, and Concealed Creatures described Ulupi as "partly reptilian" – the portion below the waist resembles that of a snake or a crocodile.

Ulupi was the daughter of Kouravya, a descendant of Naga the human head with snaketail. Her father ruled the underwater kingdom of serpents in the Ganga river. Ulupi was a well-trained warrior.

Arjuna, the third Pandava brother, is exiled from Indraprastha—the capital city of the kingdom—to go on a one-year pilgrimage as a penance for violating the terms of his marriage to Draupadi, the brothers' common wife. Accompanied by Brahmins, Arjuna goes to north-eastern region of present-day India. One day when he bathes in the Ganga river to perform his rituals, the current pulls him inside the river. He later realises that it was Ulupi, the Naga princess, who "grasped" and pulled him into the river. She held him with her hands and traveled at her will. They finally ended up in an underwater kingdom, the abode of Kourvaya. Arjuna saw a sacrificial fire in the place and offered his rites in the fire. Agni was pleased with Arjuna's "unhesitating offering of oblations".