Kartavirya Arjuna was a king of an ancient Haihayas kingdom with capital at Mahishmati which is on the banks of Narmada River in the current state of Madhya Pradesh.
30 Facts About Kartavirya Arjuna
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Kartavirya Arjuna is described as having a thousand hands and a great devotee of god Dattatreya.
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One of the several such accounts states that Kartavirya Arjuna conquered Mahishmati city from Karkotaka Naga, a Naga chief and made it his fortress-capital.
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Almost 100 manuscripts on the worship of Kartavirya Arjuna have been found mostly in the royal libraries of the Hindu Rajas.
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The story goes that once when Kartavirya Arjuna was having a bath in the river Narmada along with his wives, he stopped the force of the river with his thousand arms from both sides.
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The Vayu Purana states that Kartavirya invaded Lanka, and there took Ravana as prisoner, but later he was killed by Parashurama and Ravana was rescued from Arjuna.
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Kartavirya Arjuna ultimately conquered Mahishmati city from Karkotaka Naga, a Naga chief and made it his fortress-capital.
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Kartavirya Arjuna was born on the Earth in order to face the power of Vishnu in the contest with the Shaktyavesha Avatar Parashurama.
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In most accounts, Kartavirya Arjuna is described as a righteous king, who eventually became egotistical.
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Kartavirya Arjuna was slated to be his prime opponent, as the mightiest king of that time.
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Kartavirya Arjuna lost control of his senses and began to oppress humans, Yakshas and the very gods themselves.
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Kartavirya Arjuna even had the audacity to insult Indra in front of Shachi.
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Enraged, Kartavirya Arjuna went to Jamadagni's hermitage to see Parashurama's power.
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Kartavirya Arjuna enacted this wholesale eradication of the kshatriyas for 21 generations.
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Kartavirya Arjuna arrived in his divine golden chariot which could go anywhere unobstructed.
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Kartavirya Arjuna hurled many weapons, rocks and trees at Parashurama, but the sage parried all these.
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In Indonesia version, especially in Javanese wayang, Kartavirya Arjuna is called by the name of Prabu Arjuna Sasrabahu.
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Kartavirya Arjuna is told as the son of Kartawirya and still a descendant of Batara Surya.
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The Javanese version of Kartavirya Arjuna Sasrabahu is considered an avatar of Lord Vishnu.
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Kartavirya Arjuna ruled justly and wisely in the Mahespati Kingdom.
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Kartavirya Arjuna's wife named Citrawati daughter of the Kingdom of Magadha.
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Kartavirya Arjuna was willing to forgive as long as Sumantri could move Sriwedari Park from Mount Untarayana into Mahespati's palace.
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Kartavirya Arjuna who was very happy decided to appoint Sumantri as governor with the title Suwanda.
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One day Kartavirya Arjuna went on an excursion with his wife in a river.
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Kartavirya Arjuna did triwikrama changing his form into a very large giant and while lying on the dam the flow of the river created a pond as a bathing place for Citrawati.
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Kartavirya Arjuna managed to defeat Ravana, then tied him with chains and dragged him using a chariot.
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Kartavirya Arjuna freed Ravana on the condition that he should stop spit out his anger.
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One day when Kartavirya Arjuna was hunting alone in the forest to entertain himself, Ravana came to report to Citrawati that her husband had died in an accident.
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Kartavirya Arjuna who had lost his passion for life, went to abandon his kingdom.
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Kartavirya Arjuna who was no longer passionate about life was finally killed by Ramabargawa's ax.