Abhimanyu

Subhadra, Krishna's sister is in love with Arjuna. But Balarama, the eldest does not want his sister to wed the destitute Arjuna without a kingdom. Instead he prefers Duryodhana - the future king of Hastinapur.

 

Subhadra is in love with Arjuna but her brother doesn't want her to marry him. and she has the support of Krishna too. She elopes with Arjuna.

And Abhimanyu is their son.

 

When Pandavas go for fourteen years vana-vasa, pregnant Subhadra stays back with her brothers in Mathura.

One fine day Subhandra pesters Krishna to tell her some story. Krishna starts describing future Mahabharat war. The way different vyuhas - army formation)?)  will be arranged by the two enemies. He starts telling about chakravyuha - the most difficult of all. And he also describes the only way for an enemy to enter this formation. 

 

Subhadra is fast asleep. Then who is responding to his story? Krishna realizes that his nephew is listening with intense curiosity about chakravyuha. And Krishna stops the story half way. So Abhimanyu who is still in womb learnt how to enter the chakravyuha - but not how to come out of it.

And one fine day, the great war started. On the day, Kauravas form chakravyuha, sixteen year old Abhimanyu, offers to enter the enemy vyuha to break it. And his uncles willingly agree. 

 

After he enters the vyuha he is unable to come out of it. Kauravas and Karna surround him and kill him.

Now tell me, who killed Abhimanyu?

Abhimanyu has a wife - Uttara who is carrying a child- Parikshita. Who will be the only surviving heir of Pandavas.

So Abhimanyu's story like so many other stories in Mahabharatha , is exemplification of human cruelty.