Ghatotkacha: the shakti that saved Arjuna, and Gatotkaca in Java

Variant

Krishna smiled at the dead Ghatotkacha.

Ghatotkacha rampages on night 14; Karna uses Indra's single-use Vasavi shakti, saved for Arjuna, to kill him; Ghatotkacha swells his body and crushes an akshauhini; Krishna smiles. Folk tradition gives him a wife Ahilawati and son Barbarika; Champawat and Manali claim his shrines. In Javanese wayang (Kakawin Bharatayuddha, 1157) he is Gatotkaca, kills his uncle Kalabendana by accident and dies by a spear (Konta).

Who: Ghatotkacha, Karna, Barbarika, Hidimbi

Bound to

Barbarika/Khatu Shyam: the grandson who gave his head causes

Days two and three: Bhīma among the Kaliṅgas, and Kṛṣṇa runs at Bhīṣma mirror

Days four to six: Bhīma, Ghaṭotkaca, Bhagadatta and the arrays mirror

Day eight: Ghaṭotkaca's rampage mirror

Day thirteen: the wheel array and the death of Abhimanyu mirror

Places: Champawat, Manali, Dieng, Central Java

Where this comes from

commentary · Wikipedia: Ghatotkacha
regional-literary · Wikipedia: Ghatotkacha (Kakawin Bharatayuddha, 1157 cited)

See it on the tree · All stories

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