In the Mahabharata war, Duryodhana and Dushasana and other Kaurava brothers fought with the Pandavas due to hatred for them, but they could not defeat the Pandavas as Krishna was on their side. Since the Kauravas were unable to meet the challenge of the Pandavas, they found Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna all alone one day and devised the Padmavyuha (an army formation in the shape of a lotus). Then they challenged Abhimanyu to enter it. Abhimanyu was a young boy then. His father Arjuna was not there; only Dharmaraja was present at that time. He sought the permission of Dharmaraja to enter the Padmavyuha. Dharmaraja told him that it was not an easy task for him. Then he went to his mother Subhadra and sought her permission and blessings. She tried to dissuade him saying, ‘Dear son, it is a difficult formation devised by Dronacharya himself. Moreover, your wife is pregnant now. We do not know whether the time is favourable to us or not. Your father Arjuna and uncle Krishna are also not here to give you necessary guidance and support. Hence, give up the idea of going to the battlefield.’ Abhimanyu was upset on hearing the words of his mother and said to her, ‘Being the son of Arjuna, I have to accept the challenge of the enemy. Otherwise, my father’s name would be in disrepute. Even if I lose my life, I will fight in the battlefield.’ He was very firm in his resolve and quite confident of coming out of the Padmavyuha successful. Then he told his mother, ‘1 am going to attack the Kauravas like a tiger ready to pounce upon the horde of elephants. You should bless me to come out victorious in this fight by shooting the divine arrows on the enemy. Instead of blessing me, is it proper on your part to prevent me from going to the battle? Listening to the words of her brave son, at last she gave her consent.

May the same kind of protection cover you as that which Mother Gowri conferred on her son Kumara when he went out for battle against Tarakasura, the blessing conferred by Kausalya on Rama when he was going to the forest to safeguard the Yajna of Vishwamitra! May such great. and auspicious blessing and, the greatest of all, Shri Rama Raksha (the protection of Shri Rama) be with you and protect you! (Telugu poem)

With these blessings, she sent him to the battlefield. He offered his salutations to his mother and entered the battlefield. He penetrated into the Padmavyuha. While his father Arjuna was narrating all about Padmavyuha to Subhadra, Abhimanyu heard the same being in his mother’s womb. When Arjuna was half way through the narration, Krishna appeared on the scene and cautioned him that it was his son in the mother’s womb who was listening to all this. Krishna advised him to stop the narration forthwith. In this way, Abhimanyu could know only how to enter the Padmavyuha, but did not know how to come out of it. As a result, he was trapped in the Padmavyuha by the Kauravas and killed. The lesson to be learnt from this episode is that one should never ignore the advice of one’s parents and elders. One should listen to the advice of the parents carefully, contemplate on it, assimilate it and put it into practice. That is why the Vedas declare, Matru devo bhava, pitru devo bhava (revere your mother and father as God). Whatever be the circumstances, wherever you may be, you should always obey the command of the parents.

When Arjuna returned, he was full of anxiety not to find Abhimanyu who always ran to the door to receive him whenever he returned home. When Arjuna came to know that Abhimanyu died in the battlefield, he became very sad. Then Krishna asked him not to lose heart, saying, ‘Whatever was destined to happen has happened.’ He also told Arjuna that the Kauravas who conspired against the Pandavas even in the past had again resorted to foul-play and killed Abhimanyu. In this moment of great anguish, Arjuna spoke to Krishna in very strong terms that He had not told him about the death of his son earlier and thus had betrayed him. As was His nature, Krishna heard all this, smiling all the time. (DD on 15.08.06 )