Chitravahana

Arjuna wanders the sacred sites of the earth, a prince in exile performing rituals and giving gifts. In the coastal city of Manalura, he sees King Chitravahana's daughter and is seized by desire. When he asks for her hand, the king agrees—but only if the son she bears will stay behind to carry on a lineage bound by an ancient boon.

When Arjuna asks for Princess Chitrangada's hand, her father does not refuse. Instead, he explains the strange fate of his house: an ancestor's desperate prayer was answered with a boon that now binds them all, turning his daughter into a son and her future child into a ransom for her marriage.