Arjuna Travels on Pilgrimage and Marries Chitrangada
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.
Arjuna left the brahmanas who had traveled with him, told them everything that had transpired, and turned his steps toward the Himalayas. He was a pilgrim now, a prince without a kingdom, moving from one sacred site to the next. He bathed at Agastya’s banyan tree, at Vasishtha’s mountain, on Bhrigu’s peak. At each tirtha (sacred ford), he performed his ablutions, donated a thousand cows, and gave houses to the brahmanas. He purified himself in the waters of Hiranyabindu.
Accompanied by brahmanas, he descended and turned east. He saw the rivers of the Naimisha forest—the Utpalini, the Nanda, the Upananda, the Koushiki. He saw Gaya and Ganga. In every place, he gave away riches. He moved through the lands of Anga, Vanga, and Kalinga, visiting every pilgrimage site in the proper order, his wealth flowing from his hands into the hands of priests.
When he reached the borders of Kalinga, the brahmanas who had followed him took their leave. With their permission, Arjuna pressed on toward the ocean with only a few companions. He passed beautiful countries and people devoted to dharma (cosmic law). He saw Mahendra Mountain, covered with the hermitages of ascetics. Following the shoreline, he finally arrived at Manalura.
After seeing the local pilgrimage sites, the mighty-armed Pandava went to pay his respects to the city’s lord, King Chitravahana, a man known for his devotion to dharma. The king had a daughter named Chitrangada.
Arjuna saw her. She was roaming the city at will, beautiful-hipped, free in her movements. Desire struck him. He went directly to the king and stated his wish.
The king received him with a placating voice. He explained the situation of his lineage. An ancestor, King Prabhamkara, had been without sons. He performed terrible austerities, and the great god Mahadeva—Shankara, Umapati—was satisfied. The god granted a boon: in every generation of this lineage, only a single offspring would be born. Since that day, it had been so. One child per generation. All of Chitravahana’s ancestors had sons. But to him, a daughter was born.
“It is certain that she will have to carry forward my lineage,” the king said. “O supreme among men, I have always thought of her as my son. In accordance with what is prescribed, I have therefore made her my putrika.” A putrika was a daughter designated as a son for the purpose of lineage; her son would be considered her father’s heir, not her husband’s.
“The son, the perpetuator of this lineage, will be the bride price,” the king concluded. “O Pandava, you can take her, as long as you agree to this condition.”
Arjuna agreed. He accepted Chitrangada on those terms and lived in the city of Manalura for three years.