Before the beginning of the war, his mentor Krishna gave him the supreme knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita, guiding him through his moral dilemmas.

The first exile stemmed from a broken pact with his brothers, while the second followed the tragic loss of their kingdom through the game of dice.

At the end of the epic the Pandavas, accompanied by Draupadi, retire to the Himalayas, where everyone in time passes away to arrive in heaven.

[10] The Mahabharata manuscripts exist in numerous versions, wherein the specifics and details of major characters and episodes vary, often significantly.

Except for the sections containing the Bhagavad Gita which is remarkably consistent between the numerous manuscripts, the rest of the epic exists in many versions.

[12] Arjuna was one of the five Pandava brothers of royal lineage, whose collective name derives from their father, and heir to the Lunar dynasty, Pandu.

However, Pandu was under a curse whereby he would die if he had sexual relations with a woman, and so his sons were born using a mantra given to Kunti by sage Durvasa during her maiden days.

[13] According to the legend, Arjuna was a demigod, who was born as a blessing after his mother Kunti invoked the god Indra on her husband's request.

One day, Arjuna learns that Drupada is holding an archery tournament to determine who should marry his daughter.

The tournament was to lift and string a bow, and fire arrows to pierce the eye of a golden fish only by looking at its reflection in the water.

Commentators vary as to whether Kunti thought he was referring to alms found in the forest or to some great prize unknown to her.

[25][29] The brothers agreed that none should intrude if Draupadi was alone with one of the others, the penalty for doing so is a year to be spent in exile during which the culprit must remain celibate.

[25] When Arjuna, his siblings, mother and Draupadi returned to Hastinapura, Dhritarashtra determined to avoid a rivalry developing for control of Hastinapur by splitting the kingdom, with half of it being left to his own eldest son, Duryodhana, and half to the eldest son of Pandu, Yudhishthira.

[18][19] Arjuna inadvertently broke the pact with his brothers, intruding as he sought to collect weapons whilst Yudhishthira, was alone with Draupadi.

[27] It was this event that led to him forming a close relationship with his cousin Krishna[a] because he ignored the celibacy condition of the pact[25] and married three people on his travels, the first of whom was a Naga princess named Ulupi, with whom he had a son called Iravan.

[31] It was while at Indraprastha, the capital city of the Pandavas,[32] for the birth of Abhimanyu that Arjuna and Krishna become involved in what Alf Hiltebeitel describes as "one of the strangest scenes of the epic", this being the burning of the Khandava Forest.

The cousins agree to fend off Indra and anyone else who might interfere; to this end, Arjuna armed himself with the Gandiva bow and Krishna with his Sudarshana Chakra, weapons suitable for a fight with the gods.

Once the forest has gone, after six days of fire and slaughter, Arjuna and Krishna receive thanks from Indra, who had retreated with the other gods partway through the proceedings on being commanded by a mysterious voice to step back and watch.

[33] As heir to the lordship of Kurukshetra, Yudhishthira had attracted the unwelcome attention of his Kaurava cousin, Duryodhana, who sought the throne.

[34] The royal consecration involved an elaborate Vedic ceremony called rajasuya which extended over several years and included the playing of a ritualised game of dice.

[37] The brothers, including Arjuna, were forced into a 12-year exile, to be followed by a year living incognito if Yudhishthira was to regain his kingdom.

During the exile, following the advice of Krishna to go on meditation or tapasya to attain this divine weapon, Arjuna left his brothers for a penance on Indrakeeladri Hill (Koppal, Karnataka).

[40][41] Arjuna spent the last year of exile as a eunuch named Brihannala at King Virata’s Matsya Kingdom.

He then fought Kaurava army and single-handedly defeated them including warriors like Bheeshma, Drona, Ashwatthama, Karna, Duryodhana etc.

The Bhagavad Gita is a book within the Mahabharata that depicts a dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna immediately prior to the commencement of the Kurukshetra War between the Pandavas and Kauravas.

Arjuna's prowess as an archer was demonstrated by his success in slaying numerous warriors, including his own elder brother Karna and grandfather Bhishma.

Giving up all their belongings and ties, the Pandavas, accompanied by a dog, made their final journey of pilgrimage to the Himalayas.

He was made the superior knight of the gods to destroy Prabu Niwatakawaca, the giant king of the Manimantaka country.

Arjuna has a smart and clever nature, is quiet, conscientious, polite, brave and likes to protect the weak.