Uttara was a character in the Mahabharata. He was the young son of King Virata and Sudeshna. Shalya killed him in the Mahabharata war on the first day. Uttara is also called Bhuminjaya.
Family
- Father: Virata
- Mother: Sudeshna
- Brothers: Shweta, Shankha
- Sister: Uttaraa
Virata War
The Pandavas were in the incognito year of their exile and they decided to live in disguise in Matsya. Arjuna lived as a eunuch named Brihanalla and taught princess Uttaraa dance.
Shakuni and Duryodhana soon figured out that the Pandavas were in Virata and they did a combined attack with Susharma of Trigarta on Matsya. Susharma and his huge army attacked at the north gates of Viratapuri. King Virata took his entire army to fight the Trigartas.
While Virata was fighting the Trigartas, the army of Hastinapura attacked the southern gate. There was nobody to fight the army of Hastinapura. Young Uttara started boasting about his strength and decided to go fight Hastinapura single-handedly. But he needed a good charioteer. Brihanalla started pleading to be his charioteer. Uttara agreed.
They got onto the chariot and Brihanalla took it to the army of Hastinapura. Upon seeing the vast army, Uttara was scared. He told Brihanalla to take the chariot back to the palace, but Brihanalla didn’t listen. He got off the chariot and started running. Brihanalla got off and started chasing him.
Brihanalla took Uttara to the a tree. There, Brihanalla revealed her true identity as Arjuna, the Pandava. Uttara didn’t believe but after Arjuna grabbed his Gandiva (his bow) which he had hidden in the tree, Uttara believed him. Uttara became Arjuna’s charioteer. Arjuna defeated the entire Hastinapura army, while Virata and the Matsya army defeated the Trigartas.
At Virata’s palace, everyone thought that Uttara had routed the Hastinapura army. Uttara told them that Brihanalla had done it. The Pandavas then showed their true identities to Virata,
Kurukshetra War and Death
The Matsya kingdom were on the Pandavas’ side during the Kurukshetra War. On the first day of war, Uttara engaged in a terrible battle with Shalya. Uttara was on an elephant and Shalya was on a chariot. Uttara wounded Shalya, killed his horses and broke his chariot. Shalya was impressed. A young boy was fighting so bravely.
With all his power and accuracy, Shalya hurled his spear at Uttara. It hit Uttara right in the chest and he fell from his elephant dead.
Uttara’s brother Shweta was angry when he saw this, but was killed by Bhishma.