Varchas is the son of Chandra (Soma) deva. During the Mahabharata, he incarnated on Earth as Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna.
Family
- Father: Chandra (Soma)
- Mother: One of Chandra’s 27 wives
Incarnation of Abhimanyu
In the Dwapara Yuga, Lord Vishnu incarnated as Krishna on Earth to destroy the evil. All the devas incarnated as well to help Krishna. But Chandra did not help the cause in any way. The devas approached him and told him to contribute. But Chandra kept silent.
“You should send down your powerful son Varchas,” the Devas advised.
“Varchas is more dear to me than my life,” Chandra deva replied, “I cannot part with him.”
But the devas insisted and finally persuaded Chandra. But then Chandra said, “I will let my son incarnate on Earth only if these conditions are met. First, he will have to live for a short time because I want my son back with me soon. Second, I want him to be very powerful when he incarnates on Earth. I want him to destroy a huge part of the enemy army in one day. I want him to fight bravely even when Nara (Arjuna) and Narayana (Krishna) are not there. And lastly, I want it so that the Kuru clan of warriors continues only through my son.
The devas said, “So be it.” Eventually, Varchas was born on this Earth as Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna and Subhadra. He died on the thirteenth day of the Kurukshetra war. On that day, even though he was trapped alone in a Chakravyuha without Krishna and Arjuna, he decimated a huge part of the Kaurava army. Parikshit, the son of Abhimanyu, was the only successor of the Kuru family after the war.