Word

Uttara

Sanskrit

उत्तर

IAST

uttara

In General

Both the son and daughter of king of Virata were called Uttara. The Prince Uttara fought on the side of Pandavas during Mahabharatha War and died. The Princess was given in marriage to Abhimanyu.

Purana

It was at the time when the incognito life was coming to an end that the Kaurava army headed by Duryodhana carried away the cattle of the King Virata. The King was absent from the palace at that time and the prince, Uttara, had not the guts to go and attack the Kaurava army. It was Pancali who then suggested sending of Brhannala of the palace (Arjuna in disguise) to serve as charioteer of Prince Uttara. When Prince Uttara was about to run away from the battlefield, Arjuna stopped him, retrieved the arms from forest fought and defeated Karurava Army single handedly.

Princess Uttara was pregnant during the War. Since all the sons of Pandavas were killed in the war, the child in the womb of Uttara was the only male child that survived. Aswathama sent most dreaded arrow against this child, but Sri Krishna protected the child by his spiritual powers. The child was later came to be known as Parikshith.