Virata (Sanskrit: विराट, IAST virāṭa) was the king of the Matsya Kingdom, in whose court the Pandavas spent a year in concealment during their exile. Virata was married to Queen Sudeshna and was the father of Prince Uttara and Princess Uttarā, who married Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna. Abhimanyu and Uttara's son Parikshit succeeded Yudhishthira on the throne of Hastinapura, after the war of Mahabharata. He is the titular character of the Virata Parva, the fourth book of the epic Mahabharata [1]
Life
Virata married his commander-in-chief Kichaka's elder sister Sudeshna. Though himself a strong warrior, he was intimidated by Kichaka's might. He was unable to stop Kichaka when he was insulting Draupadi in disguise of Sairandhri. After Bhima killed Kichaka, Virata became independent. When Trigarta king Susharma attacked him on Duryodhana's order from another direction, he fought with him bravely, but when Susharma was about to kill him, Virata was saved by Bhima. His daughter Uttarā was married to Arjuna's son Abhimanyu whose son Parikshit succeeded Yudhishthira's throne.
Virata sitting on the throne watching Draupadi’s insult by Kichaka and is unable to take an action.
Role in the Kurukshetra War and death
He supported Pandavas in the war. Virata was nominated one of the seven commander, commandeering over an Akshauhini of the Pandavas army. Sahadeva preferred Virata to be the commander-in-chief of their army, but Yudhishthira and Arjuna preferred Dhrishtadyumna, and Virata's nomination was outvoted.
On the first day, his son Uttara was killed by Shalya. On the second day, an enraged Virata killed Shalya's son Madranjaya as revenge for Uttara. During the war, he fought Bhishma several times. On the seventh day, he confronted Drona but his horses, charioteer, banner and chariot were quickly destroyed by Drona. Then, he ran towards his son Shankha's chariot. Together, they managed to stop Drona's onslaught and wounded him. An enraged Drona shot a poisonous arrow at Shankha, killing him instantly and forcing Virata to withdraw.
During the 15th day, he was killed by Dronacharya in a fierce battle, he was killed by Drona's javelin.
In a different version, he was killed during a Kaurava attack in the Kurukshetra War along with his sons.
