He hadn’t come there by chance. He had reasons. The main one was certainly the strong desire to see his dearest friend again, but he also felt moved by an enormous curiosity. Both in Indra-prastha and during the tirtha-yatra, he had heard many talk about Krishna’s younger sister, who was said to be beautiful and to have a magnificent character. He wanted to take advantage of his arrival in Dvaraka to see her. Precisely for this desire, he preferred not to be recognized and disguised himself as a yati.
Thus disguised he entered Dvaraka, where he went unnoticed. But Krishna, who is the omniscient Supreme Lord, knew of his friend’s arrival and also of his intention to meet Subhadra. So, he went to visit him in the modest abode where he had lodged. When Arjuna saw him enter, he got up and hugged him, happy to see him again after being away so long.
They talked for a long time about many things, and also of Subhadra.
“Yes, I knew you wanted to meet my sister,” said Krishna, “and I think I’m not mistaken if I tell you that she would like it too. For my part, I have nothing against it, but I think we will have to solve a serious problem: Balarama has already promised Subhadra to his disciple Duryodhana, and this has pleased neither me nor her. It will not be easy to convince him to withdraw his word.”
“The only thing to do,” Krishna continued, “is that tomorrow you kidnap her and take her away with you. I will take it upon myself to appease the wrath of my fiery brother. Although at first this will be considered a disrespectful act, be sure that later he will forgive you and that you will regain his esteem and friendship.”
And so it happened.
Arjuna kidnapped the beautiful Subhadra, and Krishna convinced Balarama and the other Vrishni to forgive the Pandava and renounce their intentions of revenge.
The marriage was celebrated and the two lived in Dvaraka for the remaining period of Arjuna’s exile. When this was over, a long procession of Vrishni accompanied the bride and groom to Indra-prastha.
As soon as Subhadra was introduced to her, Draupadi felt a fit of jealousy, but the two princesses soon became good friends. Everyone celebrated Arjuna’s return.
After a while, Subhadra gave birth to Abhimanyu. In the same period Draupadi bore a son from each husband: from Yudhisthira was born Prativindhya, from Bhima Sutasoma, from Arjuna Shrutakarma, from Nakula Satanika and from Sahadeva Shrutasena.
This is a section of the book “Maha-bharata, Vol. 1”.
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