The Grandson Who Was Saved in the Womb
Parīkṣit was the son of Abhimanyu and the grandson of Arjuna, and he had been marked out before he was born. In the last hours of the Mahābhārata war, Aśvatthāmā released the stra at the unborn child in Uttarā's womb, meaning to end the Pāṇḍava line entirely. protected the child. He was named Parīkṣit — 'the one who examines' — because, the Purāṇa says, he came into the world looking for the person he had seen inside it. He grew into the ruler the Pāṇḍavas' era deserved. Under him the earth kept its yield, the rains came at the proper times, sacrifices were performed, and the four supports of dharma — austerity, purity, compassion and truth — were still, mostly, standing.
✦ Visual cue — A young emperor on a simple throne receiving subjects, prosperous fields visible through the hall's opening, warm golden tone.