Navagunjara is a creature unique to the Odia retelling of the Mahabharata. It is a composite being made of nine parts, each from a different animal. It does not appear in Vyasa's Sanskrit Mahabharata. It appears in the Sarala Mahabharata, composed in the 15th century by the Odia poet Sarala Das, who reorganised the epic into eighteen books in his own language and added stories of his own.
The nine parts
The Navagunjara, in the Sarala Mahabharata's description, is composed of:
- The head of a rooster
- The neck of a peacock
- The back or hump of a bull
- The waist of a lion
- The tail of a serpent
- One leg of a tiger
- One leg of an elephant
- One leg of a deer or horse (the listing varies in different recensions)
- One human arm, holding a lotus
The combination of parts is specific and deliberate. The creature has features of every type — bird, mammal, reptile, predator, prey, plant-bearing human — simultaneously.
The story
In Sarala Das's narrative, Arjuna is performing tapasya in the forest. The Navagunjara appears. Arjuna, at first, does not know what he is looking at. The creature has no clear identity. He raises his bow.
Before he shoots, he looks again. He recognises that no animal could combine these parts naturally. The Navagunjara is no enemy of any species he knows. It is something more. He recognises it as a form of Vishnu, lowers his bow, and bows in respect.
The Navagunjara reveals itself as Krishna, who has come to test Arjuna's perception.
Where the story is found
The episode is in the Vana Parva of Sarala Das's Mahabharata, the book dealing with the years of the Pandavas' exile. It is one of several episodes Sarala added that are not in the Sanskrit Vyasa Mahabharata. Sarala's text is a creative retelling rather than a literal translation, and is recognised in Odia literature as one of the foundational works of the language.
The image and Jagannath culture
The Navagunjara has been adopted into the visual tradition of the Jagannath cult in Puri, where Vishnu in his form as Jagannath is the central deity. The creature appears in the pattachitra painting style of Odisha — a folk and temple-art tradition with continuous documented history going back at least to the 12th century. It also appears in the anasara patti, the curtain paintings used during the period when the Jagannath idols are kept out of public view for the fortnight before the Rath Yatra festival.
Pattachitra renderings of the Navagunjara typically show all nine parts arranged in a balanced composition, with the lotus held by the human arm placed prominently.
What the story is doing
Like other episodes in which a divine being appears in unrecognisable form, the Navagunjara story is about recognition. Arjuna is at the moment of nearly attacking what he cannot categorise. He pauses. He looks again. He sees.
This pattern — a deity appearing in a non-standard form to test recognition — recurs across Indian narrative literature. Krishna as the Kirata (forest hunter) before Arjuna in the Mahabharata. Vishnu as Mohini, Vamana, Narasimha, Hayagriva in his various avatars. The Navagunjara belongs to this larger pattern, distinct in being entirely an animal composite rather than a recognisable human or hybrid form.
How the Anahat Navagunjara design represents it
The Anahat Navagunjara t-shirt features the composite creature with all nine parts identifiable, rendered in a style that draws on the pattachitra tradition. The design is part of Anahat's Originals collection.
Wear Navagunjara
The composite creature on premium organic cotton. Designed in India by Anahat.
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FAQ
What is Navagunjara?
A composite creature made of nine animal parts. It appears in the Odia retelling of the Mahabharata by Sarala Das, not in the original Sanskrit Vyasa Mahabharata.
What are its nine parts?
The head of a rooster, neck of a peacock, back of a bull, waist of a lion, tail of a serpent, one leg each of a tiger, an elephant, and a deer or horse, and a human arm holding a lotus.
Who composed the Sarala Mahabharata?
Sarala Das, a 15th-century Odia poet whose retelling reorganised the epic and added new episodes. It is one of the foundational works of Odia literature.
Where does Navagunjara appear in art?
In the pattachitra painting tradition of Odisha and in the curtain paintings used in the Jagannath Temple during the period before Rath Yatra.
What does the Anahat Navagunjara design depict?
The composite creature with all nine parts identifiable, rendered in a pattachitra-inspired style. It is part of Anahat's Originals collection.