THE LIVING ARCHIVE
About Akshaya Patra
Akshaya means inexhaustible or undiminishing, and Patra means a vessel. The boon provides nourishment, not any object its owner might request. Its daily limit is part of the original gift: Draupadi’s meal marks the end of the available supply. The household must therefore receive and feed its guests within the conditions Surya has established.
More About Akshaya Patra
The inexhaustible vessel supports the Pandavas’ hospitality during exile, with narrative conditions on its daily use.
AT A GLANCE
Identity & Context
- Identity
- Artifact
- Form
- Food vessel
- Tradition
- Epic / Puranic traditions
THE STORY
Origins & Stories
ROLE & ESSENCE
Attributes & Significance
The Akshaya Patra makes food and hospitality central to the exile story. The Pandavas still have companions and responsibilities after losing their court, and the vessel helps them maintain that community. Draupadi remains central to the daily meal: miraculous abundance does not erase the household work of receiving, preparing and distributing food.
Object Class
Food vessel
Origin / Narrative Setting
Pandava exile
Owner or Associated Figure
Associated Deity
Properties & Abilities
The inexhaustible vessel supports the Pandavas’ hospitality during exile, with narrative conditions on its daily use.
Stories & Events
Pandava exile
Tradition Notes
Names and accounts can vary by recension, region and commentary. This entry distinguishes attested details from identifications still requiring a passage-level source.
Archive Classification Notes
Original archive annotations are retained here. The current playable classification is shown in the side panel.
- Tradition Dependence
- High — compare the identified textual or regional account.
- Previous Owners
- Not established in the passage; no additional claim is made here.
- Symbolic Significance
- Not established in the passage; no additional claim is made here.
- Traditional Location
- No verified present-day custody asserted.
- Editorial Rarity
- Sacred archive — no claim of surviving physical possession.
TRADITION & MEANING
Traditions & Interpretations
The Mahabharata’s solar boon and the Bhagavata’s recollection of Krishna’s help are distinct presentations of the vessel’s story. The Akshaya Patra is not a nectar jar or a general wish-granting container. Other ritual vessels and modern institutions bearing its name draw upon its association with nourishment without being the same epic object.
Names and accounts can vary by recension, region and commentary. This entry distinguishes attested details from identifications still requiring a passage-level source.
From the Sacred Texts
Explore the sacred texts behind these stories in the Suvarnaveda library.
FOLLOW THE THREADS
Connected Cards
4 connected profiles. Every path leads to an original record.
Characters & Cosmic Entities4
He seeks the means to feed his companions in exile.
Her daily meal marks the stated limit of the vessel’s supply.
Surya gives the vessel in response to worship.
The Bhagavata remembers his intervention in the later crisis.