Indravarmā (Indravarma) was the king of Mālava (Malava), contemporary of Yudhiṣṭhira (Yudhisthira). During the war of Kurukṣetra (Kurukshetra), he took the side of the Pāṇḍavas (Pandavas). Indravarmā was not much reputed for his heroism. When, in order to make Droṇa (Drona) renounce his weapon, Bhīma (Bhima) circulated the death-news of Aśvatthāmā  (Aswatthama), he knew that Droṇa would come to Yudhiṣṭhira to confirm the truth of the news, since Yudhiṣṭhira was the only one who never told a lie. It was Bhīma’s responsibility to take care so that the sin of telling a lie would not touch Yudhiṣṭhira . So Bhīma killed an elephant named Aśvatthāmā, belonging to Indravarmā, and spread the rumour that Aśvatthāmā had been dead. So Indravarmā, king of Mālava became famous in the war of Kurukṣetra as the owner of the elephant — the cause of the half-truth uttered by Yudhiṣṭhira .