page_title: Pandava
section_title: Story
hierarchical_section_title: Pandava / Story
caption_attribution_description: English: Illustrations from the Book Maha-Bharata, The Epic of Ancient India by Romesh Dutt - 1899 Read the full book online or download the PDF. Twelve Photogravures from Original Illustrations Designed from Indian Sources by E. Stuart Hardy
context_page_description: The Pandavas are the central characters of the longest Hindu epic Mahabharata who fought the Mahabharata War against their cousins Kauravas for the throne of Hastinapur in Kurukshetra. They were five brothers, namely Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva, acknowledged as the sons of Pandu, the king of Hastinapur and his two wives Kunti and Madri. All five brothers were married to the same woman, Draupadi. However, Yudhishthira had another wife, namely Devika, Bhima had other 2 wives, namely Valandhara and Hidimba and Arjuna had other 3 wives, namely Ulupi, Chitrangada, Subhadra.
context_section_description: The story begins with the introduction of the brothers' parents. The primary antagonist of the saga was Duryodhana (meaning of name is "unconquerable"), cousin to the Pandavas. He was the eldest of 100 brothers known as the Kauravas, who were born to Dhritarashtra, the king of Hastinapura, and his queen Gandhari, princess of Gandhara.
  The Pandavas were born to Pandu and his wives, Kunti and Madri by the boon given to Kunti by Durvasa, that she could have a son by any god whom she respects without having any marital affair. After Madri's marriage, Pandu voluntary renounced royal life as penance for having accidentally killed the sage Rishi Kindama and his wife. At his death, Rishi Kindama cursed Pandu that he would surely die if he attempted to have sexual relationships with his wives. Because of this curse, Kunti had to use her boon to get sons. She bore him three sons: Yudhishthira by the god of Dharma, Bhima by the god of Wind, and Arjuna by Lord Indra. At the request of Pandu, she shared this boon with Madri to get her sons, the twins Nakula and Sahadeva from the divine Ashvini twins.
  After the death of Pandu and Madri, Kunti brought the Pandavas back to Hastinapur. As children, the Pandavas and Kauravas often played together. However, Bhima (2nd of the Pandavas) was always at odds with the Kauravas, particularly with Duryodhana, who refused to accept the Pandavas as his kin. This usually led to much tension between the cousins. Insecure and jealous, Duryodhana harboured intense hatred for the five brothers throughout his childhood and youth and following the advice of his maternal uncle Shakuni, often plotted to get rid of them to clear his path to the lordship of the Kuru Dynasty.
  This plotting took a grave turn when Dhritarashtra had to relent to the will of the masses and rightfully appointed his nephew Yudhishthira as crown prince. This went against the personal ambitions of both father and son (Dhritarashtra and Duryodhana) and drove Duryodhana into such a rage that he enthusiastically agreed to an evil ploy by Shakuni to murder Yudhishthira. Shakuni commissioned the construction of a palace in Varnavart, secretly built by incorporating flammable materials like oil, ghee etc. into the structure, most notably the lacquer known as lac. This palace was known as Lakshagraha. Duryodhana then successfully lobbied Dhritarashtra to send Yudhishthira to represent the royal household in Varnavarta during the celebrations of Shiva Mahotsava. The plan was to set the palace on fire during the night while Yudhishthira would likely be asleep. Yudhishthira left for Varnavrata, accompanied by his four brothers and their mother Kunti. The plan was discovered by their paternal uncle Vidura, who was very loyal to them and an extraordinarily wise man. In addition, Yudhishthira had been forewarned about this plot by a hermit who came to him and spoke of an imminent disaster. Vidura arranged for a tunnel to be secretly built for the Pandavs to safely escape the palace as it was set afire.
  After their flight from the palace, the five brothers lived in the forests for some time disguised as Brahmins. They heard from a group of travelling sages about a contest (Swayamvara) being held in the Kingdom of Panchala that offered the princess Draupadi's hand in marriage to the winner. The Swayamvara turned out to rely on the skills of archery, and Arjuna, who was a peerless archer, entered the competition and won. When the brothers took Draupadi to introduce her to their mother, they announced to Kunti that they had arrived with excellent alms. Kunti was busy with some work, and replied without turning to look at Draupadi (who was the alms referred to) ordering the brothers to share the alms equally amongst the five of them. Even when uttered erroneously, their mother's word was supreme for the Pandavas, and they agreed to share the princess, who was subsequently married to all five brothers.
  When Dhritarashtra heard that the five brothers were alive, he invited them back to the kingdom. However, in their absence, Duryodhana had succeeded in be
caption: Pandavas' Journeying With Their Mother
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