Yudhisthira

Yudhishthira (on the throne) with Draupadi and four of his brothers

**Yudhishthira** is the first among the five Pandavas. He was the son of king Pandu of Kuru and his first wife, Kunti and was blessed by death god Yama to the couple. In the epic, he becomes the emperor of Indraprastha and later, the king of Hastinapura.

## In the Mahabharata

### Birth

Yudhisthira's father Pandu, the king of Hastinapura, soon after his marriage accidentally shot a Brahmin and his wife, mistaking them for deer, while the couple were strolling in a forest. Before he died, the Brahmin cursed the king himself to die at once, the minute he engaged in intercourse with one of his two wives. Due to this curse, Pandu was unable to father children. In additional penance for the murder, Pandu also abdicated the crown to his blind brother Dhritarashtra.

After knowing the curse of Pandu, Kunti told him that he could be the father of the child and told her boon of sage Durvasa. Then Pandu requested Kunti to apply her boon and suggested to call Dharma to get a truthful, knowledgeable and justice knowing son who can rule Hastinapur.

### Childhood

Yudhishthira was trained in religion, science, administration and military arts by the Kuru preceptors, Kripa and Drona. Specifically, he became a master in using the spear and war chariot. It is said that his spear was so strong that it could penetrate a stone wall as though it were a piece of paper. His chariot always flew at a 4 finger distance above the ground due to his piety.

### Marriage with Draupadi

After Yudhishthira and his brothers had completed their studies, they returned to Hastinapura. Duryodhana along with Shakuni planned to kill them and sent Yudhishthira, his siblings and his mother to a palace made of lac, called Lakshagriha. One night, Shakuni's man, Purochana set fire. However, princes and their mother survived. They were heartbroken and decided to hide from Hastinapura. Later, Arjuna attended Draupadi's swayamvar and won her hand in marriage. But due to Kunti's misunderstanding, Draupadi became the common wife of all the Pandavas.

### Indraprastha

When Pandavas returned to Hastinapura after hiding, there was conflict between Yudhishthira and Duryodhana regarding as the crown prince of Hastinapura. Yudhishthira was originally made the crown prince of Hastinapura, but after the event of Lakshagriha, people thought that he was dead, and Duryodhana was made the new crown prince of Hastinapura. On Bhishma's advice, Dhritarashtra gave half of the kingdom to Pandavas to rule. However the land was under the control of Takshaka. Pandavas defeated Takshaka and with the help of Mayasura, they built a magnificent city named Indraprastha.

### Game of Dice

Yudhishthira was challenged to play a game of dice in Hastinapura by his cousin, Duryodhana. Duryodhana invited him because he was jealous of Yudhishthira's wealth and power that he witnessed at the Rajasuya. Shakuni used the dice made from the bones of his father, which always ensured that he got the number he wanted and Yudhisthira was allowed to bet whatever he had he was proud of and had right over. After losing his brothers and his empire, he bet himself and also his wife which lead to the Vastraharan. Later, he lost his kingdom in the game again and was forced into exile for 13 years, which included one year in anonymity.

### Exile

During their exile, the 4 other Pandavas happened upon a lake, which was haunted by a Yaksha. The Yaksha challenged the brothers to answer his moral questions before drinking the water; the four Pandavas laughed and drank the water anyway. As a result, they choked on the water and died. Yudhishthira went in last, answered many questions put forth to him by the Yaksha and revived his brothers.

Once, Draupadi and the Pandavas had finished eating their meal cooked from the Akshay Patra. Suddenly, sage Durvasa and his pupils visited them. They were sent by Duryodhana as he wanted the sage to curse the Pandavas. The brothers welcomed the sage along with his pupils and offered them service. Durvasa demanded food to eat as he was hungry. However, Draupadi had nothing left to feed the guests. Frightened that the sage would curse them, Draupadi prayed to god. Krishna then came there and asked her to give him the vessel. Draupadi gave the vessel to Krishna and he ate a single grain of rice left in it. The sage and his pupils suddenly felt that they had eaten a grand feast and left the place with satisfaction.

### Incognito

Along with his brothers, Yudhishthira spent his last year of exile in the kingdom of Matsya. He disguised himself as a Brahmin named Kank (among themselves Pandavas called him Jaya) and taught the game of dice to the king.

### Kurukshetra War

When the period of exile was completed, Duryodhana refused to return Yudhishthira's kingdom. Yudhishthira made numerous diplomatic efforts to retrieve his kingdom peacefully but in vain. He was convinced by Krishna to wage war. After fighting for 18 days, the pandavas won the battle and ruled Hastinapur for years to be.

### Attaining Salvation

After ruling for many years, the Pandavas passed on the thron to Parikshit, grandson of Arjuna and retired. As they climbed the mountains, one-by-one, the Pandavas and Draupadi fell, as they were imperfect. Only Yudhishthira made it successfully to the top, where he was greeted by Indra with his chariot.

## *The Pandava Quintet*

### Reincarnations

According to Boo, the first reincarnation within the series of Yudhishthira was a famous judge.

As of now, Yudhishthira is reincarnated as Mini Kapoor, who is one of the main protagonists in the series.

> *See full article→Mini Kapoor*
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## Etymology

* The word **Yudhishthira** means *the one who is steady in the war*
	+ *Yuddha* meaning **war**
	+ *Sthira"* meaning **steady**.