Background of the Story - The Birth of the Kuru Princes (Kauravas)
After the sudden demise of King Vicitravīrya, the Kuru dynasty faced a crisis of succession since none of the queens of Vicitravīrya had children. Through Vyāsa’s intervention, three sons were born: Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Pāṇḍu, and Vidura. 1
The Story - Who should be the king of Hastinapur?
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, though eldest and mighty in body, was born blind. Pāṇḍu was pale in outlook but trained into a valiant warrior and became beloved of the people. Vidura, wise and righteous, was born of a maid and thus denied royal succession.
When the princes grew, the issue of kingship came before the elders of Hastināpura. Bhīṣma, the grandsire, proclaimed firmly that the kingdom could not be entrusted to a blind man, and so, Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s chance of ascending the throne was denied at the inception. In fact, Satyavathi decided the destiny Dhṛtarāṣṭra at his birth itself and hence she deputed Vyāsa to the second queen, Ambalika and Pandu was born. Vidura could not be selected as he was a pāraśava (पारशव) - born of a mixed union between a Brahmin and a servant maid. Thus, the question of succession was once for all settled - Pāṇḍu was crowned the king of the Kurus.
As king, Pāṇḍu soon undertook a digvijaya, conquering many realms and expanding the glory of the Kurus. He conquered the kings of Daśārṇa deśa (present day Malwa region), Magadha Desa (present day Bihar region), Mithila (parts of Bihar and Nepal), and the kingdom of Varanasi; and returned to Hastināpura with tribute and fame. But with all humility he shared wealth and honours with both Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Vidura. The people rejoiced, for peace and prosperity marked his reign.
Marriages of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Pāṇḍu and Vidura
Meanwhile, Bhīṣma arranged noble alliances for the Kuru brothers. He consulted with the wise Vidura and decided that Gandhārī, the daughter of Gandhāra desa (present day North Eastern Pakistan and Afganistan) would be the suitable bride since she was virtuous and had a boon from Lord Shiva that she would have a hundred sons. He sent word for Subala, the king of Gandhāra. Initially he was not willing to give his daughter in marriage for a blind person. But on seeing the lineage, and the greatness of Kuru kings, he consented. Dhṛtarāṣṭra was married to Gandhārī, who, on learning of her husband’s blindness, bound her own eyes in lifelong austerity. Sakuni, the younger brother of Gandhāri came up to Hastinapur with his sister.
Kunthi kingdom (present day western Madhya Pradesh) was ruled by Kunthi Bhoja. Kunthi was his adopted daughter. She liked Pāṇḍu in her svayamvaram and garlanded him with all love and affection.
Bhishma heard the virtues of Mādrī, the sister of king Salya of Bāhlika deśa (present day Afganistan and once upon a time a flourishing Bactria kingdom). Bhishma went up to Bāhlika deśa and met Salya. Salya was very happy to receive Bhishma and for an alliance with Hastinapur. But he had inherited a Vamsa ācāra (family tradition)- that of kanyā śulkaṃ- a tradition wherein the bridegroom should present wealth to the parents of the bride before marriage. Bhishma respected the family tradition of Salya and presented gold and ornaments, elephants, horses and valuable pearls, cloths and other items and brought Mādrī to Hastinapur and married her to Pāṇḍu.
Bhishma was interested in the marriage of Vidura and he identified the daughter of Devaka Maharaj as a virtuous lady worthy enough to marry Vidura. She was a pāraśiva kanya (born to a servant maid and Devaka Maharaj). With the consent of Devaka Maaharaj, Bhishma performed Vidura’s marriage.
The Birth of Kauravas
One day Veda Vyāsa came to the house of Dhṛtarāṣṭra. He was quite hungry and Gandhārī served him with lot of respect. Veda Vyāsa was very happy and he blessed that she will have hundred children. In due course of time, she became pregnant but did not deliver for almost two years. Meanwhile she heard that Kunthi had given birth to Dharmaraja.
When she heard that Kuntī had already borne a son, her frustration made her strike her womb. A hard lump of flesh came out.
Vyāsa, arriving there, consoled her. He started dividing the lump into hundred pieces. Gandhārī developed a strong desire to have one daughter also when the lump was getting divided into pieces. Knowing her intentions, Veda Vyāsa divided it into one hundred and one pieces and each was placed in a jar filled with ghee. This remarkable practice of artificial incubation, known to the ancients, ensured the survival of every fragment. After two years of incubation, there emerged one hundred sons and one daughter - Duḥśalā, the “extra child,” who became beloved of the Kuru household.
The Birth of Duryodhana and the Evil Omens
The first of the Kauravas to be born was Duryodhana. When he was born, he cried as though a donkey brayed. At his birth, dreadful signs filled the entire land - donkeys brayed, jackals howled, fierce winds blew, and the earth quaked.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra was awestruck at the strange events and he got terrified. He summoned all the elders and said, ‘In this Kuru clan Kunti’s son is the eldest and my son is the second. Can my son become the king?’ Once again there was a roar of wild animals. The wise Vidura, skilled in dharma, predicted an imminent danger and he advised Dhritarashtra to shun the child in infancy since, upon his birth, the very nature is protesting and crying with fear. He said,
“त्यजेदेकं कुलस्यार्थे ग्रामास्यार्थे कुलं त्यजेत् |
ग्रामं जनपदस्यार्थे आत्मार्थे पृथिवीं त्यजेत् ||” 2 – Adi Parvam 114.38
(For the sake of the family, one man may be abandoned; for the sake of the village, a family may be abandoned; for the sake of the realm, a village may be abandoned; and for the sake of the soul, the whole earth may be forsaken.)
Vidura urged: “O King, this child portends destruction. Abandon him now, lest he consumes the whole race.” But Dhṛtarāṣṭra, blinded by paternal affection, refused. Thus, Duryodhana was raised, while fate quietly tightened its noose around the Kurus.
Other Offspring - Yuyutsu
Besides the hundred sons of Gandhārī, Dhṛtarāṣṭra had a son by a Vaiśya woman, known in tradition as Yuyutsu. Unlike his brothers, Yuyutsu grew up virtuous and later stood on the side of the Pāṇḍavas in the great war, a rare spark of righteousness in Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s line.
The birth of Pandavas will be discussed in our next story.
Points to ponder
The very reason for the great Mahabharat was the claim for kingdom by both Pandavas and Kauravas. From the current story, it can be discerned that Pandavas were having the rightful claim since Pāṇdu was the crowned king and Dhritarashtra never became a king. Yudhiṣṭhira, son of Pāṇḍu, was destined to be the king. Then why did Kauravas claim the kingdom? It is precisely for the reason that Dhritarashtra ruled Hastinapur as a de-facto king when Pāṇḍu died by which time all his five children were still minor. Dhṛtarāṣṭra always carried a sense of injustice— his speeches in the Udyoga Parva and Śānti Parva reveal that he believed the kingdom was “rightfully his” but was denied to him.
Vidura’s marriage with the daughter of king Devaka: Viduras’s wife name and the names of their siblings are no where mentioned in Mahabharata. Devaka was the father of Devaki, the mother of Sri Krishna. Devaka had one more daughter with a servant maid, and she became the wife of Vidura. Thus, Vidura’s wife and Krishna’s mother were sisters (born to a same man with different ladies). According local traditions and Puranik stories, the name of Vidura’s wife was Sulabha; but the authenticity is missing from Veda Vyāsa Mahabharata.
Caste system: We have many references from Mahabharata that the society was divided into four varnas - Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vysya’s and Sudras on two parameters - Guna (character) and karma (their activity). There is provision of Varna ascendence or descendance depending on acquiring or forgoing virtues. A Brahmin can fall down to the status of Sudra and vice versa.
Over a period of time, due to inter-mixture of Varnas, there arose the caste system. Vidura was born to a Brahmin male and a Sudra lady and his place in social ladder was positioned as ‘pāraśiva’. Bhishma searched for a pāraśiva kanya and identified the daughter of Devaka - a lady born to a Sudra lady with a Kshatriya king. Traces of endogamy suggests that the caste system as we understand today has its roots in Mahabharata times.Artificial Incubation: The science and art of preserving the womb in ghee pots was known to our ancestors. There is a necessity of research in this area.
The Sakuna Sastra - The belief in omens and prediction of omens were very much present in olden days. Vidura, on seeing the omens, suggested Dhritarashtra to shun his son. This tradition has been continued over the years and present even by today.
“त्यजेदेकं कुलस्यार्थे …… is a very famous and very frequently quoted sloka of Maha Bharata. It comes from the mouth of the wise Vidura. It suggests that for the sake of society it is necessary to sacrifice one unworthy person. Had his advice been adhered to, the war of Maha Bharata might not happen at all.