Dhritarashtra

In the Mahabharata, Dhritarashtra was the son born to Vichitravirya's first wife Ambika. He was fathered by Vyasa. This blind king of Hastinapura was father to a hundred children by his wife Gandhari. These children came to be known as the Kauravas. Duryodhana and Dushasana were the first two sons.

After Vichitravirya's death his mother Satyavati sent for her first born, Vyasa. According to his mother's wishes, he visited both the wives of Vichitravirya to grant them a son with his yogic powers. When Vyasa visited Ambika, she saw his dreadful and forbidding appearance with burning eyes. In her frightened state, she closed her eyes and dared not open it. Hence her son, Dhritarashtra was born blind. His brother Pandu, ruled the kingdom for him due to his blindness. After Pandu's death, he became king of Hastinapura.

At the birth of his first son Duryodhana, Dhritarashtra was advised by Vidura and Bhishma to abandon the child due to bad omens surrounding the child but his love for him stopped him. Dhritarashtra was advised by his elders to be fair to the Pandavas, who were returning from the forest with their mother, Kunti.

Duryodhana was focused on making sure that the he would be the next heir for the kingdom. The king himself wanted his son to be his heir but he was also forced to consider the eldest Pandava, Yudhisthira who was older then Duryodhana.

Against his will, he named Yudhisthira his heir which left Duryodhana frustrated. As a solution Bhishma suggested the partition of Hastinapur. Trying to maintain peace, Dhritarashtra gave Yudhisthira half the Kuru kingdom, albeit the lands which were arid, unprosperous and scantily populated, known as Khandavaprastha. He purposely kept the better half of the kingdom for himself so that his son may one day rule his half of the kingdom.

Dhritarashtra was one of the many men present when Yudhisthira lost the dice game against Shakuni, Duryodhana, Dushasana and Karna. With each throw, the king lost everything gambling away his kingdom, his wealth, his brothers and finally his wife. Dhritarashtra was silent when Dushasana tried to disrobe Draupadi (the Pandavas wife) in front of the court. Finally, the blind monarch conscience was stirred, in part fearing the wrath of Pandavas against his sons. Fearing retribution from the five brothers he returned all the things they lost in the dice game.

However, Shakuni challenged Yudhisthira one more time, and Yudhisthira once more lost. This time, he, his brothers and his wife were forced to discharge the debt by spending fourteen years in exile in the forest before they could reclaim their kingdom. Dhritarashtra was warned by many that the Pandavas will not forget their humiliation. He was constantly told by many that he needed to remember that his responsibilities as king must be placed before his affection as a father.

Sanjaya, Dhritrashtra’s charioteer was blessed by Sage Vyasa with the ability to see the past,present and the future, narrated important events of the Kurukshetra war, a war fought between the Kauravas (the sons of Dhritarashtra) and the Pandavas, to the blind king. Dhritarashtra's sorrow increased day by day as an ever increasing number of his sons were slain by Bhima. He frequently bemoaned his ineffectiveness in preventing Duryodhana from going to war. Sanjaya often consoled the bereaved king but reminded him every time that dharma was on the Pandava side and a war against Krishna and Arjuna could not be humanly won regardless of the strength of the opposing force.

At the end of the great battle, Dhritarashtra was overcome with grief and rage at the loss of his hundred sons. When the blind king met the Pandavas who had come to seek his blessing prior to ascending the throne, he embraced all of them. When it was Bhima's turn, Krishna knew that the king was blind and possessed the strength of a hundred thousand elephants from the boon granted by Vyasa. He was quick to move Bhima aside and push an iron figure of Bhima into Dhritarashtra's embrace. When the thought entered Dhritarashtra's mind that the man in his embrace had killed every one of his hundred sons without mercy, his anger rose to such a pitch that the metal statue was crushed into powder. Thus, Bhima was saved and Dhritarashtra composed himself and gave the Pandavas his blessing.

Yudhisthira was crowned king of both Indraprastha and Hastinapura. The war had killed many great warriors and millions of soldiers were killed on each side. Yudhisthira once again showed his kindness when he decided that the king of the city of Hastinapura should be Dhristarashtra. He offered the blind king complete respect and deference as an elder, despite his misdeeds and the evil of his dead sons. After many years as the ruler of Hastinapura, Dhristarashtra along with Ghandhari, Kunti and Vidura left for their final journey into the forest. They died in a forest fire in the Himalayas.

Dhristadyumna

Dhristadyumna was the son of Drupada and brother of Draupadi and Shikhandi in the classic epic Mahābhārata. He is appointed Commander of the Pandava Army, and is responsible for the killing of Drona.

The king of the Panchalas, Drupada undertakes a putrakami yagna, a sacrifice to please the Gods and obtain offspring by their blessing. Drupada desires a son who can kill Drona, the Kuru martial guru who had humiliated him in battle and taken half his kingdom, even though it was Drupada who had reneged a promise made to his childhood friend Drona, that he would share his kingdom with him.

With the help of two brahmins, Drupada undertakes the sacrifice. After his wife takes the sacrificial offerings, out of the fire a fully grown powerful young and armed man before their very eyes. He is already bestowed with great martial and religious knowledge.

Even though he is the prophesied killer of Drona, he is accepted by Drona to join his school for young princes, where he learns the advanced military arts.

When his sister is bethrothed to a young brahmin of five, who wins the martial contest at her swayamvara, Dhristadyumna secretly follows the five brahmins and his sister, only to discover that they are in fact the five Pandavas: Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva.

Taking the advice of Lord Krishna and Arjuna, Dhristadyumna is installed as the Commander in Chief of the Pandava Army.

At a point when Drona, as the Kuru commander is killing vast numbers of Pandava troops, Krishna advises Yudhisthira to adopt a plan to kill the preceptor now. As it is known that as long as Drona has raised his weapons he is invincible to all other warriors, Krishna advises that it be proclaimed that Drona's son, Ashwathama has just died in the battle. It is known that out of the grief of such an eventuality, Drona will at least temporarily drop his arms.

Krishna justifies this lie to Yudhisthira as necessary to the victory of morality in the war. As Yudhisthira continues to hesitate, his brother Bhima kills a known elephant in the Kuru legions named Ashwathama and celebrates shouting "Ashwathama is dead! Ashwathama is dead!".

Shocked with disbelief when the news reaches him, Drona seeks out Yudhisthira to ascertain the news, knowing that the son of Dharma would never speak a lie. Yudhisthira tells him that Ashwathama is dead, but mutters "(I wonder) whether the man or the elephant...." ( Aswathama Hatah... naro waa Kunjarovaa)in an inaudible voice to prevent telling a whole lie or as another version tells us that he said it equally loud but Shri Krishna had planned to blow his conch at that exact moment so that Drona is unable to hear that part.

Now convinced, Drona lays down his arms and sits in meditation. It is actually said in the epic that Drona's soul has already left his body through his mediation, but Dhristadyumna takes this opportunity, swings onto Drona's chariot, and lops off his head.

Dhristadyumna is verbally abused by Satyaki and Arjuna, who were devoted students of Drona, but is defended by Krishna.

After the war is over, Ashwathama treacherously attacks the Pandava camp during the night, killing Dhristadyumna and the sons of Draupadi in revenge for his father's death and the defeat of the Kurus.

Chitrangada

Chitrāngadā in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, is one of Arjuna's wives. Arjuna travelled the length and breadth of India during his term of exile. His wanderings took him to ancient Manipur in the eastern Himalayas, an almost mystic kingdom renowned for its natural beauty. There, he met Chitrāngadā, the daughter of the king of Manipur, and was moved to seek her hand in marriage. Her father demurred on the plea that, according to the matrilineal customs of his people, the children born of Chitrāngadā were heir to Manipur; he could not allow his heirs to be taken away from Manipur by their father. Arjuna agreed to the stipulation that he would take away neither his wife Chitrāngadā nor any children borne by her from Manipur and wed the princess on this premise. A son, whom they named Babruvahana, was soon born to the couple. Babruvahana would succeed his grandfather as king of Manipur.

Rabindranath Tagore took the story of Chitrāngadā and turned it into a dance drama, very much like a modern day musical with the story put to music and with the characters acting out the parts in dance. Tagore's story differs a bit from the story of Chitrāngadā in the Mahābhārata. He expands on the character and gives her new life. In Tagore's story, Chitrāngadā is the only child of the King of Manipur. Being the heir to the throne, she dresses like a man and is the protector of the land. Her people look to her to keep them safe. One day, she meets Arjuna and seeing him in action as he hunts in the forest, she falls in love with him. Arjuna is impressed by her fighting abilities but all along believes her to be a man. Chitrāngadā falls madly in love with Arjuna but believes he could never love her the way she is. She receives a boon from a sage and transforms herself into a beautiful ladylike woman. When she meets Arjuna again, he can't help but fall in love with her. Though she believes that she has everything she wants in life, deep down she wishes that he could love her for her true self. When marauders come into her kingdom to take over the villages, Arjuna learns from the people of the kingdom that their Princess is the greatest warrior around and they wonder why she isn't there to help protect them now. Arjuna is impressed by the story of this woman who seems to be his equal when it comes to fighting and longs to meet her. Chitrāngadā appears and saves her kingdom before revealing her true self to Arjuna. No longer in love with her just for her beauty, Arjuna marries Chitrāngadā.