The Pandavas and Kauravas Are Born

King Pandu was a brave warrior. One day, hunting in the forest, he shot an arrow at a pair of deer. They were really the sage Kindama and his wife in the form of deer. As he died, the sage cursed him: 'The day you go to your wife in love, that day you will die.' Grief-stricken, Pandu handed the kingdom to Dhritarashtra and went to live in the forest with both his queens.

Pandu worried about how his line would continue. Then Kunti told him about Durvasa's mantra. With Pandu's blessing, Kunti called Dharmaraj, and Yudhishthira was born. Then from Vayu, the wind god, came mighty Bhima, and from Indra, king of the gods, came Arjuna. Kunti shared the mantra with Madri. Madri called the twin Ashvini Kumaras, and the twins Nakula and Sahadeva were born.

Meanwhile in Hastinapur, Gandhari had received a boon from Vyasa that she would have a hundred sons. But two years passed and no child was born. When she heard that Kunti's son had been born, in grief and jealousy she struck her own womb. A lump of flesh came out. Vyasa came, divided it into a hundred and one parts, and had them placed in pots filled with ghee.

In time, a hundred sons and one daughter, Dushala, were born from the pots. The eldest was Duryodhana. At his birth jackals howled and evil omens appeared. Vidura said, 'For the good of the family, give this child up.' But a father's attachment won, and Dhritarashtra could not do it. Yudhishthira had been born a little before Duryodhana, so he was the eldest prince of the family.

Fifteen years passed in the forest. One spring day, seeing Madri, Pandu could not control himself, and as the curse foretold, he died. Madri blamed herself and became sati with her husband, leaving her two sons in Kunti's care. The forest sages brought Kunti and the five boys to Hastinapur, where Bhishma welcomed them. Now the five brothers began to grow up alongside their hundred cousins.