Snippets of Information - Epics
Mahabaratham - Characters - Dhritarashtra
Dhritarashtra (Dhrtaraastra), a central character in the
Mahabaratha was the son of queen Ambika, wife of King Vichitravirya.
Dhritarashtra was born to Ambika and Vichitravirya's half-brother Vyasa
under a tradition called Niyoga.
Since Vichitravirya died childless, queen Satyavati requested Bhishma to
marry his wives Ambika and Ambalika, but Bhishma refused, citing his
vow of celibacy. Satyavati revealed her secret past and requested
Bhishma to bring her firstborn Vyasa to impregnate the widows under a
tradition called Niyoga. By this time, Vyasa had compiled the Vedas.
Sage Vyasa was unkempt because of months of meditation in the forest.
Hence upon seeing him, Ambika who was rather scared shut her eyes,
resulting in their child, Dhritarashtra, being born blind.
The other queen, Ambalika, turned pale in fear upon meeting Vyasa, which resulted in their child Pandu being born pale.
Being blind, Dhritarashtra could not be trained in fighting but he was
considered very strong. Though Dhritarashtra was the elder son, he was
considered unfit to rule and hence his half-brother Pandu became the
ruler. After Pandu retired to the forests, Dhritarashtra was made
the king. He married Gandhari, the princess of Gandhara (present day
Kandahar in Afghanistan).
Gandhari, considered an incarnation of Mati, the goddess of wisdom, was
the daughter of Subala, king of Gandhara and Sudarma. She had 100
brothers most of whom were killed by Bhishma before her wedding. The
youngest among them was Shakuni, her elder brother. Gandhari had
received a boon from Lord Shiva to have 100 children. Bhishma
perhaps selected Gandhari as the bride for Dhritarashtra mainly because
of this boon. Upon hearing that her husband was blind, she
blindfolded herself too for the rest of her life because she did not
want to see the world which her husband could not. There is also
another belief that she blindfolded herself in protest against
Bhishma who had arranged her marraige to a blind king.
Dhritarashtra & Gandhari had 100 sons (the Kauravas - Duryodhana and
his brothers) and a daughter named Dushala. Dhritarashtra had a son
named Yuyutsu through a maid.
Dhritarashtra was torn between his role as a king and his love for his
son Duryodhana who was driven by jealousy against his cousins, the
Pandavas. Blind love for his son made him support Duryodhana through all
his unfair actions.
During the war, Dhritarashtra was able to learn the activities in the
warfield through his charioteer Sanjaya, who could see all the actions
in the warfield through divine vision. 15 years after the war, he spent
his last days in a forest along with Gandhari, Kunti and Vitura. He
perished in a forest fire and attained moksham.
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