Dynasty of the Kurus

महाभरत

Mahābharata

As retold by

Michael Dolan, B.V. Mahāyogi

Dynasty of the Kurus

They walked again to the holy place where the great man lay pierced with arrows from head to toe. The grass was stained with blood. Bhishma was eager to see his royal relatives. They took up their positions around him. Yudhisthira asked, "Tell me of our dynasty, and how it was continued after Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. Tell us the story of our fathers."

And Bhishma continued. Satyavati was the mother of us all.

SATYAVATI

Bhiṣma continued, “Satyavati would become a second mother to me. She had been born of a forest sage and a river mermaid then left to die on the banks of the river. The history of this great queen was not fully known to me until later, when it was my duty to continue the dynasty of the Kurus. At that time she confided in me the entire story of how she had met the sage Parashara, and how the island-born Vyāsa, compiler of the Vedas, had been born to her. Now I will tell the story of Satyavati, my father's second wife.

“By the good fortune of Kṛṣṇa and the gods, Satyavati was saved by a fisherman and raised as his daughter.  She was a mere girl who ferried passengers across the Ganges in a small boat, built for the purpose. She was a nubile maid, a child of the river.

Satyavati crossing river.

 “Her father, a crafty fisherman had raised her to ferry passengers across the Ganges. As she lived in a bamboo shack beside the river with her father, she spent every morning cutting and scaling fish. After morning duties, she ran the ferry. 

Now it came to pass that one morning a great saint by the name of Parashara Muni had to cross the river. 

Now Parashara had spent a long time in the mountains meditating on the nature of the absolute and had not seen a woman during his time there. When he came upon this innocent girl, he was stunned by her beauty and determined to lay with her.

 “Satyavati, of course, had never considered herself a great beauty, for everyone insulted her and called her foul-smelling and 'fish-breath'. In truth, her mother had been a beautiful water-sprite of the river, an apsara, a kind of mermaid. How could she understand the attractive power of her beauty and the madness it would provoke in a saint? As the boat entered the smooth waters of the Ganges, Parashara, beholding her nymph-like charms, approached her gently, saying, “Oh divine nymph, come to me. Allow me to embrace you and let us know the joys of mortal love together.”

The young Satyavati was furious at the forest sage whose green eyes had a penetrating and hypnotic stare. She laughed at him and made as if to strike him with an oar if he came any closer.

“Stay away from me,” she said.

Parasara Muni and Satyavati

“I have acquired certain mystic powers by dint of my long years of penances and austerities in the mountains of the Himalayas.” He said. “Tell, me, what is your heart’s desire?”

“No closer.” she said.

“I can grant you a boon or benediction as you wish.” He said. “Don’t be afraid of me.”

“Well, if you really have any mystic powers at all,” she said, softening “Make me fragrant. The fishy smell that permeates me offends all suitors and young men everywhere.  Please help me. I have lived so long in the house of a fisherman that I smell like a fish and no one will touch me.”

“Done.” He said, and her new aroma of sandalwood and roses permeated both sides of the river with a strange and lovely perfume for eight miles in all directions.

“What more do you ask of me,” said the sage, moving closer, with his strange visage and matted hair, dressed as he was in a deerskin. “Come to me.” he gestured to her.

“Satyavati Fault Lines VIII"   Karthika Naïr 

“Well, if we are to know the joys of mortal love, transform yourself into a handsome young man in fine clothes.” she challenged.

Parasara Muni

“Done,” said the mystic and assumed temporarily the aspect of a handsome young man in fine clothes. “So now leave the oars. Come to me.”

“We shall be seen!” she exclaimed, at once alarmed and attracted. “My reputation will be ruined.”

“I’ll see to that.” He said, and so a fine mist began to pervade the atmosphere of the river. Their boat stopped dead in the water, it floated into a vast clump of golden lotus flowers. The fragrance of Satyavati changed with her mood and she now exuded the scent of jasmine flowers in the sunset.

 She smiled, coyly. “If I fall into your embrace,” She said, then I will no longer be a virgin.”

“Then“ the sage smiled, “By the mystic power of the great yogis achieved after long penance and austerities - I shall restore your virginity.”

“Can such a thing be done? What if I am with child?”

“Your child shall be born immediately. We shall leave him on yon island. His name will be Vyāsa and he will be the greatest of sages and the writer of the Vedas. His dynasty shall rule the earth. What more would you ask?”

"She smiled, her objections overcome. They embraced in the cool privacy of the scented mist.

When they reached the other side of the river, the saint Parashara once more assumed his normal appearance, an old man with matted hair in a deerskin. He again retired to the mountains of the Himalayas to pass a long time in meditation."

Riverboat,Ganges

"Now, the river-born Vyāsa was left on an island where he was later found and raised by river spirits and mountain sages. Satyavati was now a woman and her beauty famous. Not only were her eyes pure, her form shapely, but her perfume, which changed with her mood, was now redolent of sandalwood, then jasmine, and then the musky aroma of lotuses at sunrise."

And so it was that my father, childless and forlorn, having conquered vast lands beyond his own kingdom, met and fell in love with the beautiful Satyavati. Upon crossing the river he was utterly enchanted and lost his wits in the charms of love.

King Shantanu and Satyavati

"But I have already explained all these things. 

The River-born Vyasa, Compiler of Vedic Literatures

the dynasty continued

Bhishma continued, “And so, as I have already explained, after the death of the warlike Chitrangada, I went to great labors to secure a wife for my brother Vichitravirya at the Swayamvara of Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika held by the King of Kashi.  Alas, by this time my father had ascended to the heavens to be with the gods, having lived his life in accordance with dharma.

“I have told you of the great Swayamvara in the court of the King of Kashi and how I bore off his daughters in my chariot and finally how they were married to Vichitravirya.  You must know that Vichitravirya was unlucky.  After enjoying his wives for some time, Vichitravirya was still unable to conceive an heir with them. So Vichitravirya and his wives had no children or heirs to the throne.

Hindu boy-king

“And then, further tragedy struck our family. It was the will of the divine powers that he leave this world. After a time that child among men, the gentle Vichitravirya contracted tuberculosis and died leaving no heir.

Bhishma's Vow

“With the death of the good Vichitravirya, I therefore went to my father’s widow, Satyavati in order to better ascertain what should be done. That good woman, my second mother, advised me that I must now break my vow and take the wives of Vichitravirya as my own to continue the dynasty.

Satyavati from TV Mahabharata

“My dear son, Bhishma,” Satyavati said. “My sons, your brothers, are gone. The Lord has taken them to their fate. Still we must continue our dynasty.  The House of Kuru will die if we do not have heirs. Now it is your duty to continue the line.”

Devavrata's vow: "Never shall I marry."

“Who am I to beget children?” I said. “I have sworn a vow of lifelong celibacy. Have you forgotten my vow?”

The fragrant Satyavati said, “You must take the wives of your brother, Vichitravirya. They are young and ready to have children. It is the law of dharma that you do so.”

Bhishma at the Swayamvara of the daughters of Kashi: Amba, Ambalika, Ambika

“Perhaps you forget the circumstances of my vow, fair lady."

“I remember full well how these things came to pass, my son. Listen to me. If we are to rule Hastinapura and the kingdom of the Kurus, we must have an heir. Otherwise our plans are doomed to extinction and oblivion."

Ruins of Harrapa, 5,000 years old, near Hastinapura

However Satyavati, being a woman, was unable to comprehend my sacrifice. For my father’s sake and for the good of the kingdom of all the Indias, I had renounced my everything! My youth, my position as crown prince of the realm, the joys of marriage, the boast of heraldry, the pomp of power.

“My mother Ganges, the goddess of the river, had prepared me with arms and the knowledge of the Vedas for princely rule. I had given my word before my father and the gods, and for what? For Satyavati. So that Satyavati and her sons could have glory. For my father, that in his old age he could enjoy renewed youth again and have queens and princes. I had disgraced Amba and that charming and beautiful maiden had sworn her eternal hatred against me, all because I had taken the vow never to marry.

Ganga Devi

“My own guru, the terrible hater of kings, Paraśurāma had ordered me to take Amba and live in peace. I defied my allegiance to my guru deva and challenged him to arms, and thereby nearly destroyed the world; so that the son of Satyavati could be king in my stead. Now Amba had sworn to revenge me in a terrible battle with the help of Lord Shiva.

I could not, then, in good conscience follow the order of Satyavati, although, being my father’s wife, she was still my mother. It seemed to me not to be in keeping with dharma. 

“After debating the finer points of dharma in this way, we were unable to come to a decision as to how to continue the line. Satyavati, with all her charms was unable to move me from my fierce determination to keep my word. Dharma was everything to me.  I would not give it up.

“It was at this time, however, that Satyavati revealed to me the secret of her conceiving the sage Vyasa, the island-born compiler of the Vedas, the story I have just told.  

I had a mysterious step-brother, Veda-vyasa. In days of old it was considered correct for a brother to add new blood to the line to perpetuate the dynasty. We decided that he alone could continue the family line of the sons of Bharata. There is a tradition that when the king’s line is weak, it may be revived by a worthy brahmaṇa. Vyasa, born of Satyavati was such a brahmaṇa.

Veda Vyasa

VYASA, AMBIKA, AMBALIKA, AND THE SHUDRA:  

            Bhishma said, “Now I will narrate the story of how the Kuru line was continued by Vyasa and the wives of Vichitravirya. How Dhritarashtra, Paṇḍu, and Vidura were born.  After consulting with Satyavati we decided to continue the line with the help of Veda Vyasa, my step-brother. It was at this time that my stepmother Satyavati narrated to me the story of how she had met with the sage Parashara and how she had given birth to the great sage Vyasa. I will now explaiin this to you.

“It was decided that Vyasa, being a brahmaṇa and a member of the royal line, was qualified to beget children with the wives of Vichitravirya and so continue the line. I was pleased to have such a brother as the great writer of the Vedas, Vyasa himself and was pleased with the plan of Satyavati.

            “So Satyavati retired to her quarters and sat in meditation, prayed to her son, Vyasa, while remembering him. She could communicate with him simply by thinking.  That great saint, absorbed in meditation heard her plea and after a short time, he appeared at the great marble palace of Hastinapura, seat of all the Indias.

Vyasa and Satyavati

There Satyavati greeted her son, embracing him and bathing him in her tears. The once poor daughter of a fisherman, now the great queen of Hastinapura wept to see her long lost son. 

“Vyasa was moved at her tears and said, “I am here to grant any wish you have, my lady.” Whereupon Satyavati explained her need to continue the line of the house of Kuru and implored his help. So Vyasa was called upon to produce children with Ambika, and Ambalika.  He told Satyavati, “You have given me life, O Mother. I cannot deny your request.

“However - look at me. I am thin, wasted by a life of austerities,” said Vyasa.  “My skin is like leather and my hair disheveled and unkempt, matted in knots and twisted.  I am utterly unattractive to women. You must give me some time to make myself presentable to these young ladies. You must speak to the wives of Vichitravirya and explain what must be done.”

But Satyavati had no patience for these formalities.

"We must act at once," she said. "Enemy kings are surrounding Hastinapura even know. We must have an heir."

Reluctantly, Vyasa agreed.

            “The princesses consented to bear the children of Vyasa, but found the forest sage repulsive. The queen had ordered it, Vichitravirya had passed away, and his wives had no children to continue the dynasty. They had no choice in the matter. If they didn't bear sons, they would die in oblivion. 

"Continue the dynasty: beget children with Vyasa"

"And So it was that on a dark night with no moon Ambika waited for the forest sage. She had bathed in the cold waters of the Ganges and perfumed herself with jasmine.  Her mind and body were clean. She waited naked on a soft luxurious bed, beneath the silk sheets decorated with garlands of fragrant gardenia flowers.

A single oil lamp lit her chamber.  She heard a sound in the corridor outside her room. The door creaked open. It was Vedavyasa - of dark complexion, his hair matted, his odd appearance revolting to the young princess. He wore a deerskin and his eyes blazed with fire.

 She recoiled at his dark skin and grim beard. She cringed at his leathery touch.  She surrendered to him, but, because of the physical ugliness of Veda Vyasa, Ambika closed her eyes. And when Vyasa left the bed-chamber of the young princess, she shivered with fright.

Vyasa and Satyavati

            As Vyasa was leaving, the queen met him in a dark corridor of the palace and asked the sage, “Will my daughter have a suitable heir to rule the throne of India?”  And Vyasa responded, “He will have the strength of a thousand elephants. He will be an illustrious royal sage, learned and intelligent. One hundred warrior sons will be born to him to continue the dynasty.

The blind Dhritarastra

But know this, because the princess was unable to tolerate my ugliness, and because she recoiled at the sight of my dark skin and grim beard she closed her eyes, so her son will be born blind. He will see with the eye of the mind.”  Satyavati was shocked, saying, “A blind man cannot rule. You must give us another son. You may try again with Ambika when the time comes.”

Dhritarashtra  धृतराष्थ्र

            Vyasa left. Months later, a son was born to the royal house of the Kurus. He was my nephew. As told by Vyasa, a consequence of Ambika closing her eyes at the time of conception, her son was born blind, Dhritarashtra. 

            Satyavati was not satisfied that he would make a good king. So again she prayed to Vyasa to help her. Vyasa returned to the marble palace of Hastinapura where the elephants once roamed over the fair plains of Northern India. 

This time he was to visit the youngest of the daughters of King Kashi, the fair Ambalika.  As the full moon shone through the window of her bedroom, the chaste and delicate daughter of the King of Kashi waited for him. The second and youngest wife of Vichitravirya was a frail girl. While she had bathed in the sacred waters of the Ganges to purify herself and decorated with kunkum and fragrant with sandalwood perfume, she trembled in fear.

            She had seen the sage Vyasa visit the palace and was terrified by him. As he entered her chamber in the pale moonlight, she turned pale with fear beholding the grim visage of the fantastically ugly forest sage. 

Trembling and pale with fright she received him on her soft feather bed. When he left her chamber, Vyasa was again met by Satyavati in a dark corridor of the palace.

PAṆḌU  पण्डु

She asked him, “Will this child rule the throne of all the Indias?” Vyasa smiled and told her, “Because she was pale with fear at the sight of my grim countenance, her child will be born pale. His name will be Paṇḍu the pale. So her son was born pale as an albino, the great king Paṇḍu. The every scheming Satyavati, who was as crafty as her father the fisherman, was then worried that the offspring so born were not fit to be kings.

Hindi TV version of Pandu

So Vyasa was again called for by Satyavati. This time the queens of Vichitravirya, knowing of the disgusting aspect of the great forest sage conspired amongst themselves to send a servant girl to Vyasa as their substitute.  They left her in the royal bedchamber decorated like a princess in the dark of night. Indeed by the feeble light of the oil lamp it was difficult to distinguish this girl from a princess, for her beauty was like that of a forest nymph.

When Vyasa of grim visage entered her bed-chamber, she rose to greet him. She spoke to him with pleasing words saying, “O Vyasa of great wisdom, it is my honor to receive you as your wife. You are the all-knowing writer of the Vedas. Your visit is a blessing from the gods. This girl out of piety accepted him as her husband. When Vyasa left, he turned to her and said, “After this, you shall be free and will never again be a slave in the house of wealthy patrons.

vidura  विदुर

“Your son will be fortunate and virtuous,” that great sage told her, “He will be the wisest of all those who rule in the house of Kuru.” Her son was born Vidura, free from passion and desire. Indeed Vidura was none other than Yamaraja, the god of death and justice, who was cursed to walk the earth for having unjustly punished a brahmaṇa.”

Vidura, son of Vyasa

At this, the great Bhishma paused his narrative. He looked to the sky and watched an eagle wheeling high over the Kurukshetra war plains. The great Yudhiṣthira  sitting with his brothers, listening to the  story of the old warrior, asked him, “How was it that the lord of death was cursed to walk the earth among the members of the house of Kuru? What did the god of justice do to be so cursed? And what brahmaṇa cursed death himself to be born in a lower class?”

THE CURSE OF YAMARAJA यमराज

 “I will now tell you how the Lord of Death was cursed by a brahmaṇa for unjustly punishing him and how death himself was then punished by being born a mortal as the sagacious Vidura.

“Once there was a brahmaṇa, Mandavya, devoted to dharma. He used to sit by his ashram at the foot of a tree with arms upraised. 

He worshiped the gods in this way, and followed a severe vow of silence.  It came to pass that a group of bandits hid in his ashram along with their stolen loot. The sage was unmoved. He followed his vow without a care for what went on in the world around him. When the king’s men arrived searching for the bandits, he still held fast to his vow of silence. 

Yamaraja, lord of Death

“They questioned him saying, “O great sage, tell us, did you see anyone go by here? We are looking for some dangerous men. Did they pass by here?” Of course, the sage maintained his silence, with his arms upraised. The king’s men searched the ashram and found the bandits hidden there. Naturally, they accused the sage of conspiring with the bandits. He was arrested by the king’s men and then sentenced to death. He was finally executed by being impaled on a javelin. On leaving his body, his spirit entered the hall of the god of death, and he asked him, “Why was I tortured so?”

Death personified

Death replied to him, “In your previous life, when you were a child you impaled an insect with a blade of grass. This was your karma and so you are now punished.”  The great saint and brahmaṇa who had suffered so much for such an inconsequential act cursed the god of death himself, saying, “It is unjust to punish children for their innocence. The punishment must fit the crime. As you have punished me unjustly, so must you be punished. I curse you to take birth in the lower classes, that you might learn what is justice and injustice.”

So it was the god of death was cursed and took birth as Vidura, the wise advisor of the Kurus, who knew only too well the laws of justice.

            Yudhiṣthira  asked: “Tell me O Grandfather, how was the dynasty continued? How was my father married, and how did our uncle the blind king Dhritarashtra come to marry Gandhari and have one hundred sons?

THE GOLDEN AGE

            Bhishma continued his narration of the story of Greater India, the Mahabharata, saying as follows: “After Dhritarashtra, Paṇḍu, and Vidura were born, the kingdom prospered. Kurujangala, Kurukshetra and the Kurus grew in wealth. The monsoon rains came and went. The land was green with the rice harvest. The papaya and mango trees were rich with fruits.

Coin from Harrapan Civilization cerca 3000 B.C.

“We cultivated wheat for bread and all kinds of fruits and vegetables including cauliflower, lettuce, mustard, cabbage, and different kinds of leafy spinach. Bananas, mangos, papaya and jackfruit were plentiful. The oxen ploughed the black earth and the cows were happy and gave us milk, cheese, and butter. The forest animals played in the jungle without a care; the elephants helped clear the land for agriculture and houses, and family dogs were playful in the town.

            “In that golden age, the gardenia and jasmine flowers were so plentiful the air was perfumed with their fragrance for miles on both sides of the Ganges. The towns were well-organized and all varieties of fruits and vegetables, rice, beans, tea, milk, butter, and palm fruit sugar were available in the market. There were rich cloths of silk, cotton, and wool to be had as well, along with varieties of tools made of iron and wood, toys and musical instruments. The towns near Hastinapura were filled with merchants, artisans in stone, wood, iron, glass, and other materials. There were artists and musicians of all descriptions.

King's head, Vedic Age

            “In this golden age, there was no crime, no robbers, or evil-doers.  The people of Hastinapura were devoted to virtuous acts, and there was no sin or dishonesty. The people were brave, learned, honest and happy.  The people were devoted to sacrifice and truth and lived with one another in love and affection.  Free from lust, anger, greed, and pride they took joy in simple living and high thinking.

Ancient University

“They enjoyed innocent sports.   At that time, Hastinapura had many palaces and mansions. There were gates and archways in the Vedic style. The young men would swim and play water sports in the rivers, lakes and ponds. They held races and ball games on the plains and picnics in the charming bamboo groves and green woods. There was no racism or class distinction. 

Indus seal with unicorn bull about 2000 b.c.

The southern Kurus kept company with Siddhas, Charanas, and Rishis. There were no misers, no bankers, no capitalists exploiting poor people, no money-lenders. The woman all had husbands and it never rained during the day; only at night. The wells and lakes were always full of water; the groves green with trees. The homes and ashrams of the brahmaṇas full of wealth. Every day was a festival or saint’s day, or joyous festivity of some sort. 

Religious festival, Ganges

Bhiṣma as regent

            “In those days, of course, I was the de facto  ruler of Hastinapura until the sons of Vichitravirya, Dhritarashtra, Paṇḍu and Vidura came of age. It was a time of perfect peace and harmony. We held sacrifices to the gods and the country was virtuous in every way.  

River offering

Our fair city and the countryside around was so attractive indeed that people would come from miles around, leaving their native homes and villages to live with us or near us in fair Hastinapura.  So the population increased. The citizens were filled with hope of an even brighter future, seeing the youthful deeds of their great princes. The common expressions were, “Eat, my friend,” and “Take, it is yours,” and “Just ask, let me give it to you.” and “My house is your house.”

            “The sons of Vichitravirya were given a fine education by the best saints and scholars in the land. They grew into fine young men, skilled in the Vedas and athletic sports. They were expert in archery, in horsemanship, in the martial arts. They were trained in sporting duels with the mace, expert with sword and shield. They were trained in managing elephants in battle and in the science of morality. They were well-read in history and science, critical thinking and the wisdom books of the Vedas.

Vedic literature in Sanskrit

Pale Paṇḍu

            “Pale Paṇḍu was the best archer, while none rivaled the blind Dhritarashtra in physical strength. None would equal Vidura in virtue, wisdom, and morality.  Seeing the line of Shantanu restored by such great sons, the saying was coined that among mothers of heroes, the daughters of Kashi were first; among countries, Kurujangala was first; among the Virtuous, Vidura was first; among cities, fair Hastinapura was first.

Archers on elephants, India

Blind dhirtarashtra

            “Now, while Dhritarashtra was first-born, according to the ancient laws of kings he could not rule the kingdom, being born blind. His physical disadvantage was not acceptable to the rulers of those times.  Vidura, having been born of a Shudra woman could not rule a kingdom.  In this way, his younger brother, Pale Paṇḍu became king. When I saw they were mature enough, I told these young men that the time had come for them to take wives. There were three candidates: the daughter of Surasena of the Yadavas, the beautiful Kunti; the daughter of Subal, and the princess of Madra. When my nephews agreed, I did what I could to arrange the marriages.

Gandhari, blindfolded with her husband

Gandhari 

            It was said that the amiable daughter of the King of Subal, Gandhari, by name, had obtained a boon from the Lord Shiva to have 100 sons.  The King was hesitant, at first, due to Dhritarashtra’s blindness but considering the noble blood of the Kurus, he relented. Gandhari was a suitable virgin. Famed for her chastity, she was an amiable and charming bride. In solidarity with her husband and with great love and respect for him, she blindfolded her own eyes, so that she would live as he did, with no sight. This vow would later endow her with special powers.

            Her brother, the clever Shakuni, gave her away at the nuptial ceremony which we celebrated with great pomp according to ancient traditions. All the Kurus were impressed by her chastity and respectful manner. We felt that we had made the best match possible to continue the greatness of our dynasty in the golden age of Hastinapura.

            Now at this time there lived a great Yadava king named Sura. His daughter was called Pritha, and she was an unrivaled beauty. His cousin and friend, Kuntibhoja raised Pritha as his own daughter, in accordance with the wishes of Sura. She was well-formed and lotus-eyed, with full hips and round breasts. She was chaste and accomplished in the sixty-four arts.

And yet, no prince had asked for her hand.  So her father Kuntibhoja held a Swayamvara ceremony allowing the princess to select her husband from among many princes and kings. When she saw young Paṇḍu, proud as a lion, broad-chested, bull-eyed, and endowed with great strength, she quivered with emotion as she placed the nuptial garland around his neck.

            The other kings honored her decision and so Kuntibhoja married them in the assembly of great princes and with the daughters of kings gathered there as witnesses.

            Some time after this, knowing full well the tragedy that accompanies those unable to get suitable heirs for their kingdom, I determined to marry Paṇḍu with a second wife and so went to the king of Madra and asked for his daughter Madri.  When he consented, she too was accepted as wife to the great King Paṇḍu. In like manner I found a wife for the pious Vidura in the daughter of king Devaka.  Vidura had many children with her, but they could never rule the kingdom, having come from a family of shudras.

            Meanwhile the virtuous Gandhari had one hundred sons. How she did so, I shall now tell you.

The Hundred Sons of Gandhari

Yudhiṣthira  said, “How did Gandhari bear 100 sons? How were we, the sons of Paṇḍu born to our mother, Kunti?”

            Bhishma continued his story, explaining the birth of the 100 sons of Dhritarashtra and Gandhari, saying:

“The saint who gave Gandhari the blessing of 100 sons was none other than the great island-born Vyasa, the same Vyasa who compiled the Vedas. Once upon a time, exhausted and hungry, he visited the King of Gandhara and came to the abode of Gandhari. Chaste and amiable as ever, she entertained the great sage with her hospitality. And well-satisfied with her, he blessed her that she would have 100 strong sons.

            “Some time after her marriage with the blind Dhritarashtra, she became pregnant. Her pregnancy lasted a long time--more than two years.  Depressed and angry that she was unable to give birth after such a long time, she became frustrated. A rumor had circulated that the fair and beautiful Kunti, daughter of Surasena, her rival, had already given birth and that the child had been born with a golden effulgence that illuminated the night sky like the very sun. 

“Remembering her rivalry with Kunti she became increasingly angry that her rival might bear a child before her. So it was that Gandhari, in anger and frustration struck her womb with great violence until she gave birth to a hard mass of flesh. And when she was about to dispose of this hard mass of flesh, Vyasa, learning everything by his spiritual powers, came to her.

“Seeing the ball of flesh, hard as leather or iron, he told her to bring 100 glass jars filled with ghee. The ball was divided into 100 parts, each about the size of a thumb, and an equal part placed in each glass jar to incubate. She was given a formula and special incantations and told by the sage to incubate the embryos in glass jars for another 24 months.

“While Gandhari was dividing the ball of flesh into a hundred parts with the island born Vyasa, she asked him if it were possible to have a daughter, and dividing one of the parts again, they found an extra part of flesh which was enough for a daughter. So dividing the parts they left them in glass jars of ghee to incubate again for 24 months.

            “In course of time, the jealous Duryodhana was born as the first and foremost of the sons of Dhritarashtra.

Duryodhan from Hindi TV series.

            “When the envious Duryodhana was born he began to cry and bray like an ass. Hearing this sound, wild asses, wolves, vultures, jackals, and crows began to fill the sky with their shrieks and cries. Violent winds blew and fires burned in the forests. Earthquakes and lightning storms announced the birth of one who would destroy the world. Jackals and tigers howled. Prophets announced the end of the world. Within a month the rest of the hundred sons of Dhritarashtra and one daughter, Dushala, were born. In secret, Dhritarashtra begot with a Vaishya woman another son who was Yuyutsa the Bastard.”