With Vichitravirya dead and no heir left, the Kuru throne stood on the edge of collapse. The royal bloodline—so carefully preserved, so violently protected—was about to vanish.
Satyavati, Queen Mother, called upon the last hope she had.
She sent word into the forest.
And Vyasa came.
He emerged from the shadows like the truth itself—matted hair, austere robes, eyes that held the weight of the Vedas. He bowed before his mother.
"You summoned me."
She spoke with urgency. "The dynasty must live on. The widows of Vichitravirya must bear sons. I ask you—give them children, for the sake of the Kuru line."
Vyasa closed his eyes. "So be it. But know this: they will bear sons as a result of their own hearts. Their feelings in that moment shall shape the nature of their children."
And so the strange ritual began.
First came Ambika, the elder queen. But when Vyasa approached her, his wild appearance filled her with fear. She shut her eyes.
Her son was born blind.
He was named Dhritarashtra.
Next came Ambalika, the younger queen. She was pale with dread as Vyasa entered. Her son was born weak and sickly.
He was named Pandu.
Satyavati begged for one more chance. A maidservant—calm, composed—was sent to Vyasa in place of the queens.
She welcomed him without fear.
And from her came Vidura—wise, just, and noble of soul, though born of a maid and not royal blood.
Three sons.
One blind.
One frail.
One flawless, but denied the throne by birth.
The Kuru line had been saved… but it had not been healed.
Years passed. Dhritarashtra grew strong in body, but he could not see. Pandu grew skilled in archery and the scriptures. Vidura, though never crowned, became the voice of truth in every court.
In time, Dhritarashtra married Gandhari, a princess from Gandhara. Hearing of her husband's blindness, she bound her own eyes in cloth and vowed never to see what he could not.
Pandu was given the throne, as Dhritarashtra's blindness disqualified him from rule.
And fate, now fully awake, began to spin faster.
Three sons of Vyasa stood at the center of it all—one ruling, one watching, and one silently calculating.
The future of the Kuru dynasty had been born.
But so too had its curse.