Section 3: Birth and Childhood of the Pāṇḍavas and Kauravas
The story of the two rival branches of the Kuru dynasty begins with the unusual births of their children. King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, despite his blindness, ruled Hastināpura with the guidance of Bhīṣma and Vidura. His queen, Gāndhārī, was devoted and austere, performing severe penances to gain powerful children. When she became pregnant, her term extended unnaturally for two full years. In frustration, she struck her womb, and what emerged was not a child but a hard mass of flesh. Heartbroken, she turned to the sage Vyāsa, who divided the mass into one hundred and one pieces, placing them in jars of clarified butter. In due course, these developed into one hundred sons and one daughter. The eldest of these sons was Duryodhana, born with an ominous bray of donkeys and jackals—a sign of future destruction. From his birth onward, ill omens haunted Hastināpura.
Meanwhile, King Pāṇḍu's story took a different turn. Pāṇḍu was cursed by a sage whom he had accidentally killed while hunting: he would die the moment he embraced his wives. Saddened, Pāṇḍu renounced his throne and retired with his queens, Kuntī and Mādrī, to the forest. Kuntī, however, had a boon granted by the sage Durvāsas: she could invoke any deity to bear a child. With Pāṇḍu's consent, she used this boon. By invoking Dharma, she bore Yudhiṣṭhira, who embodied truth and righteousness. By invoking Vāyu, the wind god, she gave birth to Bhīma, known for immense strength. By invoking Indra, she gave birth to Arjuna, destined to become the greatest archer and warrior.
Kuntī shared her boon with Mādrī, who invoked the twin gods, the Aśvins, giving birth to Nakula and Sahadeva, renowned for their beauty, wisdom, and skill in medicine and astronomy. Thus, the five sons of Pāṇḍu—the Pāṇḍavas—were born.
Tragically, while still young, Pāṇḍu succumbed to his curse after mistakenly embracing Mādrī. Mādrī, overwhelmed with grief, performed self-immolation, leaving Kuntī to raise all five sons. The widowed queen then returned with them to Hastināpura, where Dhṛtarāṣṭra reluctantly welcomed them.
From their earliest years, rivalry brewed between the Pāṇḍavas and the Kauravas. Bhīma, strong and fearless, often bullied the Kauravas in play, which bred resentment, especially in Duryodhana. Hatred soon replaced childish quarrels. Duryodhana, guided by his scheming uncle Śakuni, saw the Pāṇḍavas not as brothers but as threats to his claim to the throne. This animosity would intensify as they grew older, shaping every twist of the epic.
The princes were all placed under the care of teachers and sages to learn the arts of warfare, governance, and wisdom. It was in these early years that Arjuna shone as a disciple of Droṇācārya, while Karṇa—an abandoned child raised by a charioteer—entered the scene, unknowingly bound to the same destiny as the Pāṇḍavas. The seeds of jealousy, ambition, and fate had already been sown, waiting for the right time to erupt.