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In the Mahābhārata Dhritarashtra (Sanskrit: धृतराष्ट्र, dhritarāshtra) was the son born to Vichitravirya's first wife Ambika. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical Vichitravirya ( Sanskrit: विचित्रवीर्य vichitravīrya) in the Hindu epic Mahabharata is the younger son of queen Ambika (अम्बिका was the daughter of King of Kashi and wife of Vichitravirya, King of Hastinapur. He was fathered by Vyasa. Vyāsa ( Devanāgarī: व्यास is a central and revered figure in the majority of Hindu traditions This blind king of Hastinapura was father to a hundred children by his wife Gandhari. WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Hastinapur (हस्तिनापुर (Hastinapura in Sanskrit) is a town and a Nagar panchayat These children came to be known as the Kauravas. The term Kaurava ( Sanskrit:कौरव is a Sanskrit term that means a descendant of Kuru, a legendary king who is the ancestor of many of the characters Duryodhana and Dushasana were the first two sons. In the Hindu epic the Mahābhārata, Duryodhana (दुर्योधन is the eldest son of the blind king Dhritarashtra by Queen Gandhari Dushasana (दुश्यासन Duśśāsana in IAST transliteration and sometimes written Duhshasana and Dushyasana) was the second son of the blind
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Birth
After Vichitravirya's death his mother Satyavati sent for her first born, Vyasa. Satyavati ( Sanskrit: सत्यवती is the great-grandmother of the Pandava and Kaurava princes principal characters of the Mahābhārata According to his mother's wishes, he visited both the wives of Vichitravirya to grant them a son with his yogic powers. When Vyasa visited Ambika, she saw his dreadful and forbidding appearance with burning eyes. In her frightened state, she closed her eyes and dared not open it. Hence her son, Dhritarashtra was born blind. His brother Pandu, ruled the kingdom for him due to his blindness. In the Mahābhārata epic Pandu ( Sanskrit: पाण्डु is the son of Vichitravirya and his second wife Ambalika from Vyasa After Pandu's death, he became king of Hastinapura.
Reign as king
At the birth of his first son Duryodhana, Dhritarashtra was advised by Vidura and Bhishma to abandon the child due to bad omens surrounding the child but his love for him stopped him. Vidura ( Sanskrit: विदुर vidūra) was half-brother to Dhritarashtra and Pandu. Bhishma: One of the strongest characters of the Mahabharata. He was the great-uncle of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas A unparalleled archer he once Dhritarashtra was advised by his elders to be fair to the Pandavas, who were returning from the forest with their mother, Kunti. Kunti ( Sanskrit: कुंती is the mother of the eldest three of the Pandava brothers from the Indian epic Mahābhārata.
The succession crisis
Duryodhana was focused on making sure that the he would be the next heir for the kingdom. The king himself wanted his son to be his heir but he was also forced to consider the eldest Pandava, Yudhisthira who was older then Duryodhana. In the great Hindu epic Mahabharata, Yudhisthira ( Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर yudhiṣṭhira) the eldest son of King
Against his will, he named Yudhisthira his heir which left Duryodhana frustrated. As a solution Bhishma suggested the partition of Hastinapur. Trying to maintain peace, Dhritarashtra gave Yudhisthira half the Kuru kingdom, albeit the lands which were arid, unprosperous and scantily populated, known as Khandavaprastha. He purposely kept the better half of the kingdom for himself so that his son may one day rule his half of the kingdom.
The dice game
Dhritarashtra was one of the many men present when Yudhisthira lost the dice game against Shakuni, Duryodhana, Dushasana and Karna. The villain Shakuni ( Sanskrit: शकुनि an avatar of Dvapara the personification of Dvapara Yuga, was the brother of Gandhari in the Mahābhārata With each throw, the king lost everything gambling away his kingdom, his wealth, his brothers and finally his wife. Dhritarashtra was silent when Dushasana tried to disrobe Draupadi (the Pandavas wife) in front of the court. In the Ancient Indian epic Mahābhārata, Krsnā Draupadī (Devanagari कृष्णा द्रौपदी; approx Finally, the blind monarch conscience was stirred, in part fearing the wrath of Pandavas against his sons. Fearing retribution from the five brothers he returned all the things they lost in the dice game.
However, Shakuni challenged Yudhisthira one more time, and Yudhisthira once more lost. The villain Shakuni ( Sanskrit: शकुनि an avatar of Dvapara the personification of Dvapara Yuga, was the brother of Gandhari in the Mahābhārata This time, he, his brothers and his wife were forced to discharge the debt by spending fourteen years in exile in the forest before they could reclaim their kingdom. Dhritarashtra was warned by many that the Pandavas will not forget their humiliation. He was constantly told by many that he needed to remember that his responsibilities as king must be placed before his affection as a father.
Battle of Kurukshetra
Sanjaya, Dhritrashtra’s charioteer was blessed by Sage Vyasa with the ability to see the past,present and the future, narrated important events of the Kurukshetra war, a war fought between the Kauravas (the sons of Dhritarashtra) and the Pandavas, to the blind king. The Kurukshetra War ( Devangari: कुरुक्षेत्र युद्ध forms an essential component of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata The term Kaurava ( Sanskrit:कौरव is a Sanskrit term that means a descendant of Kuru, a legendary king who is the ancestor of many of the characters In the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, the Pandava (or Pandawa brothers ( Sanskrit: पाण्डव pāṇḍavaḥ are the five acknowledged sons of Dhritarashtra's sorrow increased day by day as an ever increasing number of his sons were slain by Bhima. He frequently bemoaned his ineffectiveness in preventing Duryodhana from going to war. Sanjaya often consoled the bereaved king but reminded him every time that dharma was on the Pandava side and a war against Krishna and Arjuna could not be humanly won regardless of the strength of the opposing force.
Crushing of Bhima's Metal Statue
At the end of the great battle, Dhritarashtra was overcome with grief and rage at the loss of his hundred sons. When the blind king met the Pandavas who had come to seek his blessing prior to ascending the throne, he embraced all of them. When it was Bhima's turn, Krishna knew that the king was blind and possessed the strength of a hundred thousand elephants from the boon granted by Vyasa. Krishna (कृष्ण in Devanagari kṛṣṇa in IAST, ˈkr̩ʂɳə in classical Sanskrit is a deity worshiped across many traditions of Hinduism He was quick to move Bhima aside and push an iron figure of Bhima into Dhritarashtra's embrace. When the thought entered Dhritarashtra's mind that the man in his embrace had killed every one of his hundred sons without mercy, his anger rose to such a pitch that the metal statue was crushed into powder. Thus, Bhima was saved and Dhritarashtra composed himself and gave the Pandavas his blessing.
Later years and death
Yudhisthira was crowned king of both Indraprastha and Hastinapura. The war had killed many great warriors and millions of soldiers were killed on each side. Yudhisthira once again showed his kindness when he decided that the king of the city of Hastinapura should be Dhristarashtra. He offered the blind king complete respect and deference as an elder, despite his misdeeds and the evil of his dead sons. After many years as the ruler of Hastinapura, Dhristarashtra along with Ghandhari, Kunti and Vidura left for their final journey into the forest. They died in a forest fire in the Himalayas.
The first stanza of the Bhagavad Gita is a question from Dhritarashtra to Sanjaya asking him to recount the Kurukshetra war. The Kurukshetra War ( Devangari: कुरुक्षेत्र युद्ध forms an essential component of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata The name is written Dhṛtarāṣṭṛa in IAST transliteration. The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration ( IAST) is a popular Transliteration scheme that allows a lossless Romanization of Indic
Dhritarashtra in later arts
- In the 1988 tv series titled Mahabharat, directed by B. R. Chopra, Dhritarashtra was portrayed by Girja Shankar. Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) Baldev Raj Chopra (BR Chopra (born April 22 1914 in Ludhiana, Punjab) is an Indian director and producer of Bollywood movies and television serials
- In the 1989 mini series, titled The Mahābhārata, directed by Peter Brook, Dhritarashtra was portrayed by Polish actor Ryszard Cieslak. Year 1989 ( MCMLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar) Peter Stephen Paul Brook CH, CBE (born 21 March 1925) is a British theatre and Film director and innovator Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland
| Preceded by Pandu |
King of Hastinapura | Succeeded by Yudhishtira |
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