Dhritarashtra
Encyclopedia
In the Mahābhārata
, Dhritarashtra (Sanskrit
: धृतराष्ट्र, dhritarāshtra) was King of Hastinapur at the time of the Kurukshetra War
, the epic's climactic event. He was born the son of Vichitravirya
's first wife Ambika, and was fathered by Vyasa
. He was blind from birth, and became father to a hundred children by his wife Gandhari
(Gāndhārī
). These children, including the eldest son Duryodhana
, came to be known as the Kaurava
s. Dhritarashtra was half-brother of Pandu
, and was uncle to the five Pandavas, with whom his sons fought the Kurukshetra War
. He appears in Mahābhārata
sections that have been circulated as separate scriptures, most notably the Bhagavad Gita
, whose dialogue was narrated to him.
sent for her first born, Vyasa
. 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 them. Hence her son, Dhritarashtra, was born blind. His brother Pandu
, the son of Vichitravirya's second wife Ambalika, got the crown of Hastinapur and after the death of Pandu no one could agree on the selection of a king. Duryodhana became the crown prince of Hastinapur and Yudhishthira became the emperor of Indraprastha.
and Bhishma
to abandon the child due to bad omens surrounding him, but Dhritarashtra's love stopped him. Dhritarashtra was advised by his elders to be fair to the Pandavas, who were returning from the forest with their mother, Kunti. His second son was Dushasana
.
who was older than Duryodhana.
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.
lost the dice game against Shakuni
, Duryodhana, Dushasana and Karna. With each throw, the King Yudhisthira
lost everything gambling away his kingdom, his wealth, his brothers and finally his wife. Dhritarashtra was silent when Dushasana tried to disrobe Draupadi
(the Pandava's wife) in front of the court. Finally, the blind monarch's 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. This time, he, his brothers and his wife were forced to discharge the debt by spending thirteen 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.
, a war fought between the Kauravas (the sons of Dhritarashtra) and the Pandava
s, to the blind king.
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.
's turn, Krishna
knew that the king was blind and possessed the strength of a hundred thousand elephants from the boon granted by Vyasa. 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.
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 name is written Dhṛtarāṣṭra in IAST
transliteration.
the reason for his blindness despite the fact that he was a kind and just king. Sri Krishna asked him to meditate and after meditating he realized that it was the law of Karma
that was in action. Dhritarashtra in his earlier reincarnation was a tyrant king, who one day while walking on the lake side saw a swan bird surrounded by hundred cygnets. He ordered to remove the swan bird's eyes and kill all the hundred cygnets just for his passing fancy. Therefore, in this birth he was born blind and all his sons were killed in the war.
Roles in Bhagavad Gita
Dhṛtarāṣṭra appears in two subsections of the Mahābhārata
which are often treated as stand-alone texts, and were both commented upon by Adi Shankara
.
He appears in the opening chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā
, which takes place immediately before the start of the Kurukshetra War
. The Gita's dialogue between Arjuna
and Krishna
is recounted as narrated to Dhṛtarāṣṭra by Sanjaya
.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra is also a central figure in the Sanatsujatiya
, in which Dhṛtarāṣṭra asks many questions to Sanatsujata, a divine sage. Sanatsujata has been invoked through meditation by Vidura
, Dhṛtarāṣṭra's half-brother and counselor.
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
, Dhritarashtra (Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
: धृतराष्ट्र, dhritarāshtra) was King of Hastinapur at the time of the Kurukshetra War
Kurukshetra war
According to the Indian epic poem Mahābhārata, a dynastic succession struggle between two groups of cousins of an Indo-Aryan kingdom called Kuru, the Kauravas and Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura resulted in the Kurukshetra War in which a number of ancient kingdoms participated as allies of...
, the epic's climactic event. He was born the son of Vichitravirya
Vichitravirya
Vichitravirya in the Hindu epic Mahabharata is the younger son of queen Satyavatī and king Śaṅtanu. His elder brother, Chitrāngada, had initially succeeded their father to the throne of Hastinapura, but when he died childless, Vichitravirya succeeded him.Vichitravirya was still a child when he was...
's first wife Ambika, and was fathered by Vyasa
Vyasa
Vyasa is a central and revered figure in most Hindu traditions. He is also sometimes called Veda Vyasa , or Krishna Dvaipayana...
. He was blind from birth, and became father to a hundred children by his wife Gandhari
Gandhari (character)
Gāndhārī is a character in the Hindu epic, the Mahābhārata. In the epic, she was an incarnation of Mati, as the daughter of Subala, the king of Gandhara, or the modern Kandahar, a region spanning northwestern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan, from which her name is derived...
(Gāndhārī
Gandhari (character)
Gāndhārī is a character in the Hindu epic, the Mahābhārata. In the epic, she was an incarnation of Mati, as the daughter of Subala, the king of Gandhara, or the modern Kandahar, a region spanning northwestern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan, from which her name is derived...
). These children, including the eldest son Duryodhana
Duryodhana
In the Hindu epic the Mahābhārata, Duryodhana is the eldest son of the blind king Dhritarashtra by Queen Gandhari, the eldest of the one hundred Kaurava brothers, Emperor of the world at that time which means Emperor of India or Bharatvarsha as it was known at that time, cousin and the chief...
, came to be known as the Kaurava
Kaurava
The term Kaurava is a Sanskrit term, that means the descendants of Kuru, a legendary king who is the ancestor of many of the characters of the Mahābhārata.The term is used in the Mahābhārata with two meanings:...
s. Dhritarashtra was half-brother of Pandu
Pandu
In the Mahābhārata epic, King Pandu is the son of Ambalika and Rishi Ved Vyasa. He is more popularly known as the father of the Pandavas and ruled Hastinapur.-Birth:...
, and was uncle to the five Pandavas, with whom his sons fought the Kurukshetra War
Kurukshetra war
According to the Indian epic poem Mahābhārata, a dynastic succession struggle between two groups of cousins of an Indo-Aryan kingdom called Kuru, the Kauravas and Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura resulted in the Kurukshetra War in which a number of ancient kingdoms participated as allies of...
. He appears in Mahābhārata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
sections that have been circulated as separate scriptures, most notably the Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita
The ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
, whose dialogue was narrated to him.
Birth
After Vichitravirya's death, his mother SatyavatiSatyavati
Satyavati was the queen of the Kuru king Shantanu of Hastinapur and the great-grandmother of the Pandava and Kaurava princes . She is also the mother of the seer Vyasa, author of the epic...
sent for her first born, Vyasa
Vyasa
Vyasa is a central and revered figure in most Hindu traditions. He is also sometimes called Veda Vyasa , or Krishna Dvaipayana...
. 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 them. Hence her son, Dhritarashtra, was born blind. His brother Pandu
Pandu
In the Mahābhārata epic, King Pandu is the son of Ambalika and Rishi Ved Vyasa. He is more popularly known as the father of the Pandavas and ruled Hastinapur.-Birth:...
, the son of Vichitravirya's second wife Ambalika, got the crown of Hastinapur and after the death of Pandu no one could agree on the selection of a king. Duryodhana became the crown prince of Hastinapur and Yudhishthira became the emperor of Indraprastha.
Reign as king
At the birth of his first son Duryodhana, Dhritarashtra was advised by ViduraVidura
Vidura was an important figure in the Mahabharata, a major Hindu epic. He was half-brother to the kings Dhritarashtra and Pandu of Hastinapura, born the son of the sage Vyasa and a lady-in-waiting to the queens Ambika and Ambalika of the city...
and Bhishma
Bhishma
Bhishma or Bheeshma or Devavrata or 'Bhishma Pitamah' was the eighth son of Kuru King Shantanu who was blessed with wish-long life and had sworn to serve the ruling Kuru king. He was one of the most prominent characters of the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata. He was the grand uncle of both the...
to abandon the child due to bad omens surrounding him, but Dhritarashtra's love stopped him. Dhritarashtra was advised by his elders to be fair to the Pandavas, who were returning from the forest with their mother, Kunti. His second son was Dushasana
Dushasana
Dushasana was the second son of the blind king Dhritarashtra and Gandhari in the epic Mahābhārata, and the younger brother of Duryodhana.-Birth and development:...
.
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, YudhisthiraYudhisthira
In the great Hindu epic Mahabharata, Yudhisthira , the eldest son of King Pandu and Queen Kunti, was king of Indraprastha and later of Hastinapura. He was the leader of the Pandava side in the Kurukshetra War...
who was older than Duryodhana.
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 YudhisthiraYudhisthira
In the great Hindu epic Mahabharata, Yudhisthira , the eldest son of King Pandu and Queen Kunti, was king of Indraprastha and later of Hastinapura. He was the leader of the Pandava side in the Kurukshetra War...
lost the dice game against Shakuni
Shakuni
Shakuni , an avatar of Dvapara, the personification of Dvapara Yuga, was the brother of Gandhari in the Mahābhārata. He was portrayed as an extremely intelligent but devious old man, who was very fond of his nephew Duryodhana. He won the kingdom of the Pandavas' for his nephew, as a wager in a...
, Duryodhana, Dushasana and Karna. With each throw, the King Yudhisthira
Yudhisthira
In the great Hindu epic Mahabharata, Yudhisthira , the eldest son of King Pandu and Queen Kunti, was king of Indraprastha and later of Hastinapura. He was the leader of the Pandava side in the Kurukshetra War...
lost everything gambling away his kingdom, his wealth, his brothers and finally his wife. Dhritarashtra was silent when Dushasana tried to disrobe Draupadi
Draupadi
In the epic Mahābhārata, Draupadi, also known as ' is the "emerged" daughter of King Drupada of Panchāla and the wife of the five Pandavas. When Yudhisthira becomes the king of Hastinapura at the end of the war, Draupadi becomes the queen of Indraprastha...
(the Pandava's wife) in front of the court. Finally, the blind monarch's 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
Shakuni
Shakuni , an avatar of Dvapara, the personification of Dvapara Yuga, was the brother of Gandhari in the Mahābhārata. He was portrayed as an extremely intelligent but devious old man, who was very fond of his nephew Duryodhana. He won the kingdom of the Pandavas' for his nephew, as a wager in a...
challenged Yudhisthira one more time, and Yudhisthira once more lost. This time, he, his brothers and his wife were forced to discharge the debt by spending thirteen 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 warKurukshetra war
According to the Indian epic poem Mahābhārata, a dynastic succession struggle between two groups of cousins of an Indo-Aryan kingdom called Kuru, the Kauravas and Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura resulted in the Kurukshetra War in which a number of ancient kingdoms participated as allies of...
, a war fought between the Kauravas (the sons of Dhritarashtra) and the Pandava
Pandava
In the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, the Pandava are the five acknowledged sons of Pandu , by his two wives Kunti and Madri. Their names are Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. Although, Karna is told by Lord Krishna that according to the laws and ethics he is the first son of Kunti making...
s, to the blind king.
Dhritarashtra's sorrow increased day by day as an ever increasing number of his sons were slain by Bhima
Bhima
In the Mahābhārata, Bhima is one of the central characters of Mahabharata and the second of the Pandava brothers...
. 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 BhimaBhima
In the Mahābhārata, Bhima is one of the central characters of Mahabharata and the second of the Pandava brothers...
's turn, Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
knew that the king was blind and possessed the strength of a hundred thousand elephants from the boon granted by Vyasa. 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 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
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
.
The first stanza of the Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita
The ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
is a question from Dhritarashtra to Sanjaya asking him to recount the Kurukshetra war
Kurukshetra war
According to the Indian epic poem Mahābhārata, a dynastic succession struggle between two groups of cousins of an Indo-Aryan kingdom called Kuru, the Kauravas and Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura resulted in the Kurukshetra War in which a number of ancient kingdoms participated as allies of...
.
The name is written Dhṛtarāṣṭra in IAST
IAST
The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration is a transliteration scheme that allows a lossless romanization of Indic scripts as employed by the Sanskrit language.-Popularity:...
transliteration.
Story of Dhritarastra's blindness
After the Mahabharata war was over, Dhritarastra upset over death of his hundred sons, asked Sri KrishnaKrishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
the reason for his blindness despite the fact that he was a kind and just king. Sri Krishna asked him to meditate and after meditating he realized that it was the law of Karma
Karma
Karma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....
that was in action. Dhritarashtra in his earlier reincarnation was a tyrant king, who one day while walking on the lake side saw a swan bird surrounded by hundred cygnets. He ordered to remove the swan bird's eyes and kill all the hundred cygnets just for his passing fancy. Therefore, in this birth he was born blind and all his sons were killed in the war.
Roles in Bhagavad GitaBhagavad GitaThe ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
and SanatsujatiyaSanatsujatiyaThe Sānatsujātiya refers to a portion of the Mahābhārata, a Hindu epic. It appears in the Udyoga Parva , and is composed of five chapters...
Dhṛtarāṣṭra appears in two subsections of the MahābhārataMahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
which are often treated as stand-alone texts, and were both commented upon by Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (IAST: pronounced , (Sanskrit: , ) (788 CE - 820 CE), also known as ' and ' was an Indian philosopher from Kalady of present day Kerala who consolidated the doctrine of advaita vedānta...
.
He appears in the opening chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā
Bhagavad Gita
The ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
, which takes place immediately before the start of the Kurukshetra War
Kurukshetra war
According to the Indian epic poem Mahābhārata, a dynastic succession struggle between two groups of cousins of an Indo-Aryan kingdom called Kuru, the Kauravas and Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura resulted in the Kurukshetra War in which a number of ancient kingdoms participated as allies of...
. The Gita's dialogue between Arjuna
Arjuna
Arjuna in Indian mythology is the greatest warrior on earth and is one of the Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. Arjuna, whose name means 'bright', 'shining', 'white' or 'silver' Arjuna (Devanagari: अर्जुन, Thai: อรชุน, Orachun, Tamil: Arjunan, Indonesian and Javanese: Harjuna,...
and Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
is recounted as narrated to Dhṛtarāṣṭra by Sanjaya
Sanjaya
Sanjaya is a character from the ancient Indian epic Mahābhārata.In Mahabharata, a story of war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, the blind king Dhritarashtra is the father of the principals of the Kaurava side. Sanjaya is Dhritarashtra's advisor and also his charioteer...
.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra is also a central figure in the Sanatsujatiya
Sanatsujatiya
The Sānatsujātiya refers to a portion of the Mahābhārata, a Hindu epic. It appears in the Udyoga Parva , and is composed of five chapters...
, in which Dhṛtarāṣṭra asks many questions to Sanatsujata, a divine sage. Sanatsujata has been invoked through meditation by Vidura
Vidura
Vidura was an important figure in the Mahabharata, a major Hindu epic. He was half-brother to the kings Dhritarashtra and Pandu of Hastinapura, born the son of the sage Vyasa and a lady-in-waiting to the queens Ambika and Ambalika of the city...
, Dhṛtarāṣṭra's half-brother and counselor.
Dhritarashtra in later arts
- In the 1988 tv series titled Mahabharat, directed by B. R. Chopra, Dhritarashtra was portrayed by Girja Shankar.
- In the 1989 mini series, titled The Mahābhārata, directed by Peter BrookPeter BrookPeter Stephen Paul Brook CH, CBE is an English theatre and film director and innovator, who has been based in France since the early 1970s.-Life:...
, Dhritarashtra was portrayed by PolishPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
actor Ryszard Cieslak. - Dhrutrashtra is a character in Mahakavi bhasa's sanscrit play Urubhangam