Once there lived two families of the kuru clan descended from Bharatha: the Pandawas and the Korawas. The Korawas, wrathful sons of Drestarastra, born of Kuru royal race. Were the hundred sons of blind king Drestarastra. The five Pandawa brothers, righteous son of noble Pandu, god born man of god like grace, were the sons of the kings brother Pandu, who ruled the kingdom his brothers name.
Pandus sons were of semi-divine origin The eldest son, Yudistira, a man of truth and piety, was descended from Dharma, god of virtue; the dauntless warrior Bima was descended from Bayu, god of the wind; Arjuna,the peerless archer, from Indra,god of the rains; and the twins Nakula and Sahadewa from the celestial Aswin twins. Pandus wife gave birth to yet another son, Karna, begotten by the sun god Surya, but his origin remained hidden and he joined the Korawas, becoming their war lord and the chief opponent of his half brother Arjuna.
While Pandu ruled for his brother, the cousins grew up together. In every contest between the families, the Pandawas were victorious. The Korawas grew more jealous and revengeful with the years. When Pandu died, the old blind king appointed Yudistira, his eldest nephew, as heir to the throne. His own enraged by the ruthless Duryodana, contrived a plot to destroy the sons of Pandu.
One day the Pandawas and their mother were persuaded to pay a visit to a distant town where a special resting place had been constructed the appointed hour the house burst into flames the brothers and their motherbarely escaped through an underground tunnel and fled to the forest. In the wilderness the Pandawas,hearing of a contest for the hand of a princess, journeyed to the kingdom ruled by King Drupada. Arjuna easily defeated all his rivals and won the princess Drupadi. The sons returned to a potters house where they lodged and told their mother they had received a great gift that day. Not knowing what it was, their mother replied, Enjoy ye the gift in common. Thus Drupadi became the wife, of all the brothers. Later they all had other wives as well. Arjuna married the sister of King Krishna (an incarnation of the god Vishnu).
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Meanwhile the devious Duryodana learned of the failure of his plot, and that his cousins had found powerful allies in Drupada and Krishna. Finding that he could not keep the Pandawas from their inheritance, Duryodana retained the richer eastern province of the kingdom; the sons of Pandu were allowed the wilderness to the west. The Pandawas soon cleared the forest and built a new capital, Ngamatra (supposedly the present day region of Delhi). Yudistira, king of Ngamatra, proclaimed a sacrifice to declare his sovereignty over all kings of India, and his brothers set out in all directions to proclaim his rule. The hundred Korawa brothers and their aging father also attended, but did so in great humiliation and envy.
Duryodana returned from the Imperial Sacrifice burning with jealousy. Determined to secure the ruin of the Pandawas, he gained the assistance of a prince who shared in his hatred Sakuni, an expert at loading dice. They knew Yudistira had one incurable weakness: a love for gambling. Sakuni challenged Yudistira who lost game after game. With each loss his recklessness increased and the stakes went higher. Yudistira forfeited everything-wealth, steeds, elephants, his slaves and possessions and, lastly, his kingdom. In a final gamble he staked himself, his brothers, and even the princess Drupadi, against Sakuni and lost!
Duryodana, eager to claim the Pandawas as slaves, was persuaded by his father to soften the claim to banishment. Yet the exile was a harsh one: the Pandawas must go into twelve years of hiding and one year of concealment among the common people. If their identity were discovered in the thirteenth year, they were to be exiled for another twelve years.
The Pandawas then passed twelve years banished in the wilderness. During this time, King Duryodana, still not satisfied with his revenge, decided to appear before them in full regalia and splendor. Unfortunately, along the way, he was taken captive in a skirmish with aerial sprites. The Pandawas heard of his plight, rescued him and allowed him to return to his kingdom; but this act of generosity only deepened Duryodanas hatred and jealousy.
After twelve years, the sons of Pandu went into concealment among the common people by serving a distant king under false names. Yudistira disguised himself as a Brahman courtier and dice expert, Bima became a palace cook, Arjuna put on bangles and earrings and posed as a eunuch, Nakula a stable keeper, and Sahadewa a cowherd. They retained these identities for one year as was their bargain, and then demanded the return of their kingdom. Duryodana refused, saying that no land, not even a spot which a needles point can cover, shall be given them.
In council with Krishna, the Pandawas decided to recapture their kingdom by force. The great war of the Bharatas ensued. For eighteen days the skies were dark with clouds of arrows, and the earth thundered with the clashes of charioteers and cavalry. Arjunas dialogue with his charioteer and ally Krishna, to whom turned in anguish, foreseeing the massacre of his kin, is described in the renowned Bhagavad Gita in which the agony of war is shown as an inward personal loss. The venerated teachers of both families were killed, as were the younger heroes, Arjunas and Bimas sons. Then the undefeated rivals, Arjuna and Karna met in mortal combat. Arjuna revenged the death of. His: on with that of his archenemy. Bima and Duryodana, like two bulls that fight the fury, blind with wounds and oozing blood, fought on until Duryodana fell dead. Later, the women of Kuru visited the battlefield to mourn the fallen. The epic ends with the people of Kuru returning home with desolate hearts.