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Yudhishtira
'Let us bow down before Narayana (Krishna), Nara (Arjuna) the -best among men, Goddess Saraswathi (the Goddess of Learning) and Vyasa, and then relate the story of Bharatha.'
The 'Mahabharatha' is the story of the Great War between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. They both belonged to the race of King Kuru. The Pandavas were the sons of King Pandu; and the Kauravas were the sons of Dhritharashtra. They were brought up by Bhishma, the Grand Old Man of the Kuru race, with loving care.
The Prayers
Bhishma had given his word to his father Shantanu that he would never marry, and also that he would give away the kingdom to his stepbrother Vichithravirya. But unfortunately Vichithravirya died young. Thus it fell to the lot of Bhishma to take Pandu and Dhritharashtra under his protection and bring them up. He got them married in good time. Dhritharashtra's wife was Gandhari. Pandu had two wives - Kunthi and Maadri. Dhritha- rashtra was born blind; so Pandu became the king.
Before Kunthi was married, she played hostess to Sage Durvasa; he was immen- sely pleased with her hospitality,and taught her five 'mantras' or powerful prayers.
Pandu ruled the kingdom for a number of years; he went to a forest to spend the last years of his life in prayer and meditation. His two wives accompanied him to the forest. But Pandu had no peace of mind. His only regret was that he had no sons; he told Kunthi of his sorrow. She related to him all about the mantras she had learnt from Durvasa.With his consent, she bore Yudhishtira by offering prayers to Yama- dharma, and Bhimasena and Arjuna by offering prayers to Vayudeva, the God of Winds, and to Indra respectively. She taught the remaining mantra to Maadri, who, in turn, gave birth to twin babies by the grace of the Ashwinis, the twin gods.
Dharmaraja - Yudhishtira
The world is a battlefield; and the mind of a man is also a battlefield. On both these take place the endless struggle between good forces and evil forces. Dharma is another name for all that is good in this world; the world rests on Dharma. Yama, the God of Death, is the embodiment of Dharma; he is not at all a cruel god. Pandu desired that his eldest son should be Dharma itself in human form. So he asked Kunthi to bear such a son for him by the grace of Yamadharma. -Accordingly she gave birth to the eldest son for Pandu as a divine gift from Yamadharma. So the child was called Dharmaputhra or the son of Yamadharma. His mind was always on the side of the good, or Dharma. Thus he came to be known as 'Yudhishtira' or I one who is unshaken in war'. Throughout his life he was a living example of this great virtue. He always upheld Dharma and Truth, and became famous as Dharmaraja. He showed to the world that Dharma always wins.
After a while, Pandu died.Maadri observed 'sahagamana' and burnt herself to death with the corpse of her husband. The widowed Kunthi returned to Hasthinavathi with the five sons of Pandu and lived under the care of Dhritharashtra.
Hatred Is Kindled
Gandhari had a hundred sons and a daughter. Duryodhana was the eldest and Dusshasana the second. Yudhishtira and Duryodhana were born on the same day.
Though the sons of Pandu and those of Dhritharashtra belonged to one and the same Kuru race, only the latter came to be known as Kauravas.
The Pandavas and Kauravas received training in the use of weapons of war from Dronacharya, a pastmaster of the science of archery.
Bhima and Duryodhana became experts in wielding the mace. Duryodhana hated Bhima from the beginning; his hatred grew as they grew up; he planned the murder of Bhima several times, but he did not succeed. He cherished the thought that he would rule the kingdom with his brothers and is happy, if only he could destroy all the Pandavas.
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