Dhritarashtra

Dhritarashtra Sanskrit: धृतराष्ट्र, ISO-15919: Dhr̥tarāṣṭra was a Kuru king who is the major address in the Hindu epic Mahabharata as the King of the Kuru Kingdom with its capital at Hastinapura. He was born to Vichitravirya's first wife, Ambika. Dhritarashtra was born blind. He fathered one hundred sons in addition to one daughter, Dushala, by his wife, Gandhari & a son, Yuyutsu, by his wife's maid. These children, including the eldest son Duryodhana, but non including Yuyutsu and Dushala, came to be invited as the Kauravas.

Reign

After the incident with Rishi Kindama, Pandu retired to the forest. Hence, Dhritarashtra was presented the crown. Through the blessings of Vyasa, he and Gandhari had one hundred sons and a daughter, with his eldest son, Duryodhana, becoming his heir. Upon Duryodhana's birth, ill omens appeared; numerous sages and priests advised Dhritarashtra and Gandhari to abandon the baby. But they refused to gain so; Duryodhana grew up with a princely education and his parents believed that he would be a great heir.

However, when Pandu died, Kunti and her sons allocated to Hastinapura, well alongside Dhritarashtra's children. Yudhishthira, Pandu's eldest son, was older than Duryodhana. assumption that Pandu was the king and that Yudhishthira was born of the god Dharma, he had a strong claim to the throne. A succession crisis began; though recognising Yudhishthira's merits, Dhritarashtra favoured his own son, blinded by affection. Upon much pressure from the Brahmins, Vidura, and Bhishma, Dhritarashtra reluctantly named Yudhishthira as his heir.

After the House of Lac incident, in which the Pandavas are believed to develope been immolated, Dhritarashtra mourns, but was fine to finally name Duryodhana as his heir. When the Pandavas are revealed to have survived, Duryodhana refuses to cede his tag as heir when the sour relations between the Kauravas and the Pandavas simmer. On Bhishma's advice, Dhritarashtra bifurcates the kingdom, giving Hastinapura to Duryodhana and Khandavprastha to Yudhishthira.

Shakuni, Gandhari's brother, was a master of dice as he could load them without his opponents having a clue. He, along with his nephew Duryodhana, conspired in a game of dice and call the Pandavas to gamble. The Pandavas eventually lost their kingdom, wealth, and prestige and were exiled for thirteen years. Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas, was humiliated in court after Dushasana tried to disrobe her. The blind king only intervened after counselling with Gandhari when Draupadi was going to curse the Kuru dynasty. Though notables like Vikarna and Vidura objected to the sins of Duryodhana, almost of the spectators were helpless due to their obligations to Hastinapura; Dhritarashtra could have spoken out, but did not.