The Tale of Gandhari, Dhritarashtra, and the Hundred Sons of the Kauravas

In the ancient kingdom of **Hastinapura**, there ruled a mighty prince named **Dhritarashtra**, who was born blind. Due to his blindness, he was unable to inherit the throne, and his younger brother **Pandu** became king. However, Dhritarashtra was a powerful figure and was deeply respected for his wisdom and strength. He married **Gandhari**, a princess from the kingdom of Gandhara, who was known for her beauty, wisdom, and devotion.

When Gandhari learned that her husband was blind, she decided to share his fate as a mark of her love and loyalty. She voluntarily bound her eyes with a cloth, vowing never to see the world, just as her husband could not. Her dedication to her husband became legendary, and she was admired for her commitment and selflessness.

Gandhari longed to have children, especially after learning that her sister-in-law, **Kunti**—the wife of King Pandu—had given birth to the **Pandavas**, five noble sons. After much prayer and devotion, Gandhari was finally blessed by **Lord Shiva** with a boon that she would have **one hundred sons**, who would become famous warriors.

As the months passed, Gandhari became pregnant, but her pregnancy continued for an unusually long time. Frustrated and worried, she prayed fervently, and after two years, she finally gave birth. However, to her horror, what she delivered was not a baby but a hard mass of flesh.

Heartbroken and despairing, Gandhari wept, believing that her hopes for motherhood had been shattered. But the great sage **Vyasa** heard of her plight and came to her aid. Sage Vyasa was a wise and powerful ascetic with divine knowledge, and he offered to help Gandhari fulfill her destiny of having one hundred sons.

Under Vyasa’s guidance, Gandhari’s lump of flesh was divided into **one hundred pieces**, which were then placed in pots of ghee and carefully nurtured. Over time, these pots gave rise to one hundred sons, and in addition, she bore a daughter named **Dushala**.

The firstborn of Gandhari’s hundred sons was named **Duryodhana**, who was destined to become the leader of the **Kauravas**. As Duryodhana was born, ominous signs appeared across the land—strong winds howled, animals grew restless, and there was a sense of dread in the air. The wise elders and sages warned Dhritarashtra and Gandhari that Duryodhana’s birth was a sign of impending darkness and conflict, but Dhritarashtra, blinded by his love for his firstborn, dismissed these warnings.

As the sons of Dhritarashtra and Gandhari, collectively known as the Kauravas, grew up, they were trained in warfare, strategy, and politics alongside their cousins, the Pandavas. However, Duryodhana, their leader, harbored jealousy and resentment toward the Pandavas, particularly **Yudhishthira**, who was seen as the rightful heir to the throne.

Duryodhana’s ambition and envy led him down a path of rivalry, deceit, and ultimately, war. Despite Gandhari’s attempts to instill virtues in her sons, Duryodhana’s hatred for the Pandavas grew, and he influenced his brothers to support him in his quest to overthrow their cousins. This rivalry between the Kauravas and the Pandavas would later culminate in the epic battle of **Kurukshetra**, where the hundred Kaurava brothers faced the five Pandava brothers in a war that would shape the destiny of Hastinapura and the entire world.

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**Moral of the Story:**

The story of the Kauravas and their hundred sons teaches us that **blind love, unchecked ambition, and envy can lead to destruction**. Despite the blessing of a hundred sons, Dhritarashtra’s inability to guide them rightly and Gandhari’s attachment to her children led to a conflict that brought ruin to their lineage. The tale reminds us that virtues like humility, self-control, and righteousness are essential, especially for those in power, as they prevent envy and rivalry from clouding judgment and causing harm.