Kaurava is a Sanskrit term which refers to descendants of Kuru, a legendary king of India who is the ancestor of many of the characters of the epic Mahabharata . Usually, the term is used for the 100 sons of King Dhritarashtra and his wife Gandhari. Duryodhana, Dushasana, Vikarna and Chitrasena are the most popular among the brothers. They also had a sister named Dussala and a half-brother named Yuyutsu.
The term Kauravas is used in the Mahabharata with two meanings ,
The rest of this article deals with the Kaurava in the narrower sense, that is, the children of Dhritarashtra Gandhari. When referring to these children, a more specific term is also used – Dhārtarāṣṭra (Sanskrit: धार्तराष्ट्र), a derivative of Dhritarashtra.[ citation needed ]
After Gandhari was married to Dhritarashtra, she wrapped a cloth over her eyes and vowed to share the darkness that her husband lived in. Once Sage Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa came to visit Gandhari in Hastinapur and she took great care of the comforts of the great saint and saw that he had a pleasant stay in Hastinapur. The saint was pleased with Gandhari and granted her a boon. Gandhari wished for one hundred sons who would be as powerful as her husband. Dwaipayan Vyasa granted her the boon and in due course of time, Gandhari found herself to be pregnant. But two years passed and still, the baby was not born. [2] Meanwhile, Kunti received a son from Yama whom she called Yudhishthira. After two years of pregnancy, Gandhari gave birth to a hard piece of lifeless flesh that was not a baby at all. Gandhari was devastated as she had expected a hundred sons according to the blessing of Rishi Vyasa. She was about to throw away the piece of flesh while Rishi Vyasa appeared and told her that his blessings could not have been in vain and asked Gandhari to arrange for one hundred jars to be filled with ghee. He told Gandhari that he would cut the piece of flesh into a hundred pieces and place them in the jars, which would then develop into the one hundred sons that she so desired. Gandhari told Vyasa then that she also wanted to have a daughter. Vyasa agreed, cut the piece of flesh into one hundred and one-pieces, and placed them each into a jar. After two more years of patient waiting the jars were ready to be opened and were kept in a cave. Bhima was born on the same day on which Duryodhana was born thus making them of the same age. Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva were born after Duryodhana was born. [3]
The children of Dhritarashtra by Gandhari are also referred by a more specific and frequently encountered term - Dhārtarāṣṭra, a derivative of Dhṛtarāṣṭra (Dhritarashtra).[ dubious – discuss ]
According to the epic, Gandhari wanted a hundred sons and Vyasa granted her a boon that she would have these. Another version says that she was unable to have any children for a long time and she eventually became pregnant but did not deliver for two years, after which she gave birth to a lump of flesh. Vyasa cut this lump into a hundred and one-pieces and these eventually developed into a hundred boys and one girl. [4]
The birth of these children is relevant to the dispute over the succession of the kingdom's throne. It attributes the late birth of Duryodhana, the eldest son of Dhritarashtra, despite his father's early marriage and legitimizes the case for his cousin Yudhishthira to claim the throne, since he could claim to be the eldest of his generation. All the sons of Dhritarashtra (excluding Yuyutsu) were killed in the Battle of Kurukshetra.
The Mahabharata notes the names of all Kauravas, of which only Duryodhana, Dushasana, Vikarna and Chitrasena play a significant role: [5]
the count of * next to name indicate the count of other brothers in the same birth. ^ indicate names in one source not in other
The Kauravas also had a half-brother, Yuyutsu, and a sister, Duhsala.
All the 100 Kauravas were mentioned to have wives in the Adi Parva. [6] Some of them had children - Duryodhana was mentioned to have a Kalinga princess as his wife. They had three children: a son Lakshmana Kumara and two daughters named Lakshmana and one unnamed daughter. Lakshmana Kumara participated in the Kurukshetra War and injured Shikhandi's son Kshatradeva on the 12th day of the war. He is killed by Abhimanyu on the 13th day of the war.
Lakshmana was said to have married Krishna's son Samba. Dushasana was also said to have two sons, who killed Abhimanyu in the war. Dushasana's first son was killed by Shrutasena in the war. Dushasana's second son was killed by him also. Dushasana also had an unnamed daughter.
Chitrasena's son was said to have been killed by Shrutakarma in the Kurukshetra War. Chitrasena also had an unnamed daughter.
However, it was mentioned that all these sons of the Kauravas were killed by the sons of the Pandavas, many of whom met their end to Bhima.
Harivamsa Purana (8th century CE) narrates the Jain version of their story. [7]
The term Kaurava is used as the name of a fictional planetary system in the 2008 real-time strategy video game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Soulstorm , as well as the names of the system's planets.
Bhima, also known as Bhimasena, is a hero and one of the most prominent figures in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, renowned for his incredible strength, fierce loyalty, and key role in the epic's narrative. As the second of the five Pandava brothers, Bhima was born to Kunti—the wife of King Pandu—through the blessings of Vayu, the wind god, which bestowed upon him superhuman strength from birth. His rivalry with the Kauravas, especially Duryodhana, defined much of his life, with this tension ultimately erupting in the Kurukshetra War, where Bhima killed all hundred Kaurava brothers.
Duryodhana, also known as Suyodhana, is the primary antagonist in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was the eldest of the Kauravas, the hundred sons of the king Dhritarashtra and his queen Gandhari.
Gandhari is a prominent figure in the Hindu epic the Mahabharata. She is the daughter of King Subala, the ruler of Gandhara, and becomes the wife of Dhritarashtra, the blind king of Kuru Kingdom. In a remarkable act of solidarity, Gandhari blindfolds herself for life upon learning of her husband’s blindness, choosing to share his condition. Blessed by the god Shiva and the sage Vyasa, she bears one hundred sons through miraculous means, collectively known as the Kauravas, with her eldest, Duryodhana, becoming a key antagonist in the epic. Besides the hundred sons, she also has a daughter, Dushala. Although Gandhari possesses many virtues, she is unable to steer her sons away from their wrongdoings. The rivalry between the Kauravas and their cousins, the Pandavas, culminates in the devastating Kurukshetra war, which results in the destruction of the Kuru dynasty.
Vidura, also known as Kshatri, plays a key role in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He is described as the prime minister of the Kuru kingdom and is the paternal uncle of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas.
Dushasana, also spelled Duhshasana, Dussasana or Duhsasana, also known as Sushasana, is an antagonist in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was second eldest among the Kaurava princes and the younger brother of Duryodhana. Dushasana's jealousy and herd mentality were the two qualities said to have led to his downfall in the Mahabharata.
Dhritarashtra was a ruler of the ancient Kuru kingdom, featured as a central character in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He is also attested in the Yajurveda, where he is acknowledged as the son of King Vichitravirya.
Yudhishthira also known as Dharmaraja, was the king of Indraprastha and later the King of Kuru Kingdom in the epic Mahabharata. He is the eldest among the five Pandavas, and is also one of the central characters of the epic.
Shakuni is one of the antagonists of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was the prince of the kingdom of Gandhara when introduced, later becoming its king after the death of his father, Subala. He was the brother of Gandhari and the maternal uncle of the Kauravas.
Kripa, also known as Kripacharya, is a figure in Hindu mythology. According to the epic Mahabharata, he was a council member of Kuru Kingdom and a teacher of the Pandava and Kaurava princes.
The Kurukshetra War, also called the Mahabharata War, is a war described in the Hindu epic poem Mahabharata, arising from a dynastic struggle between two groups of cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura. The war is used as the context for the dialogues of the Bhagavad Gita.
Yuyutsu in the Hindu epic Mahabharata was a son of Dhritarashtra with a maid of his wife, Gandhari. He was the paternal half - sibling to Gandhari's children: Duryodhana and the rest of the 99 Kaurava brothers and their sister, Dushala. He was only son of Dhritarashtra to fight for Pandavas.
Kunti, born Pritha, was the queen of Kuru in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. Kunti was married to Pandu and is the mother of Karna, Yudhishthira, Bhima, and Arjuna. She is depicted to possess beauty, intelligence and shrewdness.
Mahabharat is an Indian Hindi-language epic television series based on the ancient Sanskrit epic Mahabharata. The original airing consisted of a total of 94 episodes and were broadcast from 2 October 1988 to 24 June 1990 on Doordarshan. It was produced by B. R. Chopra and directed by his son, Ravi Chopra. The music was composed by Raj Kamal. The script was written by Pandit Narendra Sharma and the Hindi/Urdu poet Rahi Masoom Raza, based on the epic by Vyasa. Costumes for the series were provided by Maganlal Dresswala. The serial claims to have used the Critical Edition of Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute as its basic source with Vishnu Sitaram Sukthankar and Shripad Krishna Belwalkar as its primary editor.
The Bhishma Parva, or the Book of Bhishma, is the sixth of eighteen books of the Indian epic Mahabharata. It has 4 sub-books and 124 chapters.
In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, the Upapandavas, also known as Pandavaputras, Draupadeyas or Panchakumaras are the five sons of Queen Draupadi from each of the five Pandavas. They are Prativindhya, Sutasoma, Shrutakarma, Shatanika and Shrutasena. They were Maharathis, as mentioned by Bhishma, and fought the Kurukshetra war on the side of the Pandavas and slew many enemy warriors. They were as ferocious as their fathers but other than that, not much is said in the Mahabharata about the brothers. They were very strong and they were only defeated by remarkably few Kaurava warriors.
The Stri Parva, or the "Book of the Women," is the eleventh of eighteen books of the Indian epic Mahabharata. It traditionally has 4 parts and 27 chapters, as does the critical edition.
In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Vikarna was the third Kaurava, a son of Dhritarashtra and Gandhari, and a brother to the crown prince Duryodhana. Vikarna is also referred to as the most reputable of the Kauravas. Vikarna was the only Kaurava who opposed the humiliation of Draupadi, the wife of his cousins, the Pandavas, after Yudhisthira lost her freedom in a game of dice to Duryodhana.
Mahabharat is a 2013 Indian epic mythological television series based on the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata. It aired from 16 September 2013 to 16 August 2014 on Star Plus. The series is available digitally on Disney+ Hotstar. Produced by Swastik Productions Pvt. Ltd, it starred Saurabh Raj Jain, Pooja Sharma, Shaheer Sheikh and Aham Sharma.
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