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The Pandavas were fierce warriors who took part in the Kurukshetra War as per the epic Mahabharata. A Pandya king named Darshak, is mentioned as participating in the Kurukshetra War, siding with the Pandavas.
All the references (n:m) found in this article refer to Mahabharata, nth book, mth chapter The mountain Rishabha in Pandya kingdom is mentioned at (Mahabharata 3:85). In the country of the Pandyas are the tirthas (holy spots) named Agastya and Varuna! There, amongst the Pandyas, is the tirtha called the Kumaris (Kanyakumari) (3:88). Thamiraparani and Gokarna are also mentioned in the same passage.
Bhishmaka, the mighty king of the Bhojas (of Vidarbha kingdom) who governs a fourth part of the world, by his learning conquered the Pandyas and the Kratha-Kausikas (2:14).
Having met with Rukmi (of Vidarbha kingdom), Karna, repaired to Pandya and the mountain, Sri. By fighting, he made Kerala kingdom, king Nila, Venudari’s son, and other best of kings living in the southern direction pay tribute (3:252).
Pandya was present in the Rajasuya ceremony of Pandava king Yudhishthira (2:36,43). The Kings of Chera and Pandya, brought numberless jars of gold filled with fragrant sandal juice from the hills of Malaya, and loads of sandal and aloe wood from the Dardduras hills, and many gems of great brilliancy and fine cloths inlaid with gold. Singhalas gave those best of sea-born gems called the lapis lazuli, and heaps of pearls also, and hundreds of coverlets for elephants (2:51).
Pandya king Sarangadhwaja sided with the Pandavas in the great Kurukshetra War. His main opponent was Ashwathama.
As per Bhishma's ratings, Pandya king was rated as a great Ratha (a grade for chariot-warriors) (5,172).
Pandya, who dwelt on the coast-land near the sea, came accompanied by troops of various kinds to Yudhishthira, the king of kings (5:19). There hath come Pandya. Remarkably heroic and endued with prowess and energy that have no parallel, he is devoted to the Pandava cause. (5:22).
Dhrishtadyumna and Shikhandi and the five sons of Draupadi and the Prabhadrakas, and Satyaki and Chekitana with the Dravida forces, and the Pandyas, the Cholas, and the Cheras, surrounded by a mighty array – were mentioned as part of the Pandava army (8:12).
Pandya, that foremost of warriors skilled in shafts and weapons, was destroying crowds of foes by means of diverse kinds of shafts. Piercing the bodies of the elephants and steeds and men with sharp shafts, that foremost of smiters overthrew and deprived them of life. Cutting off with his own shafts the diverse weapons hurled at him by many foremost of foes, Pandya slew his enemies (8:19). He was slain by the Kaurava hero Ashwatthama (8:20,46) His name was mentioned as Sarangadhwaja.
There is a doubt if some other Pandya king sided with the Kauravas as indicated by the following passage at (9:2):- When the mighty Pandya, that foremost of all wielders of weapons, has been slain in battle by the Pandavas, what can it be but destiny?
Pandya king took part in the self-choice event of Panchala princess Draupadi (MBh 1:189) along with the rulers of Kalinga, Vanga and others.
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.
The Pandavas is a group name referring to the five legendary brothers, Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva, who are central figures of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. They are acknowledged as the sons of Pandu, the King of Kuru, but were fathered by different Devas (gods) due to Pandu's cursed inability to naturally conceive children. In the epic, the Pandavas married Draupadi, the princess of Panchala, and founded the city of Indraprastha after the Kuru Kingdom was split to avoid succession disputes. After the split, the other part of the kingdom was ruled by their cousins, the Kauravas. However, the Pandavas lost their kingdom to Duryodhana when Yudhishtira gambled it away during a game of dice. The bet Yudhishtira agreed to was that the Pandavas would hand the kingdom to the Kauravas and go into exile for 13 years. After this time the Kauravas refused to return the kingdom. As a result, the Pandavas waged a civil war against their extended family, and this conflict was known as the Kurukshetra War. With the help of the god Krishna, the Pandavas eventually won the war with the death of the Kauravas, albeit at great cost.
Sahadeva was the youngest of the five Pandava brothers in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata. He and his twin brother Nakula were the sons of Madri, one of the wives of the Pandava patriarch Pandu, and Ashvini Kumaras, the divine twin physicians of the gods, whom she invoked to beget her sons due to Pandu's inability to progenate. Kunti, Sahadeva's step-mother, loved him the most despite his birth to Madri. Sahadeva is renowned for his wisdom, knowledge of astrology, and skill in swordsmanship.
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.
Jayadratha is the king of the Sindhu kingdom featured in the Mahabharata. He was married to Dushala, the only sister of the hundred Kaurava brothers. The son of the king Vriddhakshatra, he is killed by Arjuna. He has a son named Suratha.
Chedi was a kingdom which fell roughly in the Bundelkhand division of Madhya Pradesh regions to the south of river Yamuna along the river Ken. Its capital city was called Suktimati in Sanskrit.
The historical Avanti kingdom of ancient India is described in the Mahabharata epic. Avanti was divided into north and south by river Vetravati. Initially, Mahissati was the capital of southern Avanti, and Ujjaini was of northern Avanti, but at the times of Mahavira and Buddha, Ujjaini was the capital of integrated Avanti. The country of Avanti roughly corresponded to modern Malwa, Nimar and adjoining parts of the Madhya Pradesh.
Anarta is a Vedic period kingdom of ancient India described in the Mahabharata, roughly forming the northern Gujarat state of India. It was founded by the father of Vaivasvata Manu and Yama, named Anarta. He built a fortress at Kusasthali (Dvaraka), which was later flooded by Varuna. The place remained then for some time as a forest land, before Krishna and the Yadavas went there and built Dvaraka. It was then ruled by Yadavas after they fled from Mathura of Surasena kingdom, due to the attacks of Jarasandha, the king of Magadha. The Yadava chiefs like Vasudeva Krishna, Bala Rama, Kritavarma and Satyaki, ruled this kingdom under their king Ugrasena. In Mahabharata, Dwaraka is considered as a capital city of Anarta kingdom. But some other ancient texts like Mahabhagavata, mentions Dwaraka and Anarta as two independent kingdoms. As per the Purana viz. Bhagavata Purana, Bala Rama's wife Revati was from this kingdom.
Madra kingdom was a kingdom grouped among the western kingdoms in the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata. Its capital was Sagala in the Madra region. The Kuru king Pandu's (Pāṇḍu) second wife was from Madra kingdom and was called Madri. The Pandava twins, Nakula and Sahadeva, were her sons. Madri's brother Shalya was the king of Madra. Though affectionate to the Pandavas, he was tricked to give support to Duryodhana and fought against the Pandavas during the Kurukshetra War. He was killed by Yudhishthira, the eldest Pandava. Other than the Madra kingdom with Sagala as its capital, it is believed that there was a Western Madra and a Northern Madra.
The Kekeya kingdom was a kingdom mentioned in the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata among the western kingdoms of then India. The epic Ramayana mentions one of the wives of Dasharatha, the king of Kosala and father of Rama, was from Kekeya kingdom and was known as Kaikeyi. Her son Bharata conquered the neighbouring kingdom of Gandhara and built the city of Takshasila. Later the sons and descendants of Bharata ruled this region from Takshasila.
Gandhāra was an ancient Indian kingdom mentioned in the Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. Gandhara prince Shakuni was the root of all the conspiracies of Duryodhana against the Pandavas, which finally resulted in the Kurukshetra War. Shakuni's sister was the wife of the Kuru king Dhritarashtra and was known as Gandhari after the area of Gandhāra. Puskalavati, Takshasila (Taxila) and Purushapura (Peshawar) were cities in this Gandhara kingdom. Takshasila was founded by Rama's brother Bharata. Bharata's descendants ruled this kingdom afterwards. During the epic's period, the kingdom was ruled by Shakuni's father Suvala, Shakuni and Shakuni's son. Arjuna defeated Shakuni's son during his post-war military campaign for Yudhishthira's Aswamedha Yajna.
Kalinga is a kingdom described in the legendary Indian text Mahabharata. They were a warrior clan who settled in and around the historical Kalinga region, present-day Odisha and northern parts of Andhra Pradesh. According to political scientist Sudama Misra, the Kalinga janapada originally comprised the area covered by the Puri and Ganjam districts.reference-Sudama Misra (1973). Janapada state in ancient India. Bhāratīya Vidyā Prakāśana. p. 78.
Kirata kingdom in Sanskrit literature and Hindu mythology refers to any kingdom of the Kiratis, who were dwellers mostly in the Himalayas. They took part in the Kurukshetra War along with Parvatas (mountaineers) and other Himalayan tribes.
Bhagadatta was the son of Narakasura and grandson of Lord Shree Adivaraha, and the king of Pragjyotisha in Hindu mythology. Bhagadatta was born from a limb of the asura called Bashkala. He was a renowned warrior, and was known to be a great friend of Indra. When Arjuna embarked on a conquest to help his brother Yudhishthira perform the rajasuya yajna, Bhagadatta was one of the first kings to be conquered by him.
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.
The Drona Parva, or the Book of Drona, is the seventh of eighteen books of the Indian epic Mahabharata. Drona Parva traditionally has 8 parts and 204 chapters. The critical edition of Drona Parva has 8 parts and 173 chapters.
Ashwatthama, also referred to as Drauni, was a warrior of the Indian epic, the Mahabharata. He is the son of Drona, and Kripi. In the Mahabharata, he served as a friend to Duryodhana, the eldest of the Kauravas. He was trained in warfare along with the Kauravas, and the Pandavas by his father, Drona. He is also described as a Maharathi who fought on the side of the Kauravas against the Pandavas in the Kurukshetra War, and was cursed by Krishna with immortality for his attempt to kill Uttarā's unborn child. Ashwatthama had gained knowledge of various divine weapons, namely the Narayanastra, Brahmastra, Brahmashirastra, and many others.
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.
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