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 Dhritrashtra and his wife Gandhari. Duryodhana, Dushasana, Vikarna and Chitrasena are the most popular among the brothers. They also had a sister named Duhsala and a half-brother named Yuyutsu.
Etymology
The term
Kauravas is used in the
Mahabharata with two meanings ,
-
The wider meaning is used to represent all the descendants of Kuru. This meaning, which includes the Pandava brothers, is often used in the earlier parts of popular renditions of the Mahabharata.
-
The narrower but more common meaning is used to represent the elder line of the descendants of Kuru. This restricts it to the children of King Dhritarashtra, excluding the children of his younger brother, Pandu, whose children form the Pandava line.
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 – (Sanskrit: धार्तराष्ट्र), a derivative of Dhritarashtra.
Birth of Kauravas
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.
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.
Children of Dhritarashtra
The children of
Dhritarashtra by Gandhari are also referred by a more specific and frequently encountered term - , a derivative of (Dhritarashtra).
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.[ The Birth of the Pandavas and Kauravas]
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 Kurukshetra War.
Names of the Kauravas
The
Mahabharata itself provides the list of names in order of their birth when Kuru descendant
Janamejaya inquires about the names. The following list has been adapted from Section 108.1 of the
Adi Parva (Critical Edition):
All, except Yuyutsu, were born to Dhritarashtra's queen Gandhari. The Kauravas also had a sister, Duhsala.
Marriages and children of Kauravas
All the 100 Kauravas were mentioned to have wives in the
Adi Parva.
In literature
Harivamsa Purana (8th century CE) narrates the Jain version of their story.
In popular culture
The term Kaurava is used as the name of a fictional planetary system in the 2008 real-time strategy video game
, as well as the names of the system's planets.
See also
Sources
External links
