HOME
*



picture info

Shalya
In the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata'', King Shalya ( sa, शल्य, lit. ''pointed weapon'') was the brother of Madri (mother of Nakula and Sahadeva), and the ruler of the Madra kingdom. Skilled with the mace and a formidable warrior, he was tricked by Duryodhana to fight the war on the side of the Kauravas. He was encouraged to serve as the charioteer of Karna by Yudhisthira to dissuade the former from combat. Shalya was an incredibly calm and deliberate fighter, his level-headedness and prowess in warfare making him a great warrior in spite of his slight build. Becoming Pandu's brother-in-law On his way to Hastinapura, King Pandu encountered Shalya's army. At parlay, Shalya and his general met with Pandu; Pandu was very impressed by Shalya's slight general and became friends. Bhishma, head of Pandu's family, learned of Shalya's beautiful sister, Mādrī and decided to arrange Pandu's second marriage with Madri. Shalya agreed and was gifted with gold and jewels from Hastinapu ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Shalya Insulting Karna By Telling The Story Of A Swan And Crow
In the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata'', King Shalya ( sa, शल्य, lit. ''pointed weapon'') was the brother of Madri (mother of Nakula and Sahadeva), and the ruler of the Madra kingdom. Skilled with the mace and a formidable warrior, he was tricked by Duryodhana to fight the war on the side of the Kauravas. He was encouraged to serve as the charioteer of Karna by Yudhisthira to dissuade the former from combat. Shalya was an incredibly calm and deliberate fighter, his level-headedness and prowess in warfare making him a great warrior in spite of his slight build. Becoming Pandu's brother-in-law On his way to Hastinapura, King Pandu encountered Shalya's army. At parlay, Shalya and his general met with Pandu; Pandu was very impressed by Shalya's slight general and became friends. Bhishma, head of Pandu's family, learned of Shalya's beautiful sister, Mādrī and decided to arrange Pandu's second marriage with Madri. Shalya agreed and was gifted with gold and jewels from Hastinapur ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Duryodhana
Duryodhana ( sa, दुर्योधन, ) 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 blind king Dhritarashtra and his queen Gandhari. Being the first-born son of the blind king, he was the crown prince of the Kuru Kingdom and its capital of Hastinapura, often forced into ceding the title to his cousin Yudhishthira, who was older than him. Karna was the prince's closest friend. Notably, Duryodhana, with significant assistance from Karna, performs the Vaishnava Yagna when the Pandavas are in exile. Duryodhana used his greater skill in wielding the mace to defeat his opponents. He was also an extremely courageous warrior and was said to be a good ruler. Duryodhana's greed and arrogance were the two qualities said to have led to his downfall in the Mahabharata. Etymology The Sanskrit word, ''Duryodhana'' means "invincible" in battle. Birth When Gandhari's pregnancy con ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Uttara (Mahabharata)
In the epic Mahabharata, ''Uttar'' ( sa, उत्तर) was the prince of Matsya Kingdom and the eldest son of King Virata, at whose court the Pandavas spent one year in concealment during their exile. His sister Uttarā married Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna. Major episode Uttara is the son of Virata in mahabharata. According in Manava Purana, Uttara was incarnation of Sudharshana Chakra. Towards the end of the year that the Pandavas spent at the Matsya Kingdom, Duryodhana (suspecting that the Pandavas were hiding in Matsya) attacked that kingdom. The army of Hastinapura stood at the borders of Matsya, but King Virata had already taken his entire army to fight the Trigarta army attacking from the south. When news arrives at the palace, Uttar confidently boasts about how he will single-handedly wipe out the Kauravas, downplaying their abilities. Upon the prodding of his mother and Draupadi, her maid, he takes his sister's dancing teacher, the eunuch Brihannala, who was in rea ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Yudhishthira
''Yudhishthira'' ( Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, IAST: ''Yudhiṣṭhira'') is the eldest among the five Pandava brothers. He is mentioned in the ancient epic Mahabharata. He was sired by King Pandu of the Kuru Dynasty and his first wife, Kunti. Yudhishthira is later crowned the king of Indraprastha with his capital at Hastinapura. From his childhood, Yudhishthira was greatly influenced by his uncle Vidura and his great uncle Bhishma, and believed in the virtues of '' dharma''. He was trained by two warrior-sages, Kripacharya and Dronacharya. Yudhisthira was appointed as the crown prince of Hastinapura, but was later replaced by Duryodhana. Because of Kunti's misunderstanding, Yudhishthira and his siblings had a polyamorous marriage with Draupadi, the princess of Panchala. Dhritarashtra, on Bhishma's request, divided his kingdom to end the succession dispute between Yudhishthira and Duryodhana. The eldest son of Pandu was given a barren land to rule, wh ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Madri
In the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata'', Madri is the princess of Madra Kingdom and the second wife of the king Pandu. She is the mother of the youngest Pandavas - the twin brothers Nakula and Sahadeva. The word ''Mādrī'' means 'woman of Madra'. Marriage In the epic ''Mahabharata'', Madri is the sister of Shalya, the king of the Madra Kingdom. Hastinapura's Kuru king Pandu once encountered the army of Shalya. Very soon, Pandu and Shalya become friends. The Adi Parva of the ''Mahabharata'' states that Bhishma travelled to Madra and asked for the hand of Madri for Pandu. Shalya assented, but according to their family custom, he was unable to 'bestow' his sister to the Kurus. So, Bhishma presented him with wealth, gold, elephants, and horses, and takes Madri with him to Hastinapura. Pandu's curse While hunting in a forest, Pandu sees a couple of deer in the process of coitus, and shoots arrows at them; only to find out that it was a sage named Kindama and his wife who were making ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Kurukshetra War
The Kurukshetra War ( sa, कुरुक्षेत्र युद्ध ), also called the Mahabharata War, is a war described in the ''Mahabharata ( sa, महाभारत )''. The conflict arose from a dynastic succession struggle between two groups of cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura. The war laid the foundation for the '' Bhagavad Gita''. The historicity of the war remains the subject of scholarly discussion. The Battle of the Ten Kings, mentioned in the ''Rigveda'', may have formed the core of the Kurukshetra war's story. The war was greatly expanded and modified in the ''Mahabharata'''s account, which makes it dubious. Attempts have been made to assign a historical date to the Kurukshetra war, with research suggesting BCE. However, popular tradition claims that the war marks the transition to the ''Kali Yuga,'' dating it to BCE. The war took place in Kurukshetra. Despite only spanning eighteen days, the war takes more th ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Mādrī
In the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata'', Madri is the princess of Madra Kingdom and the second wife of the king Pandu. She is the mother of the youngest Pandavas - the twin brothers Nakula and Sahadeva. The word ''Mādrī'' means 'woman of Madra'. Marriage In the epic ''Mahabharata'', Madri is the sister of Shalya, the king of the Madra Kingdom. Hastinapura's Kuru king Pandu once encountered the army of Shalya. Very soon, Pandu and Shalya become friends. The Adi Parva of the ''Mahabharata'' states that Bhishma travelled to Madra and asked for the hand of Madri for Pandu. Shalya assented, but according to their family custom, he was unable to 'bestow' his sister to the Kurus. So, Bhishma presented him with wealth, gold, elephants, and horses, and takes Madri with him to Hastinapura. Pandu's curse While hunting in a forest, Pandu sees a couple of deer in the process of coitus, and shoots arrows at them; only to find out that it was a sage named Kindama and his wife who were making ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Karna
Karna (Sanskrit: कर्ण, IAST: ''Karṇa''), also known as Vasusena, Anga-raja, and Radheya, is one of the main protagonists of the Hindu epic '' Mahābhārata''. He is the son of the sun god Surya and princess Kunti (mother of the Pandavas), and thus a demigod of royal birth. Kunti was granted the boon to bear a child with desired divine qualities from the gods and without much knowledge, Kunti invoked the sun god to confirm it if it was true indeed. Karna was secretly born to an unmarried Kunti in her teenage years, fearing outrage and backlash from society over her premarital pregnancy, Kunti had no choice but to abandon the newly born Karna adrift in a basket on the Ganges, in the hope that he finds foster parents. The basket discovered and Karna is adopted and raised by foster ''Sūta'' parents named Radha and Adhiratha Nandana of the charioteer and poet profession working for king Dhritarashtra. Karna grows up to be an accomplished warrior of extraordinary a ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kurukshetra War and the fates of the Kaurava and the Pāṇḍava princes and their successors. It also contains philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four "goals of life" or ''puruṣārtha'' (12.161). Among the principal works and stories in the ''Mahābhārata'' are the '' Bhagavad Gita'', the story of Damayanti, the story of Shakuntala, the story of Pururava and Urvashi, the story of Savitri and Satyavan, the story of Kacha and Devayani, the story of Rishyasringa and an abbreviated version of the '' Rāmāyaṇa'', often considered as works in their own right. Traditionally, the authorship of the ''Mahābhārata'' is attributed to Vyāsa. There have been many attempts to unravel its historical gr ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Abhimanyu
Abhimanyu is a legendary warrior from the ancient Hindu history ''Mahabharata''. He was born to the third Pandava prince Arjuna and the Yadu princess Subhadra, who was Krishna's younger sister. The ''Sambhava Parva'' of the Adi Parva states that he was an incarnation of Varchas, son of Soma. Soma was reluctant to part with his son, agreeing to do so solely on the condition that Varchas would return to him after he turned sixteen. Abhimanyu was raised by his mother and her relatives as his father Arjuna, along with his brothers and their common wife Draupadi, had been exiled for thirteen years. After his father's return Abhimanyu married Uttarā, the princess of the Matsya Kingdom. During the Kurukshetra War, Abhimanyu fought for the Pandavas. On the thirteenth day of the war, the mightiest Kaurava warriors came together and formed the Chakravyuha to trap the Pandavas, Arjuna having been enticed to another side of the battlefield. The young Abhimanyu was able to break t ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Nakula
In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, ''Nakula'' (Sanskrit: नकुल) was fourth of the five Pandava brothers. Nakula and Sahadeva were twins blessed to Madri, by Ashwini Kumaras, the divine physicians. Their parents Pandu and Madri - died early, so the twins were adopted by their step-mother, Kunti and were trained by Drona in Hastinapura. Skilled in ''Ayurveda'', sword fighting, and horse keeping, Apart from Nakula, Lord Krishna (Bhuvan Sundar) is regarded as the most handsome man in the Mahabharata. Nakul had two wives - Draupadi, the common wife of the five brothers, and Karenumati, daughter of the Chedi king Shishupala. For Yudhishthira's Rajasuya, he conquered the Sivis, the Rohitakas and other dynasties. After the game of dice, the Pandavas and Draupadi were sent into exile for 13 years with the last year being incognito. During the incognito, Nakula disguised himself as a horse trainer named Granthika. In the Kurukshetra War, Nakula killed many warriors, includin ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Sahadeva
Sahadeva ( Sanskrit: सहदेव) was the youngest of the Pandava brothers, the five principal protagonists of the epic '' Mahabharata''. He and his twin brother, Nakula, were blessed to King Pandu and Queen Madri by invoking the twin gods Ashvins. Sahadeva is described to be skilled in swordsmanship and astrology. During the Kurukshetra War, he slew many warriors including Shakuni. Etymology The word sahadeva is derived from two Sanskrit words ''saha'' (सह) and ''deva'' (देव). ''Saha'' means ''with'' and ''deva'' is a Hindu term used for ''deity''. So literally, Sahadeva means ''with Gods''. Another meaning is ''thousand Gods''. Sahadeva and his brother Nakula, are both called as ''Ashvineya'' (आश्विनेय), as they were born from Ashvins. Birth and early years Due to Pandu's inability to bear children (because of the curse of Rishi Kindama), Madri had to use the boon given to Kunti Devi by Sage Durvasa to give birth, who invoked the Ashwin ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]