Kaurava

The term Kaurava (Sanskrit: कौरव) is a Sanskrit term, that means the descendants of Kuru, a legendary king who is the ancestor of many of the characters of the Mahābhārata.

The term is used in the Mahābhārata with two meanings:

• The wider meaning, 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 Mahābhārata.
• The narrower but more common meaning, to represent the elder line of the descendants of King Kuru. This restricts it to the children of King Dhritarashtra, as his line is the older line of descent from Kuru. It excludes the children of the younger brother Pandu, who founds his own line, the Pandava.

The rest of this article deals with the Kaurava in the narrower sense, that is the children of Dhritarashtra by Gandhari. When referring to these, a more specific term is also frequently encountered - Dhārtarāṣṭra, a derivative of Dhṛtarāṣṭra (Dhritarashtra).

The Birth of Kauravas

After Gandhari was married to Dhritrashtra she wrapped a bandage over her eyes and vowed to share the darkness that her husband lived in. Gandhari's brother Shakuni came to live with them to look after the interests of Gandhari. Once Rishi Vyas came to visit Gandhari in Hastinapur. 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. Vyas 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 gave birth to a son whom she called Yudhisthar. After two years of carrying her 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 hundred sons according to the blessing of Rishi Vyas. She was about to throw away the piece of flesh when Rishi Vyas appeared and told her that his blessings could not have been in vain. He asked Gandhari to arrange for one hundred jars full of Ghee (oil). He told Gandhari that he would cut the piece of flesh into hundred pieces and place them in the jar, which would then develop into the one hundred sons that she so desired. Gandhari told Vyas then that she wanted that she should also have a daughter. Vyas agreed and cut the piece of flesh into one hundred and one pieces and placed them each in the jar. After two more years of patient waiting the jars were ready to be opened. When the first jar was opened Gandhari took the baby out and named him Duryodhan. But alas! As soon as the baby started crying all the beasts of the jungle started howling and many signs of ill omen were seen. Everyone was shocked and disappointed as this meant that the baby was not auspicious and would bring harm on the entire clan of the Kauravas. Vidur spoke then and said that the child would have to be abandoned as the omens at his birth spell doom for the Kuru clan. He said, "The scriptures clearly state that for the good of the clan an individual can be sacrificed, for the good of the village a clan can be sacrificed, for the good of the country a village can be sacrificed and for the development of the soul, even the earth can be sacrificed." So for the good of the clan and of the country and of humanity, please sacrifice this son of yours. But both Gandhari and Dhritrashtra were adamant that a baby could not cause any harm and much against Vidur's wishes kept the baby. At the same time Bheemsen was born to Kunti in the forest. The other children of Gandhari were taken out of the jars and now Gandhari had one hundred sons and a daughter called Duhshala. All the children grew up to be strong and powerful.

This story should be read in view of the dispute over the succession to the throne of the kingdom. It attributes a late birth to Duryodhana, the eldest son of Dhritarashtra, despite his father's early marriage. This legitimises the case for his cousin Yudhisthira to claim the throne, since he could claim to be the eldest of his generation.

Although all hundred sons have been named, only the first few are normally mentioned in the Mahābhārata. The first five are:

• Duryodhana
• Dushasana
• Dussala (daughter)
• Jalagandha
• Sama

All the sons of Dhritarashtra excluding Yuyutsu (born of Dhritarashtra's marriage with a Vaysya woman, thus a step brother of Duryodhana) were killed in the great battle at Kurukshetra.

To quote from Mahabharata, Sambava Parva, Section CXV