Origin

शन्तनु , a celebrated King of चन्द्रवंश (lunar dynasty) had two wives, गङ्गा and सत्यवती . भीष्म was the son of गङ्गा . After the birth of भीष्म गङ्गा his mother went to heaven. After that शन्तनु married सत्यवती , mother of व्यास . सत्यवती got two sons, चित्राङ्गद and विचित्रवीर्य . Even while a bachelor, चित्राङ्गद was killed by a गन्धर्व of the same name. So विचित्रवीर्य became King on शन्तनु 's death. भीष्म forcibly brought the three daughters of the King of काशी named अम्बा , अम्बिका and अम्बालिका for विचित्रवीर्य to marry. But knowing that अम्बा was in love with the King of साल्व , भीष्म let her off on the way. अम्बिका and अम्बालिका became the wives of विचित्रवीर्य . But for a long time they had no sons.

At that time सत्यवती , mother of विचित्रवीर्य , sent for व्यास her eldest son and asked him to beget sons of अम्बिका and अम्बालिका . अम्बिका got धृतराष्ट्र of व्यास and अम्बालिका , पाण्डु , father of the पाण्डवस् . धृतराष्ट्र was born blind and he married गान्धारी . पाण्डु was born pale-white in colour and he married कुन्ती mother of the पाण्डवस् .

कुन्ती was the sister of वसुदेव , father of श्री कृष्ण . The real name of कुन्ती was पृथा . शूरसेन , King of the यादवस् , was the father of कुन्ती and वसुदेव . Because कुन्तिभोज son of शूरसेन 's sister, had no issues कुन्ती was sent to the palace of कुन्तिभोज and she grew up there. पृथा got the name of कुन्ती because of that. Besides कुन्ती , पाण्डु had another wife named माद्री .

While she was living in the palace of कुन्तिभोज the sage दुर्वासस् came and stayed in the palace as the king's guest. कुन्ती was a little girl then and yet she served the sage with such care, patience and devotion that the sage was greatly pleased with her and gave her a divine mantra. He said: "If you call upon any god repeating this mantra he will manifest himself to you and bless you with a son equal to him in glory and valour. You can use this only five times." The impatient curiosity of youth made कुन्ती give a test to the power of the mantra and though unmarried she invoked the सुन् . The सुन् immediately presented himself before her and by his grace she conceived and got a son whom she secretly set afloat in a river. A childless charioteer named अधिरथ happened to see the child and he took it home and brought it up. When he grew up he was sent to हस्तिनापुर and the sons of धृतराष्ट्र took him in their service. He was कर्ण , the celebrated warrior of the कौरवस् . कुन्ती married पाण्डु after the birth of कर्ण .

धृतराष्ट्र got of गान्धारी a hundred sons and a daughter named दुश्शला . The children of धृतराष्ट्र were known as कौरवस् or धार्तराष्ट्रस् . पाण्डु had a curse that he would die the moment he entered into sexual sport with his wives. (See under Kindama) . So under instructions from her husband कुन्ती invoked धर्म, वायु and इन्द्र and got the sons युधिष्ठिर, भीमसेन and अर्जुन . She gave the remaining one chance to माद्री and माद्री invoked the two अश्विनीदेवस्, नासत्य and दस्र and got two sons named नकुल and सहदेव . All these five were accepted as the sons of पाण्डु and so they got the name of पाण्डवस् . [mh-1-1-1 ] Mahābhārata • Ādi parva (1-123)

Life in हस्तिनापुर and the lac-palace incident

After the birth of the पाण्डवस् , पाण्डु with his wife and children spent a very long time in the forest of शतशृङ्ग . कश्यप , the royal priest of वसुदेव , performed the उपनयन (investiture with the sacred thread) and such other religious ceremonies ordained for boyhood. They were educated under the sage शुक . One day in the Spring season पाण्डु 's resolution broke down under the exhilarating influence of the season and he caught hold of माद्री and embraced her despite earnest and repeated protests from माद्री . At once the curse of the sage took effect and पाण्डु fell dead. It was the custom then that the wife should end her life in the funeral pyre of her husband and so कुन्ती and माद्री came forward to do so. But माद्री said that one of them should live to take care of the children and so entrusting her children also to the care of कुन्ती , माद्री jumped into the funeral pyre and ended her life. The sages of the शतशृङ्ग forest took the children and कुन्ती to हस्तिनापुर and handing them over to the charge of धृतराष्ट्र came back.

The पाण्डवस् grew up in हस्तिनापुर along with the कौरवस् . But there was no real affection or intimacy between them. The naturally strong भीम found it a sport to tease and torment the कौरवस् whenever he got an opportunity. Gradually as the teasings of भीम became unbearable a wicked thought of somehow putting an end to भीम 's life found place in the minds of the कौरवस् . They once poisoned भीम and binding him tight with ropes threw him into the ocean. But भीम went to the world of the नागस् and came back unscathed with added सिद्धिस् (acquired power). This annoyed the कौरवस् .

It was at this time that द्रोण a renowned preceptor in archery, came to हस्तिनापुर . भीष्म enrolled the पाण्डवस् and the कौरवस् as disciples of द्रोण . अर्जुन became an extraordinarily brilliant bow-man. This came off as another reason for the कौरवस् to drift away from the पाण्डवस् . After the end of their course of education a contest was held in which अर्जुन ranked first. The time came for गुरुदक्षिण् (fees paid in bulk at the end of the studies to a preceptor). द्रोण asked his disciples to bring king द्रुपद bound hand and foot before him. The कौरवस् failed in that mission and the पाण्डवस् under the leadership of अर्जुन fulfilled the demand of their Guru.

When the training and गुरुदक्षिणा were over, धृतराष्ट्र crowned युधिष्ठिर as the heir-apparent and this increased the power and status of the पाण्डवस् in हस्तिनापुर . The jealousy of दुर्योधन knew no bounds when he found the पाण्डवस् in the pinnacle of power and popularity. He decided to kill them. He therefore, built a new palace in a place called वारणावत and with the permission of धृतराष्ट्र made them change their residence to the new building. The new building was cunningly built of lac and other combustible material. The wise and intelligent विदुर knew this deceit beforehand and so he had warned the पाण्डवस् of the danger through a messenger named खनक . The पाण्डवस् had, therefore, made ready a secret passage by underground to escape from the building when an emergency arose. The passage was to lead them from the palace to the forest nearby. One night पुरोचन , a minister of दुर्योधन , came stealthily and set fire to the palace. The पाण्डवस् with their mother कुन्ती escaped from the palace to the forest nearby. That night a huntress and her five sons were sleeping in a part of the building and they were burnt to death. They were all sleeping fully drunk and so could not escape from the building. पुरोचन also was burnt to death. Thus the पाण्डवस् had to go away from हस्तिनापुर for a brief period.

The Exile and its end

The कौरवस् thought that पाण्डवस् died in the fire and in that belief conducted the funeral rites of their brothers. The पाण्डवस् after their escape from the fire walked a long distance through the forests and came to the banks of the river गङ्गा . On their way a demon named हिडिम्ब attacked them and भीम killed him but at the request of धर्मपुत्र married his sister हिडिम्बी . After that while they were continuing their journey crossing the river a गन्धर्व of name चित्ररथ attacked them. चित्ररथ was defeated in a battle and he later became friendly with the पाण्डवस् . He gave them many valuable presents and also narrated to them the story of तपतीसंवरण . Then they went and stayed in the house of a ब्रह्मिन् in the village of एकचक्रा . It was at that time that the स्वयंवर of पाञ्चाली was held. The पाण्डवस् went for the स्वयंवर and married पाञ्चाली . The news then spread that पाण्डवस् were not dead but still alive. धृतराष्ट्र then sent for them and the पाण्डवस् returned to their palace in हस्तिनापुर . युधिष्ठिर was crowned as King of half of the country and he built his palace in a place known as खाण्डवप्रस्थ . The palace was designed and built by a demon named मय with beautiful Crystals and costly diamonds. When the पाण्डवस् were living there नारद went to them once. He suggested that पाञ्चाली should remain as wife to the पाण्डवस् in turn, one year each to one of them. They accepted the suggestion and started living like that. युधिष्ठिर married देविका , daughter of King शिबि , also. [mh-1-95-70 ] Mahābhārata • Ādi parva . भीमसेन and अर्जुन with the help of श्रीकृष्ण slew जरासन्ध . After that they conducted a victory march over the country and established their overlordship by conducting successfully a राजसूय यज्ञ . दुर्योधन and his brothers once visited इन्द्रप्रस्थ , the palace of the पाण्डवस् . They were fooled at the palace and this enraged them. दुर्योधन invited धर्मपुत्र for a game of dice and the latter lost everything. Yet धृतराष्ट्र gave them back everything and sent them to इन्द्रप्रस्थ again. Before धर्मपुत्र reached the palace दुर्योधन once again challenged him for a game of dice. Despite protesis from all sides धर्मपुत्र went and played and lost again everything. To fulfil the conditions of the game युधिष्ठिर went to the forests with his brothers and wife to spend twelve years in exile and a year incognito. At that time कुन्ती lived with विदुर .

It was during this period of exile that the पाण्डवस् got the अक्षयपात्र (never-empty pot) from the सुन् . They dwelt first in द्वैतवन and then in काम्यकवन . Then they went to the mountain of गन्धमादन and from there to बदरिकाश्रम . From there they came back again to काम्यकवन and while they were living there दुर्योधन and his men went to that forest to see the sufferings of the पाण्डवस् and gloat on their sad plight. But चित्रसेन , a गन्धर्व , captured दुर्योधन and अर्जुन got him released. दुर्योधन sent दुर्वासस् to tease धर्मपुत्र but the sage was sent back after being received duly and well-attended to earn his blessings. During their stay in that forest जयद्रथ kidnapped पाञ्चाली but the पाण्डवस् rescued her immediately. They went from there again to द्वैतवन . धर्मदेव tested them once while they were there. The twelve years of exile came to an end and as per directions from धर्मदेव they spent their incognito period of one year in the court of the King of विराट . After the end of their incognito life the King of विराट gave in marriage his daughter उत्तरा to अभिमन्यु son of अर्जुन .

Even after the return of the पाण्डवस् from the forests after successfully fulfilling the conditions of the game, दुर्योधन showed obstinate reluctance to part with even five pin-points of land in favour of the पाण्डवस् . A peace mission of श्री कृष्ण from the पाण्डवस् to avoid a war and settle matters amicably to धृतराष्ट्र failed and the stage was set for a grea battle between the पाण्डवस् and the कौरवस् .

Ascension to Heaven

A great and grim battle was fought at कुरुक्षेत्र between the पाण्डवस् and the कौरवस् lasting for eighteen days. श्री कृष्ण neither fought nor took arms even once against the कौरवस् but acted as the charioteer of अर्जुन . When the war came to an end the कौरवस् were completely annihilated.

युधिष्ठिर became King. He performed an अश्वमेध याग . After a few years of reign the पाण्डवस् crowned परीक्षित् , son of अभिमन्यु , as the King and started for their महाप्रस्थान (departing this life). They walked in a line in the order of their age, धर्मपुत्र leading and पाञ्चाली following last. At first पाञ्चाली fell dead, but nobody turned back. Then सहदेव fell and nobody worried. This continued thus till धर्मपुत्र was left alone. A dog which followed them from their very start also remained alive with धर्मपुत्र . The dog was none other than धर्मदेव , father of धर्मपुत्र . When धर्मपुत्र reached the top of the हिमालयस् इन्द्र was there ready with the divine car to take him to heaven. But धर्मपुत्र said that he would not come to heaven leaving his brothers and wife elsewhere. Then इन्द्र informed him that they were already in heaven and so धर्मपुत्र went to heaven with इन्द्र . (Only a general and succinct history of the Pāṇḍavas is given under this head. For details see under the heads of each of the Pāṇḍavas as well as Pāñcālī, Kuntī, Bhīṣma and Vyāsa)