Bhishma wanted Pandu, the king of Hastinapur, to get married. Kunti, the adopted daughter of King Kuntibhoja, chose Pandu as her husband and was married to him. Princess Madri of Madra kingdom also wanted to marry Pandu, so she became his second wife.
Gandhari, the princess of Gandhara kingdom, was chosen as the
bride for Dhritarashtra.
Dhritarashtra was blind, and Gandhari did not
want to be better than her husband in any respect. So she tied a silk
bandage on her eyes and pledged never to remove it. A suitable bride was
also chosen for Vidura , the minister of Hastinapur, who was raised as a
brother of Pandu and Dhritarashtra .
As time passed, Kunti gave birth to three sons Yudhistira,
Bhima,and Arjuna. Madri gave birth to twins and name Nakula and Sahadeva
. As these five were the sons of Pandu , they are called the Pandavas.
Gandhari wanted a hundred children so she prayed to Saint Vyasa
who granted her the boon . But Gandhari gave birth to a lump of flesh.
Vyasa cut this lump into hundred and one pieces, which formed hundred boys and one girl. These children of Dhritarashtra were called the Kauravas as they belonged to the Kuru dynasty. The eldest of the Kaurava brothers were called Duryodhana .
The Pandavas were the princes of Hastinapur. The reason they were so called was because they were the sons of King Pandu, the king of Hastinapur. The first three Pandavas - Yudhishtira, Bhima, and
Arjuna - were the sons of Pandu's first wife, Kunti, and the youngest
Pandavas- Nakula and Sahadeva - were the sons of Madri, Pandu's second
wife. King Pandu and Madri had died, so Kunti brought them up. All the five brothers had great qualities. They were brave and intelligent.
They had learns many arts and mastered weaponry. Yudhisthira, the
eldest, was known for his truthfulness and fond of eating. Arjuna was a
great archer and was a favorite with his elders. There was a lot of
love and brotherhood among them.
