Mahabharata

Yudhishthira, the eldest of the brothers, was the most steadfast in wisdom and integrity. He followed a path of honesty, justice, righteousness. He was known to be incapable of telling a lie. As a sign of his purity, his feet and chariot did not touch the ground. His weakness was gambling.

At the end of his life, Yudhishthira refused to enter heaven if he couldn’t bring his devoted dog. Whereupon, the dog was revealed to be none other than his father, Lord Dharma. Having passed this final test, Yudhishthira ascended to the realm of the gods.

Bheema, the second brother, had the strength of 10,000 elephants and could hoist a large mountain onto his shoulders. He was fearless but also a humble and loyal friend and protector. He was renowned for his skills as a cook and for his voracious appetite.

Once his mother was holding Bheema in her arms when she saw a tiger approach. Jumping up, she dropped her infant. He fell on a rock, and she feared he had been hurt. Instead, the rock cracked and the mountain beneath them trembled. Such was Bheema’s strength even as an infant.

Arjuna, the third-oldest, was the most skilled warrior, acclaimed for his single-mindedness and perfection as an archer. While he was a fierce warrior, he was also known for his bravery, loyalty, compassion.

Lord Shiva granted Arjuna his most prized weapon, known as the pashupatastra. It could be launched by the mind, eyes, words, or a bow. However, knowing that this weapon had the power to destroy humanity—and indeed all of creation—Arjuna refrained from using it.

The princess Draupadi was born full-grown out of the flames of a sacred fire and brought passion to all the challenges she confronted in life. She was married to all five of the Pandava princes.

Initially, Arjuna won Draupadi’s hand by defeating all her suitors in an archery tournament. Kunti had taught her sons to share any alms they received. So when Arjuna told her he had “something” to show her, she automatically told him to share it with his brothers. They were bound to follow her word.

Krishna, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, was a friend and teacher to the Pandavas. He agreed to serve as their charioteer in the Kurukshetra war. At the start of the battle, Krishna revealed his divine form to Arjuna, thus enabling Arjuna to overcome his doubts and embrace his duty to fight.

Krishna revealed the path forward, offered light where there was chaos, and direction and insight where there was confusion. From him, the Pandavas learned how to live with sanity while fully engaging in a world that seemed to be spinning out of control.

Dhritarashtra was the father of one hundred sons, known as the Kauravas. He was born blind. After the death of his brother Pandu, he became king of Hastinapura.

A weak leader, Dhritarashtra failed to unify the two sets of cousins and to speak out when he saw wrongdoing. Instead he favored his eldest son, Duryodhana, overlooking his faults and pushing for him to inherit the kingdom.

Duryodhana was the leader of the Kauravas, and the incarnation of the demon Kali. He was vengeful, power-hungry, arrogant, and deceitful. He was driven by his jealousy of the Pandavas, whom he tried, unsuccessfully, to burn alive.

He tricked Yudhisthira into gambling away his kingdom, then ordered Draupadi to sit on his lap. When she rebuffed him, he tried to have her disrobed. After the Pandavas completed their exile, he refused to return Yudhishthira’s kingdom, inevitably leading to war.

Karna was a half brother of the Pandavas, the eldest child of their mother, Kunti. His father was Surya, the God of the Sun. Abandoned at birth by Kunti, who placed him in the river, he was filled with bitterness and resentment.

Landing on the shores of Dhritarashtra’s kingdom, Karna was raised as the king’s son. Though not a Kaurava, he fought with the Kauravas. He only learned of his true identity as the war began, and made Kunti swear to keep his secret. He was killed by Arjuna. Kunti finally revealed the truth, and the Pandavas grieved his death.