In the
Mahabharata,
Dhritarashtra (
Sanskrit: धृतराष्ट्र,
dhṛtarāshtra; lit. "a good king") is the King of
Hastinapur at the time of the
Kurukshetra War, the epic's climactic event. He was born the son of
Vichitravirya's first wife
Ambika, and was fathered by Veda
Vyasa. He was blind from birth, and became father to a hundred and one sons (and one
daughter) by his wife
Gandhari (
Gāndhārī). These children, including the eldest son
Duryodhana, came to be known as the
Kauravas. Dhritarashtra was half-brother of
Pandu and
Vidura, and was uncle to the five
Pandavas, with whom his sons fought the
Kurukshetra War. Throughout his reign as King of Hastinapur, Dhritarashtra was torn between the principles of
dharma and his love for his son Duryodhana, and often ended up endorsing his son's actions merely out of fatherly love. Thus Dhritarashtra essentially presided over the fall of Hastinapur's kingdom. All of his sons perished in the war, with the exception of
Yuyutsu, his son with Gandhari's
lady-in-waiting Sughada, who fought on the Pandava side. Dhritarashtra appears in
Mahābhārata sections that have been circulated as separate scriptures, most notably the
Bhagavad Gita, whose dialogue was narrated to him.
