of two princes, the blind Dhritarashtra and his brother Pandu.

The enmity begins

when Dhritarashtra is denied the throne because of his disability. Pandu become
s king instead, but a curse prevents him from fathering children. The gods, howe
ver, impregnate his wife and the line of Pandava seems safe. But the 100 sons of
Dhritarashtra feel that they have a claim to the kingdom, and after Yudhishtira
, the eldest Pandava, is crowned, they trick him into losing everything in a gam
e of dice. In disgrace, the Pandavas are sent into exile.
Some years later, the five Pandava brothers return to claim the throne, and so s
tarts the series of battles at Kurukshetra. The second son of Pandu, Arjuna, goe
s into war with his cousin and close companion Krishna as his charioteer, but on
ly reluctantly joins the fight after Krishna persuades him that it is his duty t
o fight for what is right. The war turns out to be a bloodbath, in which almost
all the Kauravas are slaughtered; the few who survive take their revenge