Shantanu, the king of Hastinapura, is married to the river goddess Ganga.

She
gives birth to Devata, a wise and strong boy who is the heir to the throne.
However, after Ganga dies and returns to godhood, Shantanu marries a woman
named Satyavati, who has a son named Vyasa. He promises her that her future son
by him will be king. They have two sons, but both die young. Satyavati asks Vyasa
to father children with the widows of her dead son, so she’ll maintain her claim to
the throne. He does, and one of the widows gives birth to a blind child named
Dritharashtra, and her sister gives birth to a pale-skinned child named Pandu.
Because of his blindness, Dritharashtra is not eligible to be king, and Pandu
becomes king. However, Pandu has been cursed and will die if he lies with a
woman. He marries Kunti, who is blessed with exceptional fertility. They have
three children—the brave Yudhishthira, the mighty Bhima, and the warrior Arjuna.
However, she has a secret fourth child, Karna, whom she had abandoned before
getting married.

Madri, Pandu’s second wife, also gives birth to two children, the twins Nakula and
Sahadev. These five children become known as the Pandavas. King Pandu dies
after mating with Madri, and his blind brother becomes king. The Pandavas marry
the same woman, Draupadi, whom they treat as their common wife. Dritharashtra
and his wife, Gandhari, have a hundred children, known as the Kauravas, led by
the eldest, Duryodhana. The two clans become vicious rivals as the Pandavas win
the love of the people with their strength, kindness, and good deeds. The Kauravas
are seen as jealous and wicked. Duryodhana teams up with the Pandavas’ jealous
half-brother, Karna, along with their uncle Shakuni to drive the Pandavas out of the
kingdom. They challenge their rival clan to a game of dice and manage to defeat
the Pandavas by cheating. The Pandavas lose everything, including their wife
Draupadi, to the Kauravas and are exiled.

ItThe Kauvaras sentence the Pandavas to a twelve-year exile, followed by a year of

anonymity and shunning. The Kauvaras, however, don’t plan to let their rivals
simply disappear into the countryside. They send many assassins after them and
attempt to kill them in exile. However, the Pandavas manage to escape every time,
finding refuge with their maternal uncle, Lord Sri Krishna. The thirteen years pass
and the Pandavas return to claim their piece of the empire. However, the Kauvaras
don’t plan to honor their part of the arrangement. They refuse to surrender the land,
leading to the Great War of Kurukshetra. This epic battle takes place in the fields
of the Kuru clan and lasts for eighteen days.