Kaurava is aSanskrit term which refers to descendant ofKuru, a legendary king ofIndia who is the ancestor of many of the characters of the epicMahabharata. Usually, the term is used for the 100 sons of KingDhritarashtra and his wifeGandhari.Duryodhana,Dushasana,Vikarna and Chitrasena are the most popular among the brothers. They also had a sister namedDussala and a half-brother namedYuyutsu.
The termKauravas is used in theMahabharata with two meanings ,
The rest of this article deals with the Kaurava in the narrower sense, that is, the children of DhritarashtraGandhari. When referring to these children, a more specific term is also used –Dhārtarāṣṭra (Sanskrit: धार्तराष्ट्र), a derivative of Dhritarashtra.[citation needed]
AfterGandhari was married toDhritarashtra, she wrapped a cloth over her eyes and vowed to share the darkness that her husband lived in. Once Sage Krishna DwaipayanaVyasa came to visit Gandhari inHastinapur and she took great care of the comforts of the great saint and saw that he had a pleasant stay inHastinapur. The saint was pleased with Gandhari and granted her a boon. Gandhari wished for one hundred sons who would be as powerful as her husband. DwaipayanVyasa granted her the boon and in due course of time, Gandhari found herself to be pregnant. But two years passed and still, the baby was not born.[2] . After two years of pregnancy, Gandhari gave birth to a hard piece of lifeless flesh that was not a baby at all. Gandhari was devastated as she had expected a hundred sons according to the blessing of RishiVyasa. She was about to throw away the piece of flesh while RishiVyasa appeared and told her that his blessings could not have been in vain and asked Gandhari to arrange for one hundred jars to be filled withghee. He told Gandhari that he would cut the piece of flesh into a hundred pieces and place them in the jars, which would then develop into the one hundred sons that she so desired. Gandhari toldVyasa then that she also wanted to have a daughter.Vyasa agreed, cut the piece of flesh into one hundred and one-pieces, and placed them each into a jar. After two more years of patient waiting the jars were ready to be opened and were kept in a cave.Bhima was born on the same day on whichDuryodhana was born thus making them of the same age.Arjuna,Nakula, andSahadeva were born afterDuryodhana was born.[3]
The children ofDhritarashtra byGandhari are also referred by a more specific and frequently encountered term -Dhārtarāṣṭra, a derivative ofDhṛtarāṣṭra (Dhritarashtra).[dubious –discuss]
According to the epic, Gandhari wanted a hundred sons andVyasa granted her a boon that she would have these. Another version says that she was unable to have any children for a long time and she eventually became pregnant but did not deliver for two years, after which she gave birth to a lump of flesh.Vyasa cut this lump into a hundred and one-pieces and these eventually developed into a hundred boys and one girl.[4]
The birth of these children is relevant to the dispute over the succession of the kingdom's throne. It attributes the late birth ofDuryodhana, the eldest son ofDhritarashtra, despite his father's early marriage and legitimizes the case for his cousinYudhishthira to claim the throne, since he could claim to be the eldest of his generation. All the sons ofDhritarashtra (excludingYuyutsu) were killed in theBattle of Kurukshetra.
TheMahabharata itself provides the list of names in order of their birth when Kuru descendantJanamejaya inquires about the names. The following list has been adapted from Section 108.1 of theAdi Parva (Critical Edition):[5]
All, except Yuyutsu, were born to Dhritarashtra's queenGandhari. The Kauravas also had a sister,Duhsala.
All the 100 Kauravas were mentioned to have wives in theAdi Parva.[6]
Harivamsa Purana (8th century CE) narrates the Jain version of their story.[7]
The term Kaurava is used as the name of afictional planetary system in the 2008real-time strategy video gameWarhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Soulstorm, as well as the names of the system's planets.
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