{| Bheeshma- Kaurava clan- Character-Actor's AT #2|}

Bheeshma is the undying heroic ideal, ever shining in a globe of gloom and ignorance. He's someone who remained selfless throughout his life, having a fate similar to the burning sun who desires for nothing in return. Noblest, purest and the most compassionate chivalrous warrior!

Born as Devavrata, Bheeshma was the 8^th son of Ganga and Shantanu, the only surviving one. In actual, he was a cursed Vasu, destined to face greatest tragedies throughout as a punishment of stealing sage Vasishtha's cow Nandini.

Ganga took her 8^th son Devavrata with her and left as Shantanu broke the promise of never questioning her actions. She promised Shantanu that she'd return their son to him. Years later she returned and handed over an adolescent Devavrata to him who was taught by the best teachers thus being unparalleled in all the fields. Soon he was announced the crown prince and after a series of particular events he took the "Bheeshma Pratigya" and became the beholder of the supreme sacrifice. Devavrata was renamed Bheeshma and blessed by the "Iccha-mrityu" boon by his father. Well, Shantanu became worried that what would happen if the future king isn't worthy! Bheeshma then took another vow to see his father's image in whoever sits on the throne and serve him. This particular vow made him fight on Duryodhan's side in the war.

After Vichitravirya, his second step-brother came to marriageable age; he went to Kashi and abducted the three princesses to get them married to his brother. Thereafter a series of events caused rivalry between him and the eldest princess who vowed to become the reason of his death. Her vow got fulfilled years later in the Kurukshetra war.

Even in the Great War, his heart was with the Pandavas and he knew they would attain victory as theirs was a righteous cause. On lord Krishna's guidance the Pandavas came to ask him that how they can slay him in the battle. Thus on their grandsire's advice, Arjuna entered the battle field accompanied by Shikhandi who was the reincarnation of Amba, the eldest Kashi princess. Bheeshma lowered his weapons and then Arjuna pierced his body with numerous arrows, he fell off his chariot but his body didn't touch the ground. The arrows stuck in his body made him lie on the bed of arrows.

Since he had the boon to choose the time of his death, he waited for the auspicious Uttarayana and gave his final instructions to Yudhisthira, answered all his questions and even narrated the Vishnu Sahasranaama on Krishna's advice. After the arrival of Uttarayana, he felt the purpose of his birth is accomplished and left his mortal body.

In this serial, Devavrata's legend unfurls in the initial episode. He enters running with his signature "Kshatriya satyavadicha" music booming in the background, running to rescue his motherland from demons. He lands at the spot and defeats the demons single handedly. Shantanu, his father arrives and he stops him from attacking the demons as they promised him not to do violence to the kingdom again. He blocks the path of Ganga leaving Shantanu dazed. Ganga appears and introduces Devavrata to Shantanu. Father son unites and Shantanu decides to announce his son as the crown prince. This upsets Satyavati and she conveys her discontent openly. Meanwhile, Devavrata is the crown prince but he senses something's off beam with his father and decides to look at the matter. He approaches Satyavati and takes his "Bheeshma Pratigya" thus sacrificing all his happiness, all his rights. Shantanu renames him "Bheeshma" and blesses him with "Iccha-mrityu" boon.

Next, he's shown rescuing his second half brother Vichitravirya after 25 years who is shown as a drunkard man. Bheeshma later punishes him and Satyavati insults him due to this. She then orders him to go to the Kashi Swayamvara to get brides for her son. Bheeshma goes there and defeats a king named Shalva, whom Amba, the eldest princess had already accepted. She confesses it and Bheeshma leaves with her younger two sisters. Meanwhile, Shalva refuses to accept Amba who then approaches Bheeshma. He expresses his helplessness due to the vow and suggests her to go to her Guru, lord Parashuram as he's the lone man who has the supremacy to punish him. Ambika and Ambalika get married to Vichi who dies soon after, leaving no heirs. After the next generation is born, Amba arrives and tells Bheeshma that Lord Parashuram has summoned him.

Bheeshma goes to his Guru who orders him to fight a battle with him, he won't be defeated if he's on the path of Dharma. After refusing to attack his Guru for a while, Bheeshma finally gets in a warrior's character. The battle lasts without a winner and Amba gets a boon to become the reason of Bheeshma's death.

A leap takes place again and this time Bheeshma visits Gandhara, to offer a marriage proposal to Gandhari. The marriage takes place and later Pandu is the king of Hastinapura. Bheeshma suggests Satyavati to get Pandu married. Pandu then receives a curse from a sage and retires to the forest, Bheeshma derives a solution and Dhritarashtra rules as the regent. Then Kauravas and Pandavas are born after a series of events. After the clan becomes young, Dhritarashtra insults Satyavati and Bheeshma expresses his vulnerability, as he told her earlier that nobody can contradict the king. Meanwhile, he's impressed with adolescent Karna's skills and advices his father to send him to any other place where people of other casts practice archery too.

Pandu and Madri die in the forest and Kunti comes back with her children, accompanied by Vidura. Bheeshma suggests Shakuni to return to Gandhara stating six points in a dice game. After the poisoning incident of Bhima, he pressurizes Dhritarashtra to send all the princes to Drona for 15 years as the king disagrees to punish his guilty son. Then he sends Shakuni back to Gandhara and all the princes leave for Gurukul the next day.

Then he's shown after yet another leap..a bit of white beard this time, looking a bit feeble. Bheeshma gives a tear-jerking speech in the crown-prince announcement assembly, the announcement is interrupted though. Then during the Lakshagraha track when Vidura senses something fishy, he approaches Bheeshma whose words while training the soldiers solve his problem. Meanwhile, Adhiratha comes to Bheeshma and tells him that something wrong is going to happen at Varnavrata. This angers Bheeshma and he rushes off.

When he arrives, he spots nothing but the burnt weapons and assumes them dead. He comes back to his kingdom and goes near river Ganga. Vidura arrives and tells him that the pandavas must be alive, this relieves him. Then there's an emotional outburst where he utters he desires to punish the guilty men and at the same time expresses he's incapable to do so.

Courtesy: -Shruti

Dhritarashtra was the son of Vichitravirya & Ambika. Since he was born blind, as a result of Ambika shutting her eyes when Vyasa consummated her, he was automatically bypassed for the Hastinapur throne in favor of Pandu. This was the root of the rivalry between his sons & the Pandavas.

After Pandu's death, Dhritarashtra became the ruler, and was obsessed with his love of Duryodhan. After the Pandavas disappeared after the Varnavarta house of lac incident, he made Duryodhan the yuvraj. When the Pandavas returned after marrying Draupadi, he gave them the barren part of the kingdom - Khandavaprastha, while keeping Hastinapur for himself and Duryodhan.

During the game of dice, Dhritarashtra let Duryodhan control everything that went on, and only at the end, when ill omens were foreseen, returned the Pandavas everything. However, he then allowed Duryodhan to bring about the exile of the Pandavas.

The rest of Dhritarashtra's reign was essentially Duryodhan's reign, until the latter was killed by Bhima. After the war, Dhritarashtra finally abdicated, and 15 years later, he left for the forest. Finally, he & Gandhari were killed in a forest fire

In this serial, Dhritarashtra first appears as a prized fighter in Hastinapur, who despite being blind, subdues multiple elephants attacking him, and also, being an expert in identifying the exact location of objects. He had an uncanny accuracy in knife throwing 😆 and could tell from one's footsteps who it was.

In the first episode where he appeared, he managed to subdue the elephants, but one broke loose and Pandu intervened and reined it in. This irked Dhritarashtra, who was shown making it clear to both Pandu & Vidura that he needed to be prepared to be a king.

At his wedding, Dhritarashtra was shocked when he learnt that Gandhari had blindfolded herself, and in their first night, he tortured, and then disowned her.

Dhritarashtra's next major ambition was to be crowned king, but on his coronation day, Vidura objected, debating points raised by both Satyavati & Shakuni. A furious Dhritarashtra stormed out of the court, and Pandu failed to pacify him. Later, Pandu was crowned king, and this started the hatred of Dhritarashtra for Pandu & his family. When Pandu tried to appease Dhritarashtra by making him an advisor, Dhritarashtra spurned the offer. When Pandu returned to Hastinapur w/ Kunti, Dhritarashtra boycotted them both, but was there to welcome Pandu when he returned w/ Madri. Soon, however, Pandu abdicated the throne due to accidentally killing Rishi Kindama, and Dhritarashtra was made his successor.

Later, he became happy when Gandhari was pregnant, but her 15 month pregnancy was too much for him when Kunti had already given birth to Yudisthir, and was in the process of bringing in Bhima. In his fury, he sent for Gandhari's maid Sukhda and impregnated her: she later gave birth to Yuyutsu.

When Gandhari delivered a mass of flesh and it was being curated by Vyasa, an astrologer told Dhritarashtra that the first son born would be someone who would know all about dharma, but knowingly ignore it, and bring about the destruction of the Kuru race. Despite these omens, when Duryodhan was finally born from the cocoon, Dhritarashtra decided to overrule the advice of elders and accept him. He & Gandhari then plucked out their 100 sons & 1 daughter.

When the first case of his sons and their dispute w/ some fishermen came to Dhritarashtra's court, his first signs of bias towards his sons was on clear display. He ordered that the fishermen who had a dispute w/ his son be executed, and later, downgraded the punishment to an expulsion from the kingdom. Satyavati, who had hitherto always supported him, now realized her mistake. When Pandu died, she left Hastinapur for good.

When the Pandavas came to Hastinapur w/ Kunti, Dhritarashta turned a blind eye towards them, and wanted to make Duryodhan yuvraj. However, Bheeshma managed to prevent him. Duryodhan's attempt on Bhima's life later made Dhritarashtra's position untenable, and he reluctantly agreed to let all the Kuru princes go to Drona for lessons.

After the Kauravas returned, Dhritarashtra was impressed by Duryodhan on the tournament day, and also curious about Karna's battle w/ Arjun. Following that, he was debating deciding on how to make Duryodhan yuvraj. Drona then came and demanded Drupada's imprisonment as his gurudakshina, and this was something that Duryodhan couldn't deliver, but Arjun could. Following this, Yudisthir was made the Yuvraj.

When Dhritarashtra got an inkling about the house of lac, he begged Duryodhan to spare Kunti, and think of how he would face Pandu. When the news of the death of the Pandavas arrived, he was in mourning.

Courtesy: .Vrish.

In the epic she was wife of Dhritarastra, King of Hastinapur, she blindfold herself after the marriage. She was mother of hundred Kauravas and Dushala , sister of Shakuni and daughter of the King of Gandhara,Subala. She pleased Shiv ji with her devotion and was blessed with a boon of hundred sons. Gandhari's voluntary decision to blindfold herself throughout her married life so that she could deny herself the pleasure of sight that her husband never had makes her one of the exceptional ladies in vedic history. Although Gandhari's sons were portrayed as antagonists, the epic attributes high moral standards to Gandhari. At end of the epic depressed after loss of all her sons she cursed Krishna.

In this serial, Shakuni first makes his appearance in a bizarre mountaineering expedition where he's out to trap fireflies for his sister, who was phobic to darkness. When he learnt about the proposal to have Gandhari marry Dhritarashtra, he was livid. However, much to his disappointment, Gandhari rebuffed him and agreed to the marriage, overruling him.

Shakuni however held hope that Gandhari would become an empress. However, that fond hope was rebuffed when Vidura sabotaged Dhritarashtra's coronation, and had Pandu crowned instead. Shakuni was furious and stabbed himself in the leg, and refused to return to Gandhara w/ his parents.

Shakuni then started a campaign of poisoning first Dhritarashtra against Pandu, and later, Duryodhan against the Pandavas. He watched sympathetically when Gandhari was tortured by Dhritarashtra for failing to deliver sons on time. Finally, when Duryodhan & his brothers were born, he swung into action. When Pandu abdicated, Shakuni rejoiced, and urged Dhritarashtra to declare Duryodhan his yuvraj, and expel Pandu & his family from the Kuru family.

When the Kaurava princes were first brought b4 Dhritarashtra due to the complaints of some fishermen, Shakuni manipulated the evidence to show that the fishermen were guilty, and Dhritarashtra was unjust to them. Later, after Pandu's death, when the Pandavas first came to Hastinapur, Shakuni poisoned the ears of the Kauravas against them. After an incident where Bhima rattled the Kauravas causing them to fall from trees for insulting Pandu, Shakuni, along w/ Duryodhan & Dushashan, came up w/ the plot to poison Bhima. When that plot backfired due to Bhima being saved by the Nagas, Shakuni was expelled from Hastinapur by Bheeshma, who also had all the princes sent off to Drona's gurukul.

After the Gurukul, Ashwatthama, Drona's son, allied w/ Shakuni in plotting to assassinate Arjun, so that Duryodhan's victory in the tournament was assured. However, after Arjun defeated Duryodhan in battle, Karna's entry changed the entire stakes. After the defeat of the Kauravas but victory of the Pandavas in the war against Drupada, Shakuni's next plot was the house of lac. He supervised Purochan and gave him an advance warning so that Purochan could burn down the palace a day earlier than scheduled. Following the news of the Pandavas' death, Shakuni joined Duryodhan & Dushashan in celebrating

Courtesy: .Vrish.

Dronacharya was the son of Rishi Bharadwaj and a disciple of Parashurama. As a child, he studied in the same gurukul as Drupada, the prince of Panchala. However, when Drona grew up and visited Panchala to claim Drupada's friendship, Drupada denied it, and that started the lifelong animousity b/w their clans.

Drona also married Kripi, the sister of Kripacharya, the kulguru of the Kurus. So after his humiliation by Drupada, he returned to Hastinapur and taught the Kuru princes the various arts of warfare, particularly noted in teaching Arjun archery and all sorts of weapons. He was also guru to a lot of other princes, including, ironically, Drupada's sons.

In the Kurukshetra war, Drona, Kripa & Ashwatthama all fought on the Kaurava side, and Drona, along w/ Ashwatthama, caused the maximum #casualties of the Pandava armies as far as kings/princes & commanders went. However, on day 15, he overdid it when he used divine weapons against ordinary soldiers, and at that point, Krishna had Yudhisthir lie to him about Ashwatthama being dead, which caused him to forsake his weapons. Drona laid down his weapons, and Dhrishtadyumna, whom Drupada had obtained specifically to kill him, took advantage of that & killed him. Ashwatthama made several attempts to avenge him, finally culminating in the midnight massacre on day 18 - one of the most despicable acts of the war.

In this serial, Drona first appeared in Hastinapur at a playground where the Kuru princes were playing, and a ball was thrown into a well by Duhsala. Drona sent some well aimed blades of grass into the well, fishing out the ball. He was later welcomed by Kripacharya, Bheeshma & Vidura, and suggested that he take the princes out of Hastinapur to his gurukul. Dhritarashtra balked, but after Duryodhan's attempt on Bhima, when Bheeshma marginalized him, he got his opportunity, and the Kurus were sent to his gurukul.

Drona then delivered an image as a strict disciplinarian, cracking down on an attempt by Duryodhan to establish a luxury tent in the facility. He was impressed by Arjuna, and also by Yudisthir. During this time, the incident w/ Ekalavya happened - the latter claimed to be Drona's pupil, and Drona demanded his right thumb as gurudakshina. During this time, Karna too appeared before Drona, but was turned down.

Finally, after the Kuru princes returned to Hastinapur, the tournament was held. After Ashwatthama had manipulated the choice of contestants, Drona noticed that he wanted to bring down an elephant statue and assassinate Arjun. Drona took his bow to do him that favor, but after the statue came down on him, an arrow out of that rubble convinced everyone that Arjun was alive.

After the contest, when the Kaurava court was deciding about the yuvraj of the kingdom, Drona appeared and demanded his gurudakshina. He demanded that his pupils capture & bring b4 him Drupada. The Kauravas tried but failed, while the Pandavas succeeded. Following that, Drona annexed the northern part of Drupada's kingdom, and had him crown Ashwatthama as the king of that kingdom.

Courtesy: .Vrish.

Ashwatthama

Ashwatthama was the despicable son of Drona & Kripi. He was one of the greatest warriors on either side of the war, and along with his father, was responsible for the deaths of the overwhelming majority of Pandava warriors. He is eternally infamous for the midnight massacre of the Pandava army after the 18th day of the war, and following that, releasing the most lethal weapon - the Brahmashira - on a pregnant Uttara, almost killing her son. He was cursed by Krishna to be a leper for the remainder of his life, as a result

In this serial, Kripacharya was briefly shown during Kuru rituals - like the wedding of Vichitravirya, where he had a brief altercation w/ Amba, and occasionally w/ a cameo role. He first came into prominence when Drona appeared, where he was concerned about the well being of Kripi & Ashwatthama.

His next prominent role was during the tournament, where he questioned Karna about his lineage, and insulted him.

Courtesy: .Vrish.

Dushashan was the 2nd son of Gandhari & Dhritarashtra, and is exclusively remembered for trying to disrobe Draupadi. As a child, he was a part of all of Duryodhan's schemes to harm the Pandavas. When Shakuni won the game of dice, Duryodhan sent him to fetch Draupadi, and Dushashan grabbed Draupadi by the hair and dragged her into the court. Later, when Karna called her a prostitute, Duryodhan asked Dushashan to strip her. Dushashan tried it, but Krisha's miracle saw to it that that sari had an infinite length, and outlasted Dushashan.

Bhima then vowed to tear Dushashan's chest in battle & drink his blood. On the 17th day of the war, Bhima got into battle w/ Dushashan & defeated him easily. He then tore off his right arm - the arm w/ which he had grabbed Draupadi's hair - and beat him w/ it mercilessly. He then thew it away @ Duryodhan, and in front of the Kauravas, tore apart Dushashan's chest & drank his blood. That really terrified the Kauravas, but Draupadi got avenged

In this serial, Dushashan is introduced as a bullying child, who tormented some fish mongers and caused an altercation w/ them, which only escalated, and ultimately caused a rift b/w Dhritarashtra & Satyavati. He's next shown when the Pandavas appear, being excessively rude & hostile to them - first refusing to bow, then causing them to be denied food, and so on. Later, when he & his brothers are shaken off trees, Duryodhan & Shakuni came up w/ the plot to poison Bhima. At the gurukul, Dushashan picked up a fight w/ Nakul, and then got beaten up by Bhima. He also came up w/ plans w/ Ashwatthama & Duryodhan to enlist Ekalavya, which was sabotaged by Drona.

After the tournament, Dushashan was introduced as an adult in court, along w/ his brothers. When Drona demanded the gurudakshina, Dushashan went w/ Duryodhan & then rest. In Drupada's chakravyuha, Dushashan penetrated deep, but was finally defeated in battle by Shikhandini.

After that incident, Dushashan participated w/ Duryodhan & Shakuni in plotting the house of lac

Courtesy: .Vrish.

Duhsala was the daughter of Dritarashtra & Gandhari. She was the 101st child of theirs, and formed after the 100 parts of the flesh Gandhari bore were set aside for 100 sons. She grew up, and unlike most of her brothers, she did not have a blind animosity towards the Pandavas.

She married Jayadrath, the ruler of Sindhu, who however did share the hatred that her brothers had towards the Pandavas. From him, she had a son named Suratha.

When Jayadrath abducted Draupadi during the Pandava exile, the Pandavas spared his life, not wishing to widow Duhshala. However, Jayadrath coming back to cause the death of Abhimanyu during the war finally forced their hand, and he was killed on day 14. Following his death, her son Suratha died of fright/took his own life, and Sindhu was left w/o a king, w/ Duhsala running it on behalf of Suratha's son.

After the war, during the Ashwamedha yagna, the horse came to Sindhu, and a lot of Saindava warriors confronted Arjun and got killed by him. Duhsala then proceeded to the battlefield w/ her grandson to greet Arjun, who was moved seeing her widowed, and recalling that it was he who had widowed her. She begged Arjun to spare her grandson, and Arjun embraced her and told her that the Pandavas too wanted the enmity to end. He sent her back to the palace w/ her grandson, telling her that the Pandavas bore no residual ill will towards her family.

In this serial, Duhsala is briefly shown as a child when Kunti returns to Hastinapur: she welcomed her, and told her what Duryodhan thought about the Pandavas. She's next shown in a scene where Bhima accidentally knocks her doll out of her hands, wounding it, and being embarrassed to play w/ it and cure' it. Duryodhan, who was trying to win Bhima's confidence, rebuked her, and she tossed their ball into a well. That was when Dronacharya appeared.

Duhsala's next scene was at the tournament, where she asked questions about the contest that irritated her mother. Later, Duhsala introduced Subhadra as her school friend to Kunti.

After Yudisthir became yuvraj, Duryodhan came up w/ a marriage proposal for Duhsala w/ Jayadrath, the ruler of Sindhu. This caused a furore in the court, since Sindhu was supposedly an enemy kingdom of Hastinapur. Gandhari too was shocked @ that news. However, after the house of lac, nothing was known about how that proposal went ahead.

Courtesy: .Vrish.

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While enough has been written about Krishna & his ties w/ the Pandavas both in his AT as well as that of the Pandavas, Krishna also had a relationship w/ the Kauravas - independent of Kunti

As described above, Samba's marriage to Lakshmanaa resulted in Krishna being related not only to Arjun (via Subhadra) but to Duryodhan as well (via Samba). As a result, after the Pandava exile, both Duryodhan & Arjun approached Krishna for support, on the basis of their individual relationships w/ him. Krishna joined the Pandavas as Arjun's charioteer & strategic advisor to the Pandavas, while his army, the Shamshaptakas/Narayanis, were handed over to Duryodhan

After Bhima shattered Duryodhan's thighs in battle, Krishna dissuaded Balarama from punishing him. He also visited Dhritarashtra & Gandhari & managed to convince them against cursing the Pandavas. However, after the war and seeing all the corpses, Gandhari cursed Krishna that the Yadavas would befall a fate similar to the Kurus, and Krishna would experience a fate similar to Duryodhan's.

36 years after the war, that curse, along w/ a similar one from a group of rishis insulted by Samba, materialized, and Krishna, after witnessing the deaths of his entire clan and arranging for an evacuation from Dwarka, was killed by a hunter Jara who mistook his foot for that of a deer.

In the Mahabharata, Balarama's main role was being a guru to both Duryodhan & Bhima in gada-yudh (mace fighting). Duryodhan was his favorite pupil, and that developed a soft spot in him for Duryodhan that Krishna usually had to deal with.

Balarama first taught Duryodhan after the house of lac incident, when Duryodhan accompanied him to Mithila. Duryodhan excelled in mace fighting, and got the reputation of becoming the most skilled mace fighter.

During Arjun's exile, Balarama planned to give Subhadra in marriage to Duryodhan, but that was a plan that had nobody's support. Krishna therefore sabotaged it by getting Arjun to abduct her, and preventing the Vrishni's from being vassals of the Kauravas, rather than the Pandavas.

During the Pandava exile, when Duryodhan held a swayamvara for his daughter Lakshmanaa, Krishna's son from Jambavati - Samba - intruded on her swayamvara & abducted her. He fought the Kauravas - including Bheeshma, Drona, Kripa, Ashwatthama & Karna, and held his own, but was ultimately captured. However, since he had touched Lakshmanaa, she was considered unsuitable for marriage to anyone else. However, the Kauravas imprisoned him. Balarama came and got him released, after uprooting Hastinapur and dipping it in the Ganga. (This account, curiously, is not a part of the Mahabharata, but rather, Shrimad Bhagvatam)

Later, when the Pandavas & Kauravas went to war, Balarama declined the invitation of both Duryodhan or Arjun to join. During that time, due to his killing of Rishi Romaharshana, Balarama went to a pilgrimage.

On the 18th day of the war, Balarama happened to arrive @ Kurukshetra, just in time for Duryodhan's ultimate battle w/ Bhima, and blessed them. However, he got infuriated by Bhima smashing Duryodhan's thighs, and wanted to kill him. On Krishna's urges, he dropped the idea, but that was the end of his friendship w/ the Pandavas.

Thirty six years later, after the fratricide that destroyed all the Yadavas, including Balarama's 2 sons, Balarama took a yogic position and a serpant - representative of Sesha nag - left his body.

Karna is one of the most magnificent characters, only epic persona who didn't get his identity by his birth but got it with his immense talent as an archer and undying struggle with social discrimination. His birth was result of his mother Kunti's curiosity who wanted to test the boon given by sage Durbasha and summoned Sun God and had his son. Karna was born with gold shield and gold ear rings which made him invincible. Unfortunate since the time of his birth, karna was floated by his mother in the river of Ganges. Charioteer Adhiratha and his wife Radheya got him from Ganga and adopted him as their son. They named him Basushena. Karna was also named "Radheya" after his mother's (Radha)name.

Karna's interest in warfare made him curious to learn the art of archery but his low social status brought only rejection in his life. Rejected by Dronachariya, teacher of Kuru princes and pandavas he decided to learn archery by himself considering Sun God his Guru. Finally he decided to go to Parashurama for completing his education. He posed as a Brahmin as Parashurama only thought the supreme caste the art of warfare. Karna excelled in this art and an overwhelmed Parashurama declared karna a warrior equal to him but before karna could complete his education things changed drastically. Once when Parashurama was slipping keeping his head on karna's lap, a scorpion (or bee) stung karna. Karna bare tremendous pain so that his Guru's sleep doesn't get disturbed. Parashurama after awaking misunderstood karna as a "kshatriya" seeing his level of tolerance and cursed him that he will forget everything he learnt from him in the time he need it most. Karna revealed his true identity and Parashurama blessed his beloved student with Bhargava astra. He also gifted Lord Shiva's "Vijaya" bow to Karna.

Karna's entry in kuru politics happened on the day of the friendly tournament what was arranged by Drona to exhibit Kuru princes' warfare skill. Karna wanted to challenge Arjuna the best archer among Kuru princes but he was rejected for the same old status problem. Eldest kaurava Duryadhana appreciated his talent making him the king of Anga and that marked the beginning of deep friendship between karna and Duryadhana what remain unchanged till the end. However karna still had to face humiliation from Bheema, Draupadi and even from Bhisma in different times. Karna took the command of army and conquered a large part of Aryavarta to establish Duryadhana's command over everyone. Karna not only aced in skill of warfare but he became the greatest philanthropist of his time.

Karna's antagonism with pandavas, what sprouted with getting rejected for challenging Arjuna and Bheema's constant insult, enhanced with his getting insulted by Draupadi in open swamvar. As revenge karna used harsh words for Draupadi during cheerharan period. An angry Bheema took oath that his brother Arjuna will kill Karna to avenge Draupadi. In Vyasa's epic we see karna to regret his action towards Draupadi.

Karna joined the Kurukshetra war on twelfth day and became the commander of Kuru soldier on sixteenth day of Kurukshetra war. Before that Krishna revealed karna's true identity as "jesth pandava" and asked him to join Pandava side offering throne of Hastinapur and Draupadi but Karna declined the offer choosing to be loyal to his friend. Kunti returned with karna's word that he won't kill anyone but Arjun. Before Karna could join the war Indra, father of Arjuna, fearing karna's valor, begged karna's Kavach and Kundal in disguise of a Brahmin. Karna gifted it knowing its Indra, Indra blessed him with Vasav Shakti weapon, what karna could use only once. Karna and Arjuna fight was the highest point of Kurukshetra war which ended when advised by Krishna, Arjuna killed an unarmed karna from behind when Karna was busy to struggle with his chariot's wheel which sank in earth due to a curse.

Sanjaya was Dhritarashtra's charioteer, and during the Kurukshetra war, was blessed with a divine vision by Vyasa to be able to see all the events in the battlefield so that he could narrate them to Dhritarashtra. After the retirement of Dhritarashtra & Gandhari to the forest, he too accompanied them. He escaped the forest fire that killed Dhritarashtra & Gandhari