Age of Draupadi, Krishna, Arjun

Late question due to watching the show in rerun instead of first time it came on tv...after all the previous events and exile, what would the ages of Draupadi, Krishna, Karna, Arjun be during the actual war? Just curious...if I'm not mistaken they all have grown children by the time the battle begins.

Mahabharata Chronology

I am stating the facts as given in Mahabharata. There are some assumptions, not every one's age is given but we can make educated guesses. 

Average life expectancy was 100 years with the directive was to go to Sanyas at 75th year. Each year of man's life is named, and sixty names are given (Sons of Narada). At 61st year of person's life, the year name repeats. The occasion is marked by remarrying the spouse and other rituals even in modern Hinduism. Also the terms like "Sathiya Jana" meaning your cycle is complete is replete in slang and folklore. Also, Higher up the food chain, higher the caste, longer and healthier lifestyle and hence longevity. 

Ages differences: Using Yudhishthara as base

Dhritrashtra 33 years older (assuming a year older than Pandu and Pandu was crowned at 25)
Gandhari 30 years older; Same age as Kunti and Vidura and Drona and Drupada
Sakuni 20-25 years older (rough estimate); Vasudeva was younger brother to Kunti. The other nine brothers and four sisters were much younger except the Kekaya queen who was same age as Kunti maybe even older. 
Bahalika of war was younger than Bheeshma; Somadatta Samyami was younger than Dhritrashtra
Kripa (I will discuss this disconnect later if the post is not too long)
Bheeshma age is given separately at end of post
Sallya would be 10-20 years older. 

Bhima and Duryodhana were 2 to 4 years younger. Yuyutsu is older than Dushasana. Jayadratha similar age.
Krishna is 4 to 8 years younger. Balarama was a year older than Krishna or 14 years older. (Devaki or Rohini as mother) 
Arjuna was born atleast 2 years after Krishna. Pandu had gone to see the "sweet black child" and returned and wanted another son. 
Nakula and Sahadeva were younger than Arjuna. Described as babes in arms when Pandu died. 
Karna would be atleast 8 older. Assuming Kunti to be 16 when Durvasa came, the figure can be higher by another four-five years.
Subhadra was atleast 25 years younger. Rukmi was favorite student of Drona assuming after Arjuna so younger than Arjuna by few years. 
Sisupala was 20-24 years younger. Rukmini slightly younger than Sisupala. 
Draupadi, Dhrishtadamyun were born in a Yagna some 30 years after Yudhishthara. They could be 8 years olds or 18 year olds at birth. Dakshinatya edition has Swvyamavar some 12 years later. Madhavacharya indicates Draupadi was 16-18 at Swvamvyar. 

Courtesy.Pransu Saxena

Hello RadhaRani .I am Lakshmi. The above information I shared may help you know the ages. It is clear that Yudhishtir is sixteen years old when they were brought to Hastinapur.Since Karna was born before Kunti's marriage he must be  eight to ten or even more years older than Yudhishtir. It is described in the Epic that Vasudev sent his Purohit to do the formalities on the birth of Yudhishtir to Satasringa mountain. Vasudev and Devaki were not yet imprisoned by Kamsa then. So Bheem was born and then Vasudev and Devaki were held in prison . After eight years Krishna was born in the prison and was taken to Nanda . Pandu went to see the wonderful child of his sister brought up by Nanda and was mesmarised by the black beautiful baby Krishna. Then he also wanted such black beautiful child and asks Kunti for a third son. Arjun may be two years younger than Krishna. Arjun is also black in complexion and Pandu called him Krishna. By the time they came to Hastinapur Bheem was fourteen,and Arjun six years old who still sits on the lap of his grand father Bheeshma. The Twins were of four years age.  Edited by ltelidevara - 8 years ago

Thanks for taking the time to type the two posts above. I am trying to read some English translations of Mahabharat and Ramayan to better understand some of the details. (I would eventually one day like to read both in original Sanskrit.) I will also look for more info in terms of extrapolating the approximate ages of the main characters during the war.

Krishna and Arjuna were the same age. I read somewhere that Arjuna was 30 and Draupadi was 18 during the Swyamvar. 

Here is my perspective, one that is anchored by SCIENCE! 😉

Draupadi's Age

Let's begin by reverse-engineering.

Premise 1: Draupadi was menstruating at Dyut-Sabha.
Premise 2: SCIENCE TIME! Menstruation occurs before Menopause. MP occurs 45-55. [North American avg is 51]
Premise 3: At Dyut-Sabha, Draupadi was in her final year of menstruation.
Inference: Drau is < 45 if we take the lower bound value of menopause. So, I'll take 44 years since MP occurs 1yr after last menstruation period.
Premise 3: How long did Yudhi rule Indraprastha?  15-16 years (44 - 16 = 28*)
*this is a conservative estimate - could be longer. Arjun vanvas was 12years. Need to allot time towards Indra~'s construction + time spent cultivate Khandav~, etc etc. *I'm being generous here*
Premise 4: Dyut-Sabha day was the last day Yudhi ruled Indraprastha.

Conclusion: Therefore, Draupadi's minimum age at swayamvar is in the range of 24*-28 (*range needed to account for timeline not accounted for).
Alternatives: MAX Menopause Drau: 38 (@swayamvar) MIN Menopause Drau: 28. IF Drau still had years left before entering menopause she could be (much) younger than 28.

I for one do not believe in nonsense such as people lived 100+ years. It ought to boggle any scientific mind esp given the quality (or lack thereof) of medical care in a time period before evidence-based medicine.

Originally posted by: emollientgandiv

Here is my perspective, one that is anchored by SCIENCE! 😉

Draupadi's Age

Let's begin by reverse-engineering.

Premise 1: Draupadi was menstruating at Dyut-Sabha.
Premise 2: SCIENCE TIME! Menstruation occurs before Menopause. MP occurs 45-55. [North American avg is 51]
Premise 3: At Dyut-Sabha, Draupadi was in her final year of menstruation.
Inference: Drau is < 45 if we take the lower bound value of menopause. So, I'll take 44 years since MP occurs 1yr after last menstruation period.
Premise 3: How long did Yudhi rule Indraprastha? 15-16 years (44 - 16 = 28*)
*this
is a conservative estimate - could be longer. Arjun vanvas was 12years.
Need to allot time towards Indra~'s construction + time spent cultivate
Khandav~, etc etc. *I'm being generous here*
Premise 4: Dyut-Sabha day was the last day Yudhi ruled Indraprastha.

Conclusion: Therefore, Draupadi's minimum age at swayamvar is in the range of 24*-28 (*range needed to account for timeline not accounted for).
Alternatives: MAX Menopause Drau: 38 (@swayamvar) MIN Menopause Drau: 28. IF Drau still had years left before entering menopause she could be (much) younger than 28.

I for one do not believe in nonsense such as people lived 100+ years. It ought to boggle any scientific mind esp given the quality (or lack thereof) of medical care in a time period before evidence-based medicine.

Just because today's science won't accept that people lived more than hundred years of life span it won't be unauthentic Indian philosophy is and always is beyond scientific theories Ofcourse it depends on the individual to take his own stand But our age old tradition and culture that has Veda as the basis explains everything and anything The Mahabharata charecters should not be analysed as per today's perspective Ofcourse you are free to
Believe your scientific theories

Originally posted by: ltelidevara

Just because today's science won't accept that people lived more than hundred years of life span it won't be unauthentic Indian philosophy is and always is beyond scientific theories Ofcourse it depends on the individual to take his own stand But our age old tradition and culture that has Veda as the basis explains everything and anything The Mahabharata charecters should not be analysed as per today's perspective Ofcourse you are free to
Believe your scientific theories

I'm using logic and reason and demonstrable facts while you're using fairy-tale magic ignorance. If you stack both perspectives against one another and present it to an educated Millennial...which do you think is favored?

The argument I'm trying to convey is a lot more important than determining Draupadi's age. It's about updating society's interpretation to the 21st century (aka modernity aka scientific knowledge). The age of accepting woo-woo theories has passed. If Mahabharat aficionados refuse to update their interpretation then their story will die with them. Recognize that the majority of people that are funneled through education systems worldwide are learning SCIENCE and will scrutinize your story based on logic and reason.

Either they were humans with a normal lifespan for their time-period or they were aliens/different species w/ different physiological properties. OR your side must prove how and why humans were so different thousands of years. At a time when European societies in antiquity had NORMAL life spans. What made India so different? Oh wait, you can't *prove* it can you?

So yeah, I can respect your position but recognize that there are consequences to one's positions. The old-school position of 120y/o lifespans and astrological dating validates Devdutt Patnaik's narrative of myth.

Careful what you wish for. 😉

PS Vedas do not explain, in detail, human biology. Come on.

edit* PSS - OP I can provide you w/ ages of Krishn and Arjun using my scientific method if you're interested. I had Drau's age on file 😃 Curious minds think alike 😛
Edited by emollientgandiv - 7 years ago

With due respect to today's Educated lot whom you place above ,I don't want to prove anything to you or to them regarding the life span of those times though I have valid proof to prove my point. We both are poles apart in our thought process and vision. Thank you.

http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/ancient/mahabharat/mahab_patnaik.html