Gandhari (Sanskrit: गांधारी, lit. 'A woman from Gandhara') plays a prominent role in the Hindu epic the Mahabharata. She was a princess of Gandhara and the wife of Dhritrashtra, the blind king of Hastinapura, and the mother of a hundred sons, the Kauravas, and a daughter.[1] She is depicted with a blindfold, which she wore in order to live like her blind husband.
She is also the sister-in-law of former king Pandu, his wives Kunti and Madri, and aunt to the Pandavas.
Gandhari was born to Subala and Sudharmaa, the ruler and the queen of Gandhara. As a maiden, Gandhari was noted for her piety and virtuous nature. Gandhari is regarded as an incarnation of the goddess Mati.[2] She was the sister of Shakuni.[citation needed]
As a maiden, she is said to have impressed Shiva through penance and received a boon to bear 100 children. However, the reason for her penance and her receiving such boon is unknown. In alternate versions, she is said to have impressed Veda Vyasa with her gracious and generous nature.
One of the main reasons of Bhishma choosing Gandhari to be the elder daughter-in-law of the Kuru Kingdom is said to be this boon, which would put an end to his worry of the throne remaining vacant.[citation needed]
Gandhari's marriage was arranged with Dhritarashtra, the eldest prince of the Kuru kingdom. The Mahabharata depicted her as a devout woman, beautiful and virtuous. Their marriage was arranged by Bhishma. When she found out that her would-be husband was born blind, she decided to blindfold herself in order to emulate her husband's experiences. It is stated that the act of blindfolding herself was a sign of dedication and love. On the contrary, Irawati Karve, Devdutt Pattanaik and many modern scholars have debated that the act of blindfolding herself was an act of protest against Bhishma and the Kuru dynasty for having intimidated her father into giving her hand in marriage to the blind prince of Hastinapura.[3]
The Mahabharata depicts her marriage as a major reason for the story's central conflict, since her brother Shakuni was furious to learn that her husband was blind. However in Vyasa's Mahabharata, there is no mention of Shakuni objecting to Gandhari's marriage with Dhritarashtra. As per the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata, Shakuni brought Gandhari to Hastinapura for marriage. Gandhari was welcomed by the Kuru elders and Shakuni gave many gifts to Hastinapura and returned to his kingdom.[4]
Her husband Dhritarashtra was denied the throne because of his blindness, despite being the eldest son. The throne went to Pandu, his younger brother. After being cursed by Sage Kindama, Pandu renounced his kingdom in order to repent. With this turn of events, her husband was crowned King of Hastinapura and she became queen.[5]
Krishna (/ˈkrɪʃnə/;[12] Sanskrit: कृष्ण, IAST: Kṛṣṇa [ˈkr̩ʂɳɐ]) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God in his own right.[13] He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love;[14][1] and is one of the most popular and widely revered among Hindu divinities.[15] Krishna's birthday is celebrated every year by Hindus on Krishna Janmashtami according to the lunisolar Hindu calendar, which falls in late August or early September of the Gregorian calendar.[16][17][18]
The name and synonyms of Krishna have been traced to 1st millennium BCE literature and cults.[22] In some sub-traditions, like Krishnaism, Krishna is worshipped as Svayam Bhagavan (the Supreme God). These sub-traditions arose in the context of the medieval era Bhakti movement.[23][24] Krishna-related literature has inspired numerous performance arts such as Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Odissi, and Manipuri dance.[25][26] He is a pan-Hindu god, but is particularly revered in some locations, such as Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh,[27] Dwarka and Junagadh in Gujarat; the Jagannatha aspect in Odisha, Mayapur in West Bengal;[23][28][29] in the form of Vithoba in Pandharpur, Maharashtra, Shrinathji at Nathdwara in Rajasthan,[23][30] Udupi Krishna in Karnataka,[31] Parthasarathy in Tamil Nadu and in Aranmula, Kerala, and Guruvayoorappan in Guruvayoor in Kerala.[32] Since the 1960s, the worship of Krishna has also spread to the Western world and to Africa, largely due to the work of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).[33]
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