Tribes in Ancient India c7.47

c7.47

As Dhṛtarāṣṭra was blind from birth, Pāṇḍu, though younger, was placed on the throne left vacant by the death of Vicitravīrya. Matters grew complex when sons were born to both the brothers, and the difficulty was not lessened when Dhṛtarāṣṭra took over the government on the premature death of Pāṇḍu, had his five nephews brought up with his own sons, and finally appointed his eldest nephew, Yudhiṣṭhira, to be heir-apparent. Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s own sons, consumed with jealousy, set various plots on foot against their cousins, and eventually the old king decided on a compromise, giving Hastināpura to his sons, and to his nephews a district where they built the city of Indraprastha. Here the Pāṇḍavas, in the words of Prof. Macdonell, ‘ruled wisely and prospered greatly. Duryodhana’s jealousy being aroused, he resolved to ruin his cousins, with the aid of his uncle Śakuni, a skilful gamester’.¹ Yudhiṣṭhira was thereupon challenged to a game of dice with Śakuni, a challenge which he could not refuse, as this was a matter of honour among Indian Kṣatriyas in those days. Owing to dishonest tricks on Śakuni’s part, Yudhiṣṭhira was defeated, and lost everything, his kingdom, wealth, army, brothers, and finally Draupadī, the joint wife of the five Pāṇḍavas. In the end it was arranged that the Pāṇḍavas should go into banishment for twelve years, and to remain *incognito* for a thirteenth, after which they might return and regain their kingdom. They passed their period of banishment in the forest, and remained *incognito* for the thirteenth year at the court of King Virāṭa of the Matsyas.