Introduction
Dhritarashtra is the blind king of Hastinapura, the husband of Gandhari and the father of Duryodhana and his brothers. His attachment to his sons is one of the main causes of the war in the Mahabharata.
This article primarily follows the Mahabharata. Where a well-known detail comes from a Puranic or later source, the article identifies it.
Family
- Legal father: Vichitravirya
- Biological father (by niyoga): Vyasa
- Mother: Ambika
- Wives: Gandhari, Vaishya wife of Dhritarashtra
- Siblings: Pandu
- Children: Duryodhana, Dushasana, Dushala, Vikarna, Yuyutsu
Birth
Dhritarashtra was born to Ambika through Vyasa, by the custom of niyoga after Vichitravirya's death. He was raised and treated as Vichitravirya's legal son. He was born blind, and was passed over for the throne in favour of his younger brother Pandu.
King
After Pandu retired to the forest and died, Dhritarashtra ruled, with Bhishma and Vidura as advisers. He raised the Pandavas together with his own sons, and later divided the kingdom between them, giving the Pandavas Khandavaprastha.
Weakness
The text shows Dhritarashtra as torn between fairness and affection for Duryodhana. He gave in to his son on the dice game and the exile of the Pandavas, and did not act on the advice of Vidura, Bhishma or Sanjaya.
After the war
All his sons died in the war. Dhritarashtra, Gandhari and Kunti later went to live in the forest, where Dhritarashtra died in a forest fire, according to the Ashramavasika Parva.