Gandhari

Who is Gandhari?

Gandhari is a character in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. In the epic, she was an incarnation of Mati, the Goddess of Intelligence, as the daughter of Subala, the king of Gandhara, or the modern Kandahar from which her name is derived. Gandhari is also known as Gandhararajaduhita, Saubaleyi, Saubali, Subalaja, Subalaputri, Subalatmaja in the Mahabharata. Gandhari's marriage was arranged to Dhritarashtra, the eldest prince of the Kuru kingdom, a region in Delhi and Haryana region.

Gandhari voluntarily blindfolded herself throughout her married life. Her husband Dhritarashtra was born blind, and on realizing this, she decided to share the pain of her blind husband. Gandhari, after an unusually long period of pregnancy, bore a hundred sons, and one daughter, Dushala, who married Jayadratha. The Kauravas, principally Duryodhana, were the villains of the Mahabharata. When the first son, Duryodhana, was born, he began braying like a jackal, and evil omens appeared during his birth year. Kripacharya and Vidura counseled the king and queen to kill the baby, but they refused.