Story of Gāndhārī

Wife of Dhṛtarāṣṭra.

Birth.

There was a King called Subala in the family of Turvasu, brother of Yadu. (For genealogy see under Subala). Subala became the King of the land of Gāndhāra. This land extended from the river Sindhu to Kābul. Gāndhārī was the daughter of Subala. (Chapter 111, Ādi Parva).

Marriage.

Gāndhārī became a devotee of Śiva even from her childhood. Śiva became pleased with her and blessed her saying that she would bear a hundred sons. Bhīṣma came to know of this and he planned to get her married to Dhṛtarāṣṭra. One day he sent a messenger to Subala making a proposal. Subala knew that Dhṛtarāṣṭra was born blind but considering his lineage and the powerful alliance it would make, consented to the proposal of Bhīṣma. Śakuni, brother of Gāndhārī, then by the order of his father took Gāndhārī to Hastināpura and Dhṛtarāṣṭra accepted her as his wife. Gāndhārī obeying his father’s instructions without a demur accepted her blind husband with such devotion that she made herself blind by tightly covering her eyes with a silk shawl. (Chapter 110, Ādi Parva).

Birth of Sons.

Once Vyāsa came to her exhausted with hunger and thirst. Gāndhārī appeased his hunger and thirst with tasty things to eat and drink. Vyāsa was immensely pleased and he also blessed her and said she would get a hundred sons. Very soon she became pregnant. But even after two years she did not deliver, while Kuntī, wife of Pāṇḍu, gave birth to a son. Grief-stricken, she hit hardly on her womb secretly and then a great mass of flesh came out. Then Vyāsa appeared before her and advised her to cut the lump of flesh into a hundred pieces and deposit one each in a jar of ghee. Vyāsa himself cut it into pieces. Gāndhārī expressed a desire to have a girl also. Vyāsa cut it into hundred and one pieces and put them in hundred and one jars of ghee. In due time the jars broke and a hundred sons and a daughter came out of the jars. The daughter was named Duśśalā. For their name see 'Kauravas'. Dhṛtarāṣṭra got another son named Yuyutsu. (Chapters 115 and 116, Ādi Parva).

Gāndharī faints.

When Sañjaya reported about the death of Karṇa at the battle both Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Gāndhārī fainted. (Śloka 55, Chapter 96, Karṇa Parva).

Gāndhārī starts to curse the Pāṇḍavas.

When the battle was over the sons of Gāndhārī and their followers were killed. Dhṛtarāṣṭra suggested that the Pāṇḍavas should visit Gāndhārī and pay homage to her. The Pāṇḍavas, therefore, went and stood before Gāndhārī very respectfully. Vengeance boiled in her heart and her body shivered. Gāndhārī was about to curse the Pāṇḍavas when Vyāsa, intervened saying "Gāndhārī! Don't you remember you said that victory would lie on the side of the righteous in this war? Your words are not wasted. The Pāṇḍavas won the battle because right was on their side. So why should you get agitated?" Gāndhārī became calm on hearing these words and she admitted that the end of the Kuru dynasty came because of the mistakes of Duryodhana, Śakuni, Karṇa and Duśśāsana. She, thereafter, treated the Pāṇḍavas as her own sons. (Chapter 14, Strī Parva, Mahābhārata).

Dharmaputra’s foot-nails become blue.

Following the instructions of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the Pāṇḍavas, approached and bowed before Gāndhārī. She covered her face with a cloth and wept, tears rolling down her cheeks. When Dharmaputra bent to touch her feet the latter saw through the veil on her face the foot-nails of Dharmaputra. A few drops of the lachrymal water fell on the foot-nails of Dharmaputra making them turn blue instantly. (Chapter 15, Strī Parva).

Gāndhārī curses Kṛṣṇa.

At the end of the battle the aggrieved Gāndhārī went to Kurukṣetra together with Kṛṣṇa and other relatives. Seeing mighty Kings on the Kaurava side lying dead like huge trees lying truncated Gāndhārī burst into tears. She knew that Śrī Kṛṣṇa was at the root of all this. Embittered she looked at Kṛṣṇa and cursed him. "Ho, Kṛṣṇa, thirtysix years from this day you will lose your sons, ministers, friends and relatives. You will become a lone walker in the forests and be killed by trickery."

It was because of this curse that the Yādava tribe perished and Kṛṣṇa was struck by the arrow of a hunter which made him end his life on earth.

The end of Gāndhārī.

After the great Kurukṣetra battle heart-broken Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Gāndhārī accompanied by Kuntī, Vidura and Sañjaya went to the forests to spend the rest of their life there. Many people and the Pāṇḍavas accompanied them up to the river Gaṅgā and there near the āśrama of Śatayūpa Dhṛtarāṣṭra made a hut and lived with Gāndhārī and Kuntī.

The Pāṇḍavas felt the separation of their relatives unbearable and lived in grief. After six years one day Dharmaputra saw his mother, Kuntī, in a dream. He told his brothers about this and they all felt a desire to go to the forest and see their mother. The next day they reached the shores of Gaṅgā. Vyāsa also joined them. Gāndhārī and Kuntī expressed a desire to Vyāsa that they would like to see the dead sons and relatives once again. Vyāsa then asked them to go and take a dip in the river. When they rose up after a dip they saw standing on the shores of the river the great warriors Karṇa and Duryodhana and others. By the yogic power of Vyāsa even the blind Dhṛtarāṣṭra could get the vision. Very soon the vision faded and the Pāṇḍavas returned to Hastināpura.

Two days after, fire broke out in the forest where Dhṛtarāṣṭra was staying. Dhṛtarāṣtra, Kuntī and Gāndhārī were burnt to death in that fire. (Chapter 32, Āśramavāsika Parva).

After the death.

Dharmaputra performed the obsequies of those who died in the wild fire (Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapter 30). Leaving the mortal bodies the souls of Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Gāndhārī entered Kuberaloka. (Śloka 14, Chapter 5, Svargārohaṇa Parva).

Synonyms of Gāndhārī.

The following words have been used in the Mahābhārata to denote Gāndhārī; Gāndhārarājaduhitā, Saubaleyī, Saubalī, Subalajā, Subalāputrī and Subalātmajā.