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Yudhiṣṭhira
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Yudhiṣṭhira

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Also known as Dharmaputra, Dharmarāja

Yudhishthira (), also known as Dharmaputra () and Dharmaraja (), was the eldest among the five Pandavas, and is also one of the central characters of the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was the king of Indraprastha and later the King of the Kuru kingdom in the epic.

Key facts

Character.name
Yudhishthira
Character.image
Yudhisthira and His Dog, Ascending.jpg
Character.caption
Yudhishthira entering heaven alive with his dog, painting by Nandalal Bose, c. 1913
Character.weapon
Bow and arrow, Javelin
Character.spouse
Draupadi Devika
Character.family
Dharma (father)Pandu (adoptive father)Kunti (mother)Madri (step-mother) (brothers)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Gender
male
Mother
Kuntī
Sibling
Sahadeva
Followed by
Parīkṣit
Image
Draupadi and Pandavas.jpg
Show 4 more facts
Commons category
Yudhisthira
present in work
Mahabharata
name in native language
युधिष्ठिर
Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

~34 min read

Encyclopedic overview

24 sections
Contents
  • Etymology and historicity
  • Birth and early life
  • Boyhood
  • Youth
  • Marriages
  • Ruling the Indraprastha
  • Rajasuya
  • The game of dice
  • Exile
  • Obtaining the Akshaya Patra
  • Tale of Nala and Damayanti
  • Yudhishthira and Nahusha
  • Yudhishthira and Markandeya
  • Yaksha Prashna
  • Ajñātavāsa
  • Kurukshetra war
  • Yudhishthira's curse
  • Reign after the war
  • Retirement and ascent to heaven
  • Assessment
  • Notes
  • References
  • Bibliography
  • External links

Yudhishthira (), also known as Dharmaputra () and Dharmaraja (), was the eldest among the five Pandavas, and is also one of the central characters of the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was the king of Indraprastha and later the King of the Kuru kingdom in the epic.

Yudhishthira was the son of Kunti, the first wife of King Pandu, fathered by the personification of Dharma, due to a curse preventing Pandu from having children. Yudhishthira held a strong belief in dharma (morals and virtues) and was chosen as the crown prince of Kuru. However, after the Lakshagriha incident, he was presumed dead and his cousin Duryodhana was appointed as the new heir. The kingdom was split in half due to a succession dispute between Yudhishthira and Duryodhana. Yudhishthira received the barren half, which he later transformed into the magnificent city of Indraprastha.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Yudhiṣṭhira” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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