When the boys came of age, Dhritarashtra was disqualified for the throne by reason of his blindness; Vidura could not be king because his mother was a Sudra; Pandu was therefore installed as king. Dhritarashtra married Gandhari (also called Saubaleyi, or Saubali), daughter of Subala, King of Gandhara. Pandu married Pritha (or Kunti), the adopted daughter of Kuntibhoja. This Pritha, "one day, before her marriage, paid such respect and attention to a powerful sage named Durvasas, a guest in her father's house, that he gave her a charm, and taught her an incantation, by virtue of which she might have a child by any god she liked to call into her presence. Out of curiosity, she invoked the Sun, by whom she had a son who was born clothed in armour. But Pritha, fearing the censure of her relatives, deserted her offspring, after exposing it in the river. It was found by Adhirata, a charioteer, and nurtured by his wife Radha; whence the child was afterwards called Radheya, though named by his foster-parents Vasushena. When he was grown up, the god Indra conferred upon him enormous strength, and changed his name to Karna." He is also called Vaikartana, being the son of Vikartana (the Sun).

Pandu, at his uncle Bhishma's request, next marries Madri, sister of Salya, King of Madra. Soon after this

marriage, Pandu undertook a great campaign, and extended his kingdom to the dimensions it had reached in the time of his great ancestor Bharata. He then, with his two wives, retired to the woods, that he might indulge in his passion for hunting. The blind Dhritarashtra, with Bhishma as regent, ruled in his stead.

Dhritarashtra had a hundred sons. The story of their birth is as follows: "One day, the sage Vyasa was hospitably entertained by Queen Gandhari, and in return granted her a boon. She chose to be the mother of a hundred sons. After two years she produced a mass of flesh, which was divided by Vyasa into a hundred and one pieces, as big as the joint of a thumb. From these, in due time, the eldest, Duryodhana, was born. The miraculous birth of the remaining ninety-nine occurred in due course. There was also one daughter, named Duhsala." These sons of Dhritarashtra are generally called "The Kurus," or Kauravas.

Pandu's children were of divine origin. This circumstance happened in the following manner: Pandu, as noticed above, was addicted to hunting. One day, he "transfixed with five arrows a male and female deer. These turned out to be a certain sage and his wife, who had assumed the form of these animals. The sage cursed Pandu, and predicted that he would die in the embraces of one of his wives. In consequence of this curse, Pandu took the vow of a Brahmachari, gave all his property to the Brahmans, and became a hermit."