Pandu

Pandu (Sanskrit: पाण्डु) is a major figure in the Indian epic Mahabharata. He is the king of Hastinapura and the head of the Kuru dynasty during the events surrounding the Kurukshetra War. Pandu is the son of Vyasa and Ambalika and the younger half-brother of Dhritarashtra; after Dhritarashtra becomes blind, Pandu ascends the throne.

Pandu marries Kunti and Madri. By Kunti he begets three sons: Yudhishthira (via the god Dharma), Bhima (via Vayu), and Arjuna (via Indra). By Madri he fathers Nakula and Sahadeva, born with the help of the Ashvins. Pandu’s rule is short; he dies in the forest after a curse placed on him by the rishi Kindama, whom Pandu had slain in a deer form during a hunting incident. The sage curses that Pandu will die if he ever embraces a woman. He thus dies while attempting to embrace Madri, an event that leads to Madri’s own death and sets in motion the later exile of the Pandavas.

Etymologically, the name Pandu is often interpreted as referring to a pale or pallid complexion. In literature and tradition, Pandu remains chiefly notable as the father of the five Pandavas—whose lives and trials drive the central narrative of the Mahabharata.