Pandu | |
---|---|
![]() A late 17th-century painting of Pandu (right) and Kunti from Kashmir | |
Maharaja of Kuru | |
Predecessor | Vichitravirya |
Successor | Dhritarashtra |
Spouses | |
Issue | |
House | Hastinapura |
Dynasty | Kuruvamsha-Chandravamsha |
Father | Vyasa |
Mother | Ambalika |
Pandu (Sanskrit: पाण्डु, romanized: Pāṇḍu, lit. 'pale') was the king of Kuru Kingdom, with capital at Hastinapur in the epic Mahabharata. He was the foster-father of the five Pandavas, who are the central characters of the epic.[1]
Pandu was born pale, to Vichitravirya's second wife, Ambalika. Pandu married to Kunti. Following sage Kindama's curse, his sons were born through the boons bestowed upon his wife Kunti by a number of deities, owing to his inability to bear children.[2]