Vichitravirya
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy datesTemplate:Use Indian English Template:Infobox character Vichitravirya (Template:Langx)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> is a figure in the Mahabharata, where he is featured as a Kuru king.
According to the Hindu epic, he is the youngest son of Queen Satyavati and King Shantanu, and the de jure grandfather of the Pandavas and the Kauravas. He is also the half-brother of Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa and Bhishma.
Literature
Mahabharata
Vichitravirya has an elder brother named Chitrāngada, whom his half-brother Bhishma placed on the throne of the kingdom of the Kurus after Shantanu's death; he is a mighty warrior, but the king of the Gandharvas defeats and kills him at the end of a long battle. Thereafter, Bhishma consecrates Vichitravirya, who is still a child, as the new king.<ref>van Buitenen (1973), p. 227</ref>
When he had reached manhood, Bhishma marries him to Ambika and Ambalika, the beautiful daughters of the king of Kashi. Vichitravirya loves his wives very much, and is adored by them. But even after seven years of sexual indulgence, he remains childless and falls ill of tuberculosis, and could not be healed despite the efforts of his friends and physicians.<ref name="B">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Like his brother Chitrangada, he dies childless. Subsequently, through niyoga, the practice of allowing a childless widow to conceive children with a man in place of her late husband, Vichitravirya's wives and a maid give birth to three children, Dhritarashtra, Pandu, and Vidura, fathered by his half-brother sage Vyasa.<ref>van Buitenen (1973), pp. 230; 235-36</ref>
Different texts share different stories surrounding the death of Vichitravirya. According to the Bhagavata Purana, he dies of a heart attack because of his attachment to his wives, Ambika and Ambalika.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Vichitravirya was succeeded by Pandu and later Dhritrashtra.
Historicity
A historical Kuru King named Dhritarashtra, son of Vichitravirya, is mentioned in the Kathaka Samhita of the Yajurveda (Template:Circa 1200–900 BCE) as a descendant of the Rigvedic-era King Sudas of the Bharatas.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Michael Witzel (1990), "On Indian Historical Writing", p.9 of PDF</ref>
See also
References
Bibliography
- Vicitravirya in: M.M.S. Shastri Chitrao, Bharatavarshiya Prachin Charitrakosh (Dictionary of Ancient Indian Biography, in Hindi), Pune 1964, p. 841
- J.A.B. van Buitenen, Mahabharat, vol. 1, Chicago 1973
External links
- redirect Template:Hindu deities and texts