The Puranic Bhagavad Gita Episode 3: The Story Behind the Kurukshetra Conflict
The Puranic’s Bhagavad Gita Episode 3 explores the story of the Kuru dynasty, introducing the Pandavas, Kauravas, Duryodhana and the family tensions that eventually led to the Kurukshetra war.
The Puranic’s Bhagavad Gita series goes deeper into the story behind the Kurukshetra war in Episode 3, exploring the Kuru dynasty and the family relationships that eventually placed the Pandavas and Kauravas on opposite sides of the battlefield.
According to the traditional Mahabharata narrative, Dhritarashtra and Pandu were brothers whose descendants would become the two opposing groups at Kurukshetra. Dhritarashtra was born blind, while Pandu became king. After Pandu’s death, his five sons — Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva — were raised within the royal household.
The young princes received training in warfare under Dronacharya, while Bhishma remained an important elder and guide of the Kuru family. But as the princes grew older, tensions between the two groups increased.
At the centre of this rivalry was Duryodhana, Dhritarashtra’s eldest son, whose hostility towards the Pandavas became an important part of the larger conflict. What eventually unfolded was not simply a war between two kingdoms, but a struggle within the same extended royal family over succession, power and the future of the Kuru kingdom.
The episode also introduces the roles of figures such as Vidura and Krishna, whose decisions and guidance become significant as the conflict develops.
This background is important for understanding the Bhagavad Gita itself. Krishna’s dialogue with Arjuna does not appear in isolation. It emerges after years of family relationships, political tensions, disputes over succession and questions of duty.
By exploring the history of the Kuru family, Episode 3 sets the stage for the moral dilemma that Arjuna will eventually face at Kurukshetra — and for the teachings through which Krishna responds to it.
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