The Bhagavad Gita by Eknath Easwaran

The War Within ╯
of Kuru.” This is somewhat misleading, for both sides of the
royal family are Kurus by birth. But the Pandavas are now in
the position of appearing to be the dissident faction, so they
are called “sons of Pandu” to distinguish them from the larger
family.
Pandu was once king of the kingdom of Hastinapura, but he
retired into the forest on spiritual retreat and died young. His
elder brother, Dhritarashtra, was blind since birth, so he was
never named ruler, but he did share power with his brother.
When Pandu died his eldest son, Yudhishthira, should have
succeeded him; but because Yudhishthira was only a boy,
Dhritarashtra continued on after Pandu’s death.
As time passed, however, Dhritarashtra’s attachment to
his own eldest son, Duryodhana, gradually overcame him.
Instead of rising to royal impartiality and allowing Yudhishthira
his fair claim, the old, blind king began to connive
at his son’s demand to succeed to the throne. Actually, the line
of succession had grown convoluted over several generations,
and it was not unthinkable that Duryodhana should rule
next. But Yudhishthira’s outstanding qualities and Duryodhana’s
corruption gradually decided the issue, at least from
the moral point of view. For Duryodhana, the conflict could
be resolved only on the battlefield.
Other warriors are mentioned briefly in chapter 1. Two
particularly important figures in the Mahabharata story are
Drona and Bhishma. Drona was born a brahmin, a member
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