Mahabharata – 176
by
Sankar Mukherjee
&
Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
    Aadivamsavatarana Parva

The childhood and growth of the three children of Santanu’s race

Let us now go back to the fortunes of the race of Santanu.As we have already noticed there were three children born to the race of Santanu in Dhritarastra, Pandu  and Vidura.

It is said that due to the birth of those three children, Kurujangala, Kurukshetra,and the Kurus grew in prosperity.

The earth began to yield sufficient harvest and the crops also were of good taste.And the clouds began to pour rain in season and trees became full of fruits and flowers. And the  flowers were fragrant and the fruits were tasty. And the cattle were all happy and the birds and other animals rejoiced exceedingly. The cities and towns became filled with merchants,artisans, traders and artists of every trade. And the subjects were happy brave, learned and honest.And there were no thieves, nor anybody who was sinful. And it seemed that the Satya yuga had come upon every part of the kingdom. The people were devoted to virtuous acts, sacrifices and truth. They regarded one another with love and affection. They were free from pride, wrath and greed.  

The capital of the Kurus, full as the ocean, was a second Amaravati,with a number of beautiful palaces and mansions. They possessed gates and arches dark as the clouds.The people of the city rejoiced in innocent sports with great cheerfulness on rivers, lakes and tanks, and in beautiful woods. And the southern Kurus,in their virtuous rivalry with their northern kinsmen, walked about in the company of Siddhas and Charanas and Rishis.And all over the  country rulled by Kuru kings. There was ever increasing prosperity. There were no misers and no widow.

The wells and lakes were ever full.The woods were full of trees. The houses and the abodes of Brahmanas were full of prosperity. The whole kingdom was blithe with festivity. The kingdom was virtuously ruled by Bhishma, It was furnished with numerous sacrificial altars. The citizens and the people were filled with hope, On seeing the rituals of their illustrious princes.In the house of the Kuru chiefs as well as in the houses of the principal citizens, 'give','eat' were the only words constantly heard. Dhritarashtra and Pandu and Vidura of great intelligence were from their birth brought up by Bhishma,as if they were his own sons.

The children,having their usual rites of their order,devoted themselves to brahmacharya mode of life to study the Vedas. They grew up into fine young men skilled in all athletics and sports.

They became skilled in the practice of archery,in horsemanship,in encounters with clubs, sword and shield,in the management of elephants in battle,and in the science of morality.Well-read in history and the Puranas and various branches of learning, and acquainted with the truths of the Vedas and their branches they acquired knowledge, which was versatile and deep. Pandu, possessed of great prowess, excelled all men in archery while Dhritarashtra excelled all in physical strength. In the three worlds there was no one equal to Vidura in devotion to virtue and in the knowledge of the dictates of morality.

Seeing the restoration of the extinct race of Santanu. every body was  delighted. Among the mothers of all countries the daughters of the king of Kasi were the foremost.Among the countries Kurujangala was the leading one.Among virtuous men,Vidura was the greatest.Among the cities Hastinapura was the best. Pandu became the king. Dhritarashtra, owing to blindness,and Vidura,for his birth by a Sudra woman, did not obtain the kingdom.