Bhishma in the context of "Dhritarashtra"

Kshatriya (Sanskrit: क्षत्रिय, romanized: Kṣatriya) (from Sanskrit kṣatra, "rule, authority"; also called Rajanya) is one of the four varnas (social orders) of Hindu society and is associated with the warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term kṣatriyaḥ is used in the context of later Vedic society wherein members were organised into four classes: brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya, and shudra.

Madri (Sanskrit: माद्री, IAST: Mādrī), also known as Madravati (Sanskrit: माद्रवती, IAST: Mādravatī), is a legendary character in the Mahabharata, an ancient Sanskrit epic poem. She is the princess from the Madra Kingdom and becomes the second wife of Pandu, the king of the Kuru Kingdom. She is the mother of the twins Nakula and Sahadeva, the youngest of the five Pandava brothers.

Madri is the daughter of Madraraja—the king of Madra—and sister of Shalya. Her marriage to Pandu is arranged by Bhishma, the grandsire of the Kuru dynasty, in exchange for a heavy bride price. After Pandu is cursed that he would die if he engaged in sexual relations, Madri accompanies Pandu in his self-imposed exile, along with Pandu's first wife, Kunti. Using Kunti's divine boon, Madri invokes the twin gods Ashvins to conceive her twin sons. Later, the cursed Pandu dies when he is overcome by desire and initiates intimacy with Madri. Overcome with remorse and grief, Madri entrusts her sons to Kunti's care and joins him in death.

The Vidarbha kingdom in the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata is among the many kingdoms ruled by Yadu kings (Bhoja Yadavas).It was situated in the region still known as Vidarbha in what is now Maharashtra in central India.

Damayanti, the wife of Nala was the princess of Vidarbha. Similarly Rukmini, the eldest wife of Vasudeva Krishna was from Vidarbha. Sage Agastya's wife Lopamudra, also was a princess from the country of Vidarbha as mentioned in the Mahabharata. Indumati, the Grandmother of Lord Rama and mother of King Dasharatha was also a princess of Vidarbha kingdom. Kundinapuri was its capital, which is identified as Kaundinyapur in the eastern Maharashtra. Rukmini's brother Rukmi founded another kingdom with capital Bhojakata, close to Vidarbha proper. During the Kurukshetra War, when all other kingdoms participated in the battle, Vidarbha under Rukmi stayed neutral, because his army was rejected by both Pandavas and Kauravas who were the two parties engaged in the war. It is not clear if any other king from Vidarbha participated in the war. There is a mention at MBh 6:51, that a Vidarbha army sided with Kauravas under the generalissimo Bhishma.

The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India composed by Veda Vyasa. At its heart lies the epic struggle between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. The central characters include the five Pandava brothers—Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva—along with their wife Draupadi. On the opposing side, the hundred Kaurava brothers are led by the elder brother, Duryodhana. However, the Mahabharata is richly populated with other notable figures including Krishna, Bhishma, Drona, Karna, Kunti, Dushasana, Kripa, Dhritrashtra, Gandhari, Shakuni, Ashwatthama, Balarama, Subhadra, Vyasa, Abhimanyu, Pandu, Satyavati and Amba.

The Mahabharata manuscripts exist in numerous versions, wherein the specifics and details of major characters and episodes vary, often significantly. Except for the sections containing the Bhagavad Gita which is remarkably consistent between the numerous manuscripts, the rest of the epic exists in many versions. The differences between the Northern and Southern recensions are particularly significant, with the Southern manuscripts more profuse and longer. The manuscripts found in the North and South India have "great divergence" in details, though the thematic essence is similar. Scholars have attempted to construct a critical edition, relying mostly on a study of the Bombay edition, the Poona edition, the Calcutta edition and the south Indian editions of the Mahabharata manuscripts. The most accepted version is one prepared by scholars led by Vishnu Sukthankar at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, preserved at the Kyoto University, the Cambridge University and various Indian universities.