Dhritarashtra in the context of "Adi Parva"

Karna (Sanskrit: कर्ण, IAST: Karṇa), also known as Vasusena, Anga-Raja, Sutaputra and Radheya, is one of the major characters in the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. He is the son of Surya (the Sun deity) and princess Kunti (later the Pandava queen). Kunti was granted the boon to bear a child with desired divine qualities from the gods and without much knowledge, Kunti invoked the sun god to confirm it if it was true indeed. Karna was secretly born to an unmarried Kunti in her teenage years, and fearing outrage and backlash from society over her premarital pregnancy, Kunti had to abandon the newly born Karna adrift in a basket on the Ganges. The basket is discovered floating on the Ganges River. He is adopted and raised by foster Suta parents named Radha and Adhiratha Nandana of the charioteer and poet profession working for king Dhritarashtra. Karna grows up to be an accomplished warrior of extraordinary abilities, a gifted speaker and becomes a loyal friend of Duryodhana. He is appointed the king of Anga (Bihar-Bengal) by Duryodhana. Karna joins the losing Duryodhana side of the Mahabharata war. He is a key antagonist who aims to kill Arjuna but dies in a battle with him during the Kurushetra war.

He is a tragic hero in the Mahabharata, in a manner similar to Aristotle's literary category of "flawed good man". He meets his biological mother late in the epic then discovers that he is the older half-brother of those he is fighting against. Karna is a symbol of someone who is rejected by those who should love him but do not given the circumstances, yet becomes a man of exceptional abilities willing to give his love and life as a loyal friend. His character is developed in the epic to raise and discuss major emotional and dharma (duty, ethics, moral) dilemmas. His story has inspired many secondary works, poetry and dramatic plays in the Hindu arts tradition, both in India and in southeast Asia.

Draupadi (Sanskrit: द्रौपदी, romanized: draupadī, lit. 'Daughter of Drupada'), also referred to as Krishnā, Panchali and Yajnaseni, is one of the central characters of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata (c. 400 BCE – 400 CE). Born from a yajna (fire sacrifice) conducted by King Drupada of Panchala, she is the princess of the Panchala Kingdom and the common wife of the five Pandava brothers—Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva—in a polyandrous marriage sanctioned by divine prophecy and narratives of her previous lives. Attested as a partial incarnation of the goddess Shri, Draupadi initially serves as the queen of Indraprastha, overseeing the kingdom's finances and treasury. She is also described as a sakhi (close friend) of the god Krishna.

The most notable episode featuring Draupadi takes place during the game of dice at the Kuru court. In this game, Yudhishthira, having lost Indraprastha and his freedom, wagers and loses Draupadi to his cousin Duryodhana—the leader of the Kauravas. She is forcibly dragged into the royal assembly and deemed a slave. However, she challenges the assembly, questioning the legality of being staked after her husband had already forfeited his own freedom. After she is publicly humiliated by Duryodhana and his ally Karna for being married to five men, the Kaurava prince Dushasana attempts to disrobe her, but her honour is miraculously preserved, as her garment becomes endlessly extended. The Kuru king Dhritarashtra then intervenes and grants Draupadi two boons, resulting in the release of the Pandavas from bondage.

Duryodhana (Sanskrit: दुर्योधन, IAST: Duryodhana), also known as Suyodhana, is the primary antagonist of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He is the eldest of the Kauravas, the hundred sons of King Dhritarashtra and Queen Gandhari of Kuru dynasty. Born through a miraculous manner, his birth is accompanied by ill-omens. Duryodhana grows up in Hastinapura and later becomes its crown prince. Driven by innate selfishness, jealousy, and hostility towards his cousins—the five Pandava brothers—Duryodhana frequently plots against them, aided by his principal allies: his trickster uncle Shakuni, his loyal friend Karna, his devoted brother Dushasana and his blind and indulgent father Dhritarashtra.

Duryodhana's envy culminates in the infamous dice game, where he humiliates Draupadi, the queen of the Pandavas. This incident provokes Bhima, the second Pandava, to vow that he will one day smash Duryodhana's thigh. Later, with the help of Shakuni, Duryodhana tricks the Pandavas into relinquishing their kingdom and forces them into exile. Even after the Pandavas complete their thirteen-year exile, he refuses to restore their kingdom, directly triggering the outbreak of the Kurukshetra War.

Ugrashravas Sauti (Sanskrit: उग्रश्रवस् सौति, also Ugraśravas, Sauti, Sūta, Śri Sūta, Suta Gosvāmī) is a character in Hindu literature, featured as the narrator of the Mahābhārata and several Puranas including the Shiva Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Harivamsa, Brahmavaivarta Purana, and Padma Purana, with the narrations typically taking place before the sages gathered in Naimisha Forest. He is the son of Lomaharshana (or Romaharshana), and a disciple of Vyasa, the author of the Mahābhārata. Ugrashravas is a bard of Puranic literature.

The entire Mahābhārata epic is structured as a dialogue between Ugrasravas Sauti (the narrator) and sage Saunaka (the narratee). The narration (Bharata) of the history of Bharata kings by sage Vaisampayana to Kuru king Janamejaya is embedded within this narration of Ugrasravas Sauti. Vaisampayana's narration (Jaya) in turn contains the narration of Kurukshetra War by Sanjaya, to Kuru king Dhritarashtra. Thus Mahābhārata has as a Story within a story structure.

Gandhari (Sanskrit: गान्धारी, lit. 'of Gandhara', IAST: Gāndhārī) is a pivotal character in the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata. She is introduced as a princess of the Gandhara Kingdom, the daughter of King Subala, and later becomes the queen of the Kuru Kingdom. Gandhari is married to Dhritarashtra, the blind king of Kuru, and in a symbolic gesture of solidarity, she voluntarily blindfolds herself for life. Through the miraculous intervention of the divine-sage Vyasa, she becomes the mother of one hundred sons collectively known as the Kauravas, with the eldest, Duryodhana, emerging as a principal antagonist in the epic.

Besides her hundred sons, Gandhari also has a daughter, Dushala. Her brother, Shakuni, becomes a central figure in aiding Duryodhana's schemes against his cousins, the Pandavas. An ardent devotee of the god Shiva, Gandhari is portrayed as a woman of great virtue and moral strength, who nonetheless struggles to dissuade her sons from their destructive path. She speaks out at pivotal moments in the narrative, including during the humiliation of Draupadi and peace talks before the Kurukshetra War. Despite condemning the actions of Duryodhana, the longstanding rivalry between the Kauravas and the Pandavas ultimately leads to the catastrophic Kurukshetra War, where all of Gandhari's sons perish.

Dushasana (Sanskrit: दुःशासन, romanized: Duḥśāsana, lit. 'hard to rule'), also spelled Duhshasana, Dussasana or Duhsasana, is a prominent character in the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata. He is the second eldest of the hundred Kaurava brothers, born to King Dhritarashtra and Queen Gandhari of the Kuru dynasty. As the younger brother and close confidant of Duryodhana, the chief antagonist of the epic, Dushasana plays a significant role in many key events leading up to and during the Kurukshetra War.

Dushasana is best known for his active involvement in the humiliation of Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas, during the infamous dice game episode, where he dragged her in the royal court and unsuccessfully attempted to disrobe her. His actions earn him the wrath of Draupadi and the Pandavas, particularly Bhima, who vows to kill Dushasana—a vow that is ultimately fulfilled during the war by tearing apart his chest.

In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Vikarna (Sanskrit: विकर्ण) was the third Kaurava, a son of Dhritarashtra and Gandhari, and a brother to the crown prince Duryodhana. Vikarna is also referred to as the most reputable of the Kauravas. Vikarna was the only Kaurava who opposed the humiliation of Draupadi, the wife of his cousins, the Pandavas, after Yudhisthira lost his freedom in a game of dice to Duryodhana.

Yuyutsu (Sanskrit: युयुत्सु) is a character in the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata. He is the son of King Dhritarashtra of the Kuru dynasty, born to a concubine who serves as a maid to Dhritarashtra's queen, Gandhari. This makes Yuyutsu the paternal half-brother of Duryodhana, the other ninety-nine Kaurava brothers, and their sister Dushala. On the eve of the Kurukshetra War, Yuyutsu defects from the Kaurava camp and joins the Pandavas, becoming the only son of Dhritarashtra to survive the war.