What if Kunti & Gandhari had switched? - Page 2

There was no such convention. Not only did Bhima marry Hidimba b4 anyone else, but Arjun too won Draupadi and would have been the only one to marry her, but for Kunti's accidental directive. In other words, had Kunti not said anything, Yudhisthir would have been at best the third Pandava to marry, despite being the eldest.

Vrish, There definitely is no rule that the elder brother is to be married before the younger brother. Probably that was the convention based on the love brothers have for each other. As far Hidimba-Bhima marriage, according to MBH by Kamala Subramanium this is how it is said in that book,

Yudhisthir had another wife by the name of Devika, and got a son from her named Yaudeha. However, he probably married her after his marriage to Draupadi. In fact, only Hidimba married b4 Draupadi did.

Originally posted by: JanakiRaghunath

Bhishma asked Gandhari for Dhritarastra because he was the elder brother, and the younger brother cannot marry until the elder does, whether he is King or not. I guess Bhishma did not know about Kunti yet when he was searching a bride for Dhritarastra. He learned about Gandhari being blessed with a 100 sons, and he thought she was an appropriate bride for the Kuru Vansh. It did not matter if she would be Queen or not, since the 100 sons would belong to Kuru Vansh and be an asset to them anyway. Since Dhritarastra was of marriageable age, Bhishma chose Gandhari for him and only then began searching brides for Pandu, after which he learned about Kunti being blessed by Durvasa.

^^^ No, that's the puzzling aspect. In the original MB, it's clearly stated that both Dhritarashtra & Vidura were passed over - Dhritarashtra for being blind, and Vidura for being the son of a suta. (Incidentally, the latter also suggests why Yuyutsu never became a king) So your question about why Bheeshma asked Gandhari's hand for D, when her parents were reluctant, remains unanswered.

Originally posted by: .Vrish.

As we know, when Bheeshma approached Subala for Gandhari's hand for Dhritarashtra, Subala balked, and initially wanted him for Pandu. But what if the circumstances had been somewhat different? Let me explain.

Pandu is the king, so Bheeshma accepts Subala's idea to have Gandhari marry Pandu. Since Pandu is the king, he would have 100 sons. In the meantime, Kunti's secret about Karna is exposed, maybe by Bheeshma himself (who knew this from Vyasa & Narada) and no one wants to attend her swayamvara. So Bheeshma goes there and gets Kunti's hand for Dhritarashtra. He somehow finds Karna, brings him in, has Dhritarashtra marry Kunti, and let them have any kids. After that, maybe he gets Madri, maybe he doesn't...

Now, here is what happens. Pandu goes w/ Gandhari to the forests & kills Rishi Kindama, and is cursed. Note that in the original, Pandu hunted the deer of his own free will - Madri did not ask him, as was the case w/ Sita w/ Mareech. So he is cursed w/ death if he tries to consummate. However, Gandhari is pre-blessed w/ 100 sons - maybe she's pregnant b4 Pandu gets cursed. So she gives a normal birth, since her son would succeed Pandu, and there is no pressure on her. If the first one doesn't work, though, she'd have to resort to niyoga.

In the meantime, Kunti could have gone through a natural birth w/ Dhritarashtra, and had Karna there if the only purpose of having any son would be to do Dhritarashtra's last rites.

So did Bheeshma mismatch the choice of spouses for Dhritarashtra & Pandu?

In that case, Shakuni would not have been there to misguide the Kauravs. He would have been happy that his sister is not marrying a blind prince secondly Pandu would have seen through him and his bad iraade so he would have fast gotton rid of him. Therefore, no shakuni influence on 100 sons of Pandus. (whether his natural or Niyog)

Dhritrashtra would also not have been influence of Shakuni that way so may be in the long run he would have excepted his fate. and some how, I think Kunti was much smarter then Gandhari so she would have handled Dhritrashtra very well and would have given him natural sons.

Actually, now you have mentioned it, it makes more sense for Gandhari to have been married to Pandu as as a king he should have gotton 100 sons and not Dhritrashtra.

May be Bheeshm mismatched😕 but then he had made several mistakes in his life so what is one more

but Samay aur bhagya ko kuchh aur hi manzoor tha 😆😆 hence The Mahabharat 😉

Originally posted by: .Vrish.

^^^ No, that's the puzzling aspect. In the original MB, it's clearly stated that both Dhritarashtra & Vidura were passed over - Dhritarashtra for being blind, and Vidura for being the son of a suta. (Incidentally, the latter also suggests why Yuyutsu never became a king) So your question about why Bheeshma asked Gandhari's hand for D, when her parents were reluctant, remains unanswered.

In fact, couldn't a blind princess from anywhere have been found for Dhritarashtra?

Originally posted by: .Vrish.

There was no such convention. Not only did Bhima marry Hidimba b4 anyone else, but Arjun too won Draupadi and would have been the only one to marry her, but for Kunti's accidental directive. In other words, had Kunti not said anything, Yudhisthir would have been at best the third Pandava to marry, despite being the eldest.

In case you think this was an exceptional situation, consider the next generation. Abhimanyu was the 2nd Pandava son to marry (maybe the 3rd - nothing is said about Babruvahana). He was by no means the eldest: after Ghatotkach, Iravana & Babruvahana were definitely ahead of him, and arguably, so were Prativindya & Satsoma, and maybe even Yaudeha & Sarvaga. Yet, when Virata offered Arjun his daughter, Arjun didn't select the eldest of their sons as her groom - he picked Abhimanyu, due to him being mixed Pandava/Vrishni. So where is the rule that the eldest had to be the first to marry?