Dhritarashtra’s wife..

In the dynasty of Turvasu, brother of Yadu, there was a king named Subala. Subala was the ruler of Gandhara, which stretched from Kabul to the banks of the Indus. Subala’s daughter was Gandhari as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 111.

Gandhari was a devotee of Shiva and he blessed that she would have a hundred sons. Bhishma came to know of it and planned to get Dhritarashtra married to her. He conveyed this to Subala and since Dhritarashtra belonged to a famous dynasty, Subala agreed though he knew Dhritarashtra was blind. Shakuni took his sister to Hastinapura and there she married Dhritarashtra. As a mark of her devotion to him, Gandhari tied a silk cloth over her eyes as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 110.

Once Vyasa came to Hastinapura famished and tired. Gandhari served him and the sage was pleased enough to bless that she would give birth to a hundred sons. She became pregnant soon, but remained so for 2 years. When she got to know that Kunti had given birth to a son, she was even more depressed. She split open her womb but a large piece of flesh came out. Vyasa came to know of it, reached there, and asked her to cut it up into a hundred and one pieces and store them secretly in ghee pots. Vyasa went off to the Himalayas. After some time, the pots broke and 100 boys and one girl were born. She was named Dusshala. See Kauravas for the names. In addition, Dhritarashtra also had a son with a vaishya woman, named Yuyutsu, as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapters 115-116.

When Sanjaya told Dhritarashtra and Gandhari of Karna’s death, they fainted as per Mahabharata Karnaparva Chapter 96 verse 55.

After the war, Dhritarashtra advised the Pandavas to visit Gandhari too. They did so but Gandhari shook with anger, thirsting for revenge. She was about to curse them when Vyasa came to know of it through his divine sight. He appeared before them and reminded Gandhari that she had said that truth would prevail. She was mollified as per Mahabharata Sriparva Chapter 14.

When the Pandavas visited her, Gandhari began crying. As Yudhishtira went near her to touch her feet, she saw the fingernails on his feet through the gap between the cloth and her face. They became blue in color from then as per Mahabharata Sriparva Chapter 15.

After the war, Gandhari visited Kurukshetra with Krishna and others. She started wailing and held Krishna responsible for the events. She cursed that 36 years from then, Krishna’s kith and kin would perish and he too would die through someone’s stealth while wandering through forests. This curse caused the Yadava clan to destroy itself and Krishna to die of a hunter’s arrow as per Mahabharata Sriparva Chapter 25.

After the war, Gandhari, with Dhritarashtra, Kunti, Vidura and Sanjaya left fpr the jungles. The Pandavas and the citizens accompanied them till the Ganga and built them a hermitage near Shatayupa’s. The Pandavas found it difficult to stay on at the palace after that. Six years later, Yudhishtira dreamed of Kunti and told his brothers about it. The Pandavas, along with Subhadra, Draupadi and a few citizens set off for the hermitage to see how they were doing . They found Vyasa there too. Kunti and Gandhari asked Vyasa if they could see those who had died at Kurukshetra one last time. He asked them to take a dip in the Ganga. When they did so, they saw Karna, Duryodhana and all those who had died in the war appear on the surface. Vyasa even gave Dhritarashtra his sight for a few moments. The image soon disappeared and the Pandavas returned to the palace. After a couple of days, A fierce fire burned down the hermitage and with it Gandhari, Kunti and Dhritarashtra too, as per Bhagavata Dvitiyaskanda and Mahabharata Ashramavasikaparva Chapter 32.

Yudhishtira conducted their last rites as per Mahabharata Ashramavasikaparva Chapter 39. Their souls went to Kuber’s city as per Mahabharata Swargarohanaparva Chapter 5 verse 14.

Gandhari is also known as Gandhararajaduhita, Saubaleyi, Saubali, Subalaja, Subalaputri, Subalatmaja in the Mahabharata.