Kuru Dynasty
King Vichitravirya
विचित्रवीर्य
The Kuru King
Who was King Vichitravirya?
King Vichitravirya (विचित्रवीर्य): The Kuru King, a figure of the Kuru dynasty in the Mahabharata. The second son of Shantanu and Satyavati.
Quick Facts
| Sanskrit name | विचित्रवीर्य |
|---|---|
| Title / Epithet | The Kuru King |
| Faction | Kuru Dynasty |
| Key traits | Handsome, Youthful, Sickly |
| Featured in | 13 stories |
About King Vichitravirya
The second son of Shantanu and Satyavati. He married Ambika and Ambalika but died childless from consumption after seven years of marriage.
In Their Words
Like the setting sun, the Kourava went to Yama's abode.
King Vichitravirya
Traits
- Handsome
- Youthful
- Sickly
Stories Featuring King Vichitravirya
13 tales on this site name King Vichitravirya, in canonical reading order.
- The River and the IslandBirths of Satyavati and Vyasa
- The Abduction at KashiThe Svayamvara and the Tragedy of Amba
- The Niyoga of VyasaThe Birth of the Kurus
- The Watch Under the BanianOne brother awake while the rest of the Kurus sleep on bare ground
- Kunti's SwayamvaraThe princess no king asked for chooses Pandu in a hall of monarchs
- The Fisher Queen's BurdenSatyavati's regency and renunciation
- The King Who Fought His NameChitrangada and the gandharva's duel
- Twenty-Three Days on the SaraswatiBhishma fights his own preceptor and neither man can win
- The Kings Who Were Passed OverDhritarashtra reads his son the family's own record of elder sons who never got the throne
- The Signs Before the WarWhat Vyasa saw in the sky, the cattle and the birth-rooms
- The Five Forms of MarriageBhishma on how a daughter is given, what a dower does not buy, and the honour owed to women
- The Departure of BhishmaThe sun turns north, and the grandsire lets go
- The King Asks Leave of His PeopleAn Assembly Absolves the Man Who Ruined It
Places in King Vichitravirya's Story
Drawn from the stories King Vichitravirya appears in.
Related Characters
Others counted among the Kuru Dynasty.