Yuvaraja (yuvarāja)

The yuvaraja is the crown prince, the heir formally installed to succeed and to share the burden of rule while the king still lives. The Mahabharata's whole war grows out of an unresolved question of who should hold this title, since Yudhishthira is the eldest of the cousins but Duryodhana is the son of the reigning king. Dhritarashtra names Yudhishthira yuvaraja and then, when the boy proves popular, lets himself be persuaded to send him to Varanavata and a house built of lac.