Bhagavad Gita · Mahabharata Codex

Pandu

पाण्डु · pāṇḍu

King of Hastinapura; father of the five Pandavas

One arrow, loosed at the wrong moment, cost him his throne and his life.

Pandu was crowned in place of his blind elder brother and was a successful, conquering king. While hunting he shot a deer in the act of mating. It was a sage in animal form, who cursed him to die if he ever embraced a wife. Pandu gave up the throne and went to the forest with Kunti and Madri. His five sons were fathered by gods. One spring day he forgot the curse.