Vidura

Vidura (Sanskrit: विदुर, lit. skilled, intelligent or wise) is one of the central characters in the Mahabharata, a major Hindu epic. He is described as the prime minister of Hastinapur and also the uncle of Pandavas and Kauravas.

Birth

As per the Mahabharata, Vidura is a half-brother to the kings Dhritarashtra and Pandu of Hastinapura, born the son of the sage Vyasa and Parishrami, the maid to the queens Ambika and Ambalika of the city. By some accounts, he was an incarnation of the god of death and justice Yama Dharma Raja, who had been cursed by the sage Mandavya for punishing the latter more harshly than his transgression warranted.

Both Ambika and Ambalika were wives of King Vichitravirya of Hastinapura, who died childless. Anxious to ensure the continuation of the royal lineage, Vichitravirya's mother Satyavati called another of her sons, the ascetic Vyasa, to bestow motherhood upon the two widowed queens through niyoga. Vyasa, as a hermit practicing severe austerities, was unpleasant and even fearsome in appearance, so much so that Ambika shut her eyes tight when she saw him, and her sister Ambalika went pale with fear. Vyasa informed his mother that as a result, the sons they bore would respectively be blind (Dhritarashtra), and pale (Pandu).