Kurukshetra
Explore the Mahabharata Through 751 Characters
Search any name, trace how two people are connected, browse family branches, and follow the story through key relationships. The Mahabharata — also called the Mahabharat — is the family that drove them onto this field, and the eighteen mornings that emptied it.
751 named · 18 kulas · 1174 bonds
Krishna holds the reins.
Sit with a life
Open one name. The map keeps only who the story actually ties to them.
KrishnaHe gave them himself, unarmed.
ArjunaThe bow slipped.
GandhariShe chose not to see more than he could.
DuryodhanaJackals cried. The father kept him.
Imagined for these sittings. Not a likeness, not scripture — an illustration only.
Guided stories
Seven question-led sittings. Each page keeps the full answer if the map never loads.
Start hereWhy Bhishma Could Not Inherit HastinapuraA vow on a riverbank is why Hastinapura has no clear heir.
The Five BrothersPandu cannot father children. The gods do it for him — and Draupadi marries all five.
Karna’s Two MothersThe tournament’s stranger is Kunti’s first child, raised as a suta.
The Dice and the SabhaA game of dice is how a wife is staked. One brother speaks. The rest do not.
Why the Grandsire FallsAmba’s unfinished marriage becomes Shikhandi. Bhishma will not shoot.
The Boy in the WheelAbhimanyu learns the chakravyuha in the womb — only the way in.
Why This Story Is Being ToldA king is killing snakes. A boy walks in. The recitation can begin.
The eighteen days
Sanjaya sits with the blind king and tells the war as it happens. Ten days under Bhishma, five under Drona, two under Karna, the last under Shalya.
Houses on the field
Pandava, Kaurava, Yadava — and the houses that put them there.
- Yadu–VrishniYadavas, Andhakas, Vrishnis: Krishna’s blood.
- House of ShantanuGanga, Satyavati, Devavrata, Vyasa, the widows of Vichitravirya.
- PandavasKunti, Madri, the five brothers, Draupadi, and their sons.
- KauravasDhritarashtra, Gandhari, the hundred, Duhsala, Yuyutsu.
- PanchalaDrupada, Dhrishtadyumna, Draupadi, Shikhandi.
A name you already carry
Open one person. Then walk only who the story actually ties to them.
- KrishnaVasudeva’s eighth child. Vishnu among the Vrishnis. Arjuna’s charioteer. The still centre of the war.
- ArjunaThird Pandava, son of Indra. Nara to Krishna’s Narayana. The Gita is spoken to him.
- DraupadiBorn of Drupada’s fire. Wife of the five. The sabha is done to her. Mother of the Upapandavas, murdered sleeping.
- KarnaKunti’s first child, raised by Adhiratha and Radha. Duryodhana’s friend. Arjuna’s other self.
- DevavrataHe could have been king. He swore himself childless so his father could marry, and the gods named him for the terror of that oath.
- KuntiPritha, Vasudeva’s sister. Mother of Karna in secret, then of the three elder Pandavas.
- DuryodhanaEldest of the hundred. Named Suyodhana at birth. Kali in a prince. The mace is his.
- YudhishthiraEldest Pandava, son of Dharma. The dice, the exile, the half-lie to Drona, the dog on the mountain.
- GandhariQueen who binds her own eyes. Mother of the hundred, from a mass of flesh divided into jars.
- VyasaKrishna Dvaipayana. Author of the Bharata. By niyoga, father of Dhritarashtra, Pandu, and Vidura.
- DronaThe princes’ acharya. Father of Ashwatthama. Slain in meditation after Yudhishthira’s half-truth.
- SubhadraSister of Krishna and Balarama. Arjuna’s wife. Mother of Abhimanyu.
- BhimaSecond Pandava, son of Vayu. The appetite and the vows: Duhshasana’s blood, Duryodhana’s thigh.
- DhritarashtraThe blind king. Father of the hundred. He knows what is right and does not stop the dice.
- PanduThe pale king. Cursed not to embrace a woman; the Pandavas are his by the gods.
- ViduraBorn of a maid and Vyasa. Dharma in a shudra body. The epic’s conscience, unused.
- ShakuniGandhari’s brother. The dice are his. He plays the sabha for Duryodhana.
- AshwatthamaDrona’s son. The night slaughter. The astra at Uttara’s womb. Cursed to wander wounded.
- AbhimanyuArjuna and Subhadra’s son. Learns the chakravyuha in the womb — only the way in.
- BalaramaKrishna’s elder brother. Shesha born as a man. Teaches the mace to both Bhima and Duryodhana, then refuses the war.
- GhatotkachaBhima and Hidimbi’s son. Krishna spends Karna’s unfailing Shakti on him at night, to save Arjuna.
- ShikhandiAmba reborn. Bhishma will not loose a weapon on him. Arjuna shoots from behind that refusal.
The blood in the traces
Devas, nagas, lunar kings, gurus — every house that reaches this morning.
- PrimordialBrahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and the mind-born.
- Daksha’s housePrajapatis and the daughters who seed every later kula.
- Kashyapa’s wivesAditi, Diti, Danu, Kadru, Vinata, and the rest.
- DevasAdityas, Rudras, Vasus, Ashvins — the shining ones.
- Daityas & DanavasHiranyakashipu’s line, Puloma’s sons, Vrishaparva.
- NagasKadru’s serpents: Shesha, Vasuki, Takshaka, and the named host.
- SuparnasVinata’s birds: Aruna, Garuda, and their brood.
- ChandravamshaSoma through Yayati and the five sons who split the world.
- Puru–BharataPuru to Bharata to Kuru, before Hastinapura’s last house.
- Other kingdomsMatsya, Magadha, Chedi, Gandhara, Madra, Sindhu, Kashi, Vidarbha.
- Gurus & BhargavasBhrigu’s line, Bharadvaja, Drona, Kripa, Parashurama.
- Rakshasas & NishadasHidimba, Baka, Ekalavya, and the forest houses.
- Sages & the tellingThe narrators of the Mahabharata, rishis, and witnesses of the sacrifice.
Open Interactive Map — every named figure, house by house. Characters · Eighteen days · Tie names · How this was compiled. The book was first called Jaya. This is mahabharata.online, from EthicsLab Limited. Privacy · Support · Instagram · Threads.