List of characters in the Mahabharata

However, the Mahabharata is richly populated with other notable figures including Krishna, Bhishma, Drona, Karna, Kunti, Dushasana, Kripa, Dhritrashtra, Gandhari, Shakuni, Ashwatthama, Balarama, Subhadra, Vyasa, Abhimanyu, Pandu, Satyavati and Amba.

The Mahabharata manuscripts exist in numerous versions, wherein the specifics and details of major characters and episodes vary, often significantly.

In the Khandava-daha Parva, Agni in disguise approaches Krishna and Arjuna seeking sufficient food for gratification of his hunger and expressed his desire to consume the forest of Khandava protected by Indra for the sake of Takshaka, the chief of the Nagas.

[18] Ashwatthama was the son of guru Drona and fought on the Kaurava side against the Pandavas in the Kurukshetra War.Ashwatthama had various divine weapons like Narayanastra, Brahmastra and Bhramshira astra.

He had a divine gem on his forehead which granted him powers above Humans,Danavas, Rakshas, Nagas, Gandharvas, Pisach .Ashvatthama was appointed as the final commander-in-chief of the Kauravas, after which he slaughters most of the Pandava camp in a single night offensive.

Indra foresaw that Arjuna would have to spend one year at King Virata's palace as a eunuch, during which time he would need the knowledge of music and dance.

[35] Devika was the daughter of Govasena, the king of the Sivi Kingdom of Shaivya tribe, and the second wife of Yudhishthira they got married in a self choice ceremony.

Duryodhana also is known as Suyodhana, is a major antagonist in Mahabharata and was the eldest of the Kauravas, the hundred sons of a blind king Dhritarashtra and Queen Gandhari.

Being the firstborn son of the blind king, he was the crown prince of Kuru Kingdom and its capital Hastinapura along with his cousin Yudhishtra who was older than him.

Dushasana was a Kaurava prince, the second son of the blind king Dhritarashtra and Gandhari and the younger brother of Duryodhana in the Hindu epic Mahabharata.

She was a princess of Gandhara (modern-day Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa) and the wife of Dhritrashtra, the blind king of Hastinapura, and the mother of a hundred sons, the Kauravas.

He performed a snake sacrifice called Sarpa Satra to avenge his father's death, who was killed by Takshaka, Arjuna's naga enemy.

He is stated in Vana Parva of the epic, to incarnate at the end of the Kali Yuga and protect dharma, by destroying the sinners and Mlecchas.

Karna fought valiantly after the fall of Bhishma, and killed various warriors on the Pandava side, he was born with a natural armour and earrings.

He was one of the 9 warriors who unfairly killed Abhimanyu inside the Chakravyuh, he shared a great rivalry with Arjuna; though after his death he was loved and missed by the Pandavas.

Before departing, he rewarded Kunti by teaching her Atharvaveda mantras which enabled her to invoke any god of her choice to beget children by them.

In the Mahabharata epic, Madri, was sister of Shalya, princess of the Madra Kingdom, second wife of Pandu and the mother of two sons: Nakula and Sahadeva.

They had a son, Astika, who saved the serpents including Takshaka from Sarpa Satra organised by king Janamejaya to avenge his father's death.

She was named as "Bhadra" in Jain narratives Markandeya was blessed by Shiva to remain young till the end of Kali Yuga.

After Drupada performed a yajna (fire-sacrifice) to obtain a powerful son, she was asked by the sages to consume the sacrificial offering to conceive a child.

Sanjaya – who has the gift of seeing events at a distance (divya-drishti) right in front of him, granted by the sage Vyasa – narrates to Dhritarashtra the action in the climactic battle of Kurukshetra, which includes the Bhagavad Gita.

Featured in the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata Purana, Satrajit was a Yadava king who was a great devotee of Surya, the Sun god.

Not much is written about him in the epic, but he acted as a regent while his brother, the king, was away for some time for summoning the sages Yaja and Upayaja for a powerful penance to beget children.

Her story is told in the Mahabharata and dramatized by many writers, the most famous adaption being Kalidasa's play Abhijñānaśākuntala (The Sign of Shakuntala).

In the epic Mahabharata, King Shalya was the brother of Madri (mother of Nakula and Sahadeva), as well as the ruler of the Madra kingdom.

He lived in a city named Takshasila, which was the new territory of Takshaka after his race was banished by Pandavas led by Arjuna from the Khandava Forest and Kurukshetra, where they built their new kingdom.

In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Tilottama is described to have been created by the divine architect Vishwakarma, at Brahma's request, by taking the best quality of everything as the ingredients.

In both legends, he is a learned sage who goes through many hurdles in procuring the earrings demanded by his guru's wife as the fee for the teacher (gurudakshina).

[87] Vapusthama was the princess of Kashi,present day Benaras, the daughter of Subarnavarma,the granddaughter of King Sarvaga and great-granddaughter of Bhima, the second Pandava.

According to the Matsya Purana, Yaudheya is also the name of the eldest son of Prativindhya and his first wife Subala, however he does not succeed Yudhishthira to the throne of Hastinapura as he inherits his maternal kingdom.