Chakravartin Samrat Yudhishthira

Chakravartin Samrat Yudhisthira
Yudhisthira (Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, IAST: Yudhiṣṭhira) was the first among the five Pandava brothers. He is mentioned in the ancient epic Mahabharat. He was the son of the king Pandu of Kuru Dynasty and his first wife, Kunti and was blessed to the couple by the God Dharma, who is identified with the death god Yama.Yudhishthira becomes the Chakravartin Emperor of India and the king of Indraprastha (independent Kingdom) and later became the ruler of the one of major Mahajanapada of ancient India known as Kuru Kingdom with the capital Hastinapura.

From his childhood, Yudhishthira was greatly influenced by his uncle Vidura and his grandfather Bhishma, and believed in virtues of dharma. He was trained by two warrior-sages—Kripa and Drona. Later, Yudhisthira was appointed as the crown prince of Hastinapura but was replaced by Duryodhana. Because of Kunti's misunderstanding, Yudhishthira and his brothers were married to Draupadi, the princess of Panchala. Dhritarashtra, on Bhishma's request, divided his kingdom to end the succession dispute between Yudhishthira and Duryodhana. The eldest son of Pandu was given a barren land to rule, but he developed the magnificent city of Indraprastha(modern day Delhi).

After he performed Rajsuya Yagna and he became the Chakravartin Emperor of and was invited to play Pachisi, a game of dice by his jealous cousin, Duryodhana and his uncle, Shakuni. There Shakuni, who was a master at the game, represented Duryodhan against Yudhishthira and deceitfully made him gamble his kingdom, fame, wealth, his brothers, Draupadi and even himself. After the game the Pandavas and Draupadi were sent in exile for thirteen years, with the last year being an incognito. During his exile, he was tested by his spiritual father and for incognito, Yudhishthira disguised himself as Kanka and served the king of Matsya Kingdom.

Yudhishthira was the leader of the successful Pandava side in the Kurukshetra War and defeated many warriors including Shalya. At the end of the epic, he was the only one among his brothers to ascend to heaven with his mortal body.