Dhritarashtra

Dhritarashtra
The blind king Dhrtarastra listens as the visionary narrator Sanjaya relates the events of the battle between the Kaurava and the Pandava clans
Information
Spouse(s)	Gandhari
Children	Duryodhana, Dushasana, Vikarna and 97 other sons and Duhsala (daughter) from his wife Gandhari Yuyutsu from Sughada (Gandhari's maid)

In the Mahabharata, Dhritarashtra (Sanskrit: धृतराष्ट्र, dhṛtarāshtra; lit. "a good king") is the King of Hastinapur at the time of the Kurukshetra War, the epic's climactic event. He was born the son of Vichitravirya's first wife Ambika, and was fathered by Veda Vyasa. Dhritarashtra was blind from birth, and became father to one hundred sons (and one daughter) by his wife Gandhari (Gāndhārī), with Yuyutsu. These children, including the eldest son Duryodhana, came to be known as the Kauravas. Throughout his reign as King of Hastinapur, Dhritarashtra was torn between the principles of dharma and his love for his son Duryodhana, and often ended up endorsing his son's actions merely out of fatherly love. Dhritarashtra appears in Mahābhārata sections that have been circulated as separate scriptures, most notably the Bhagavad Gita, whose dialogue was narrated to him.

With Vichitravirya having died of sickness, Bhishma unable to take the throne because of his vow, and Bahlika's line unwilling to leave Bahlika Kingdom, there was as succession crisis in Hastinapur. Satyavati invites her son Vyasa to impregnate the queens Ambika and Ambalika under the Niyoga practice. When Vyasa approached Ambika, she got frightened due to his scary appearance and closed her eyes; hence, her son was born blind.