Pandu gave up his throne and went to the forest to spend his lifetime with his family. Then, there was the question of solving the heirship to the house of Kuru. The whole fate of the Kuru rested on Kunti and Madri, with their divine children.
Kunti first invoked the dharma god, Yama, by her divine boon and begot a son named Yudhishthira. He was ordained to become the climax of righteousness, justice, and virtue, and later the leader of the Pandavas.
Next, Kunti invoked the wind god Vayu and was blessed with Bhima. He was born with extraordinary strength, equal to that of a thousand elephants. His indomitable spirit and his strength made him a great warrior.
Finally, Kunti summoned Indra, the lord of gods, and from him she got Arjun. Arjun was to be the greatest archer of his time, during whose period of history unequaled in warfare skills, with a bond between him and Lord Krishna that was close and divine.
When Madri beheld the birth of the divine children to Kunti, she asked for a turn with the boon as well. Being generous, Kunti shared the mantra with her co-wife. Invoking the twin brothers Ashwini, divine physicians, Madri bore twin sons: Nakula and Sahadeva. Nakula was known in his beauty and skill at horse-handling, and Sahadeva in his wisdom and learning about stars and omens.
Thus were born five Pandavas, each of them gifted with special abilities and moral virtues. Raised by their mothers and their ascetic father, Pandu, in the forest, their brotherly love was extremely strong. These brothers were thus initiated into the military, political, and civil arts and sciences of rulership, as well as into the science of dharma.
Back in Hastinapura, Dhritarashtra and Gandhari also had offspring. Gandhari, very devoted to her husband and the kingdom, did rigorous penance, desiring her husband to have many sons. Her great and sincere prayers were granted, and she conceived. However, she carried her pregnancy for a very abnormal period of time, so when she finally gave birth, it was not a child but a hard, lifeless mass of flesh.
Despondent and heartbroken, Gandhari was about to give up when the blessed sage Vyasa intervened in the matter. He divided the mass into one hundred pieces and placed them in jars filled with ghee. With time, these pieces evolved into one hundred sons and one daughter. First of them all was Duryodhana, whose birth was accompanied by evil omens and a loud braying of donkeys, foreshadowing the evil times of confusion and conflict he would later bring about.
After Duryodhana came the other ninety-nine brothers and one sister, Duhshala.