As a blind child, Dhirtarashtra always tortured his body to make sure that he was good in every type of warfare because he thought that as the eldest Kaurav (Hastinapur had a great king called Kuru and since then, the descendants were known as the Kauravas), he should be good at warfare, despite his blindness.

He was frustrated with everyone in the palace, except Pandu. Pandu was someone who no one could hate. From his childhood, Pandu used to love everyone, including Vidur and also treated him with respect, which was appreciated a lot by Vidur. Vidur, after growing up became a royal advisor because he was a very intelligent child and he had read all the scriptures and many more books on warfare, politics, morality, etc.

After Dhirtarashtra grew up, Satyavati decided that it's better to marry Dhirtarashtra to a princess so that the throne won't be vacant anymore. The only reason why Hastinapur was still stable and happy was because of Bhishma and Satyavati. They used to manage all the affairs of the court and no one attacked them because of Bhishma. After all, no one can kill Bhishma against his wish...

So, Dhirtarashtra decided to marry Dhirtarashtra to Gandhari of the mahajanapad of Gandhar. As a child, she was into austerities and had the blessing of giving birth to hundred sons by Lord Shiva because of her austerities. So, Bhishma thought that she was the perfect candidate for becoming the Queen.

The Gandhar king Subala got a marriage proposal from Dhirtarashtra. Although Subala was not sure because Gandhari was still quite young and immature, he succumbed to his fear of Bhishma and agreed to give his daughter to Dhirtarashtra.

Gandhari was someone who was full of life and I guess as much as I know, she feared darkness, or that's how she's portrayed. She's not described that much in the Mahabharata. So, her younger brother Shakuni loved his sister a lot and couldn't give away his sister to a blind man. He went on to argue with his father Subala to refuse Bhishma but Gandhari heard their conversation.

She thought that if her husband was blind, she didn't deserve to see too. That's how she could understand his problems and understand him. The thoughts of a young Gandhari were not depicted that much in the Mahabharata. So, Gandhari swore to cover her eyes with a blindfold for the rest of her life.

When Satyavati came to know about this, she was about to reject Gandhari because Dhirtarashtra's wife was supposed to guide Dhirtarashtra through his life but Bhishma didn't allow her because first of all, she decided to give up her eyes for her to be husband and secondly according to Bhishma, even a maid can guide Dhirtarashtra. Besides, she will give birth to hundred sons and she's the best girl Dhirtarashtra can get. So, Satyavati was convinced and Dhirtarashtra and Gandhari were both married.

The moment when Amba, Ambalika and Ambika were abducted, the morals of the elders in Hastinapur started declining and they almost used that same method for Gandhari too. The Kauravas suddenly started ignoring the women's wishes as long as they could satisfy their conditions.

Dhirtarashtra hated Gandhari because she had blindfolded herself. He felt like she was making fun of his blindness but he shut up and married her because he couldn't become the king without at least marrying one princess but he never respected her. Shakuni started watching how his sister was being humiliated by his brother-in-law and he decided to get settled in Hastinapur.

Shakuni had married a princess called Arshi and had two children with her back in Gandhar. Finally, it was time when it was being decided that Dhirtarashtra should be coronated but Vidur said they Dhirtarashtra can't become the king since he can't see the sadness and emotions of his subjects. As a king, his blindness can lead to serve injustice to the subjects without realising about it. Satyavati was not sure about it but Bhishma agreed with Vidur and thus, it was decided that Pandu would become the king. So, they announced that Pandu would become the king. Reason, because Dhirtarashtra was incomplete and scriptures advised against coronating someone as the king if that someone is incomplete in any way.

So, Pandu was ordered to marry Kunti because that princess was the only one having a Swayamvar, daughter of Shurusen and foster daughter of Kuntibhoj. When he reached there, they instantly connected and she put the garland around his neck.

Pandu was coronated as the king and Dhirtarashtra started removing all his anger in training and mentally torturing his wife. Shakuni couldn't see her suffering like that. She was destined to be treated like a queen, not like dirt. So, Shakuni used his manipulating powers which were quite great actually and told Dhirtarashtra that instead of treating Gandhari badly, he should make sure that he makes Gandhari pregnant before Pandu impregnates Kunti so that Dhirtarashtra's eldest son could become the king. Dhirtarashtra agreed with him and soon, Gandhari became pregnant and that took them one step forward towards the battle of the Mahabharata...