The characters in The Five Sons of King Pandu are divided into two factions, the Pandavas and the Kuravas, together with their respective supporters throughout India. Whether the characters are heroic or evil, they are not stereotypes; they are individuals whose actions are clearly motivated. The evil Kuravas are good rulers and skilled warriors. By the same token, the Pandavas are given human weaknesses which they must overcome. The characters' genealogy is given in detail because birth determines their personalities, the relationships between characters, and their ultimate fates.

The blind and aged King Kuru, the father of the one hundred Kurava brothers, is a weak and pathetic ruler, easily manipulated by his evil sons Duryodha and Dushasan. When Duryodha is born, asses bray and jackals howl, portending evil and the ruin of his people. Yet Kuru will not cast out his newborn son. On...