King of Hastināpura; legal father of all five Pandavas. Cursed by Sage Kindama to die if he ever again approached a woman in love — the curse that necessitates the niyoga structure permitting Kuntī and Mādrī to invoke deities for the Pandava conceptions. Dies at Śatasṛṅga when he succumbs to passion for Mādrī; she commits satī on his pyre. The Pandava demigods are all conceived during his exile-with-curse phase; he is legal father by Kuru-house dharma but biologically uninvolved.