King Bharat of Hastinapur, even after having nine sons, chooses a sage's son Bhumanyu as his successor. A few generations later, King Shantanu's reign weakens due to a promise made to his wife, Ganga.
After revealing about a curse to King Shantanu, Ganga leaves with their eighth son, Devavrat. He finds two newborns and names them as Kripa and Kripi. 16 years later, Ganga returns with Devavrat.
Devavrat is crowned as Yuvraj, heir apparent to King Shantanu. But, to enable his father's remarriage to a village girl, Devavrat vows to remain unmarried for the rest of his life and renounces his rights to the throne.
Rishi Vyas is introduced and is the father of Pandu, Dhritarashtra and Vidhur. These are imparted knowledge and training by Bhisma and a new king of Hastinapur is selected.
This is the divine story of Karna's birth. Lord Surya comes and blesses Kunti with a child who is named as Vasusena by the gods because his birth was royal and celebrated by Devas,Yakshas and Apsaras
Pandu establishes the supremacy of the Kuru House. During his campaigns he takes another wife, Madri. After the campaigns, Pandu goes to the forest for relaxation with his two queens Kunti and Madri.
While hunting, Pandu accidentally kills a Sage. To do penance Pandu decides to spend his life in exile and entrusts Kingdom to Dhritarastra. In time five children are born to Kunti and Madri. Dhritarastra had a hundred sons from Gandhari.
In Mathura, King Kans dethrones his father and takes over. He arranges his sister Devki's marriage with his influential friend Vasudev. But when a Sage predicts Kans' death, he imprisons Devki and Vasudev.
Kans personally kills Devki's first six children. Devki's seventh "pregnancy" is taken over by Vasudev's second wife, giving birth to Balram. During eighth child, Vasudev is able to smuggle out the child.
Krishna grows up to an 11-year-old boy. Now he has given up stealing butter; instead he steals the hearts of the young "Gopinis". Radha is one such "Gopini" who has lost her heart to him.
Krishna departs for Mathura. The residents of Mathura have heard of his divine powers and they pay obeisance. Eventually Krishna faces his uncle, Kans.
Shri Krishna releases King Ugrasen and his parents Devki and Vasudev who had been imprisoned by Kans. Pandu dies in the forest and Kunti returns to Hastinapur with her children.
Before leaving for Tapovan, Satyavati tells Dhritarashtra to look after the Pandavas. Kauravas and the Pandavas grow up together. Shakuni instigates Duryodhan against the Pandavas and rivalry develops between the Kauravas and Pandavas.
Kunti forbids Bheem from saying anything about Duryodhan's attempt to kill him. Vidur suspects something and goes to see Bheeshma. Dronacharya is introduced as one of the teachers of Kuru princes.
Dronacharya trains princes in the art of archery and other military skills. Arjun gets poised by his teacher, Duryodhan is often advised to control his arrogance. Shakuni rebukes Gandhari for not seeing through the plots of the Pandavas.
Drona trains the Kuru princes in the art of 'Gada Yudh' (Mace fighting). Bheem and Duryodhan specialize in it and exhibit their skills. Drona is specially delighted by Arjun's prowess and he loves him even more than his own son.
Karna and his brothers are grown up. After the Kuru princes have shown their performances, just then Karna arrives and displays his skills in arena. Karna is then crowned the king of Anga by Duryodhana. The coronation of Karna takes place.
Drona asks for his gurudakshina in the form of captured King Drupad. Pursuram arrives at the Gurukul and gives Shri Krishna his Sudarshan Chakra. He asks Shri Krishna to lay the foundation of a New Yuga (New Era).
Krishna advises the King of Mathura, to shift his capital from Mathura to Dwarka. The Heir to the throne of Hastinapur is to be chosen and Duryodhan is staking his claim while Drona, Vidur and the people of Hastinapur favor Yudhishthir.
The court meets to name the Heir Apparent to the throne of Hastinapur. Jarasandh asks Bheeshmak to invite Shishupal, the Chedi King, to marry his daughter Rukmani and make Shishupal his ally.
Shri Krishna has received a letter from Rukmani asking him to take her away from Vidarbha before she is married to Shishupal. Krishna goes to Vidarbha.
Duryodhan asks Dhritrashtra to send the Pandav brothers to Varnavat to attend a festival. He threatens to commit suicide if Pandav brothers are not sent to Varnavat.
The Pandavs are suspicious of Duryodhan's eagerness to send Yudhishthir to Varnavat; so they accompany him to Varnavat. Vidur learns that Duryodhan's spies had been collecting wax, oil and other flammable materials in the recent past.
Only three days are left for the house of wax to go up in flames and for Kunti and her five sons to burn to death. Vidur informs Pandas of the evil plan and sends them a miner who helps them dig a tunnel to escape.
After escaping from the tragedy, the Pandavas arrive in a forest and rest. Bheem and Arjun want to confront the Kauravas, but Kunti and Yudhishthir decide against it.
The Pandavas stay in the city of Ekchakra in the guise of Brahmins. Kunti and Pandavas learn of a cruel and terribly strong rakshasa named Bakasur who was harassing the people.
Without pause or hesitation, Arjun shoots his arrow into the target and wins Draupadi's hand in marriage. Kunti unknowingly asks the five Pandava brothers to share the bride prize.
Duryodhan and Shakuni are furious when they learn that the Pandava brothers are alive and that King Dhritrashtra has sent Vidur to call them back to Hastinapur.
The Pandavs return to Hastinapur. Determined to establish peace between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, Bheeshma suggests giving half the Kingdom to Yudhishthir.
The decision to partition the Kingdom of Hastinapur between the Kauravas and Padavas is not liked by the Pandavas, but Krishna consoles them and tells them that Khandavprastha is their Karambhoomi (field of action).
Ydhishthir knew that the land he was to rule was a barren wasteland, but accepted this injustice because he wanted peace. The Pandavas reach Khandavprastha, and with the help of Krishna and Balram, they renovate the ruined city.
To avoid rivalry among pandavas, they had come to a decision to have Draupadi divide her time equally between the five brothers. Once while helping a Brahmin, Arjun had to violate the rule and had to go on a pilgrimage.
Arjun and Subhadra arrive in Dwarika and are formally married. Arjun, Bheem and Sri Krishna eventually go to Magadh and challenge Jarasandh for a combat. Jarasandh chooses to fight with Bheem.
The first honor of Rajsuya Yagna is rendered to Sri Krishna. Shishupal asks, "When there are so many kings gathered in this assembly, why should the first honor be paid to Krishna - a cowherd boy and the son of a servant of Ugrasena?"
Duryodhan walks around Yudhishthir's 'Maya Mahal" and falls into one of the pools. Draupadi calls him the "blind son of a blind father." Duryodhan, Kama and Shakuni plan to avenge Draupadi for her taunting remarks.
Dhritarashtra orders Vidur to go to Indraprastha and to invite Yudhishthir to Hastinapur to play dice with Duryodhan. The Pandavs arrive in Hastinapur and pay their respects to the King.
Duryodhan asks his brother Dushasan to bring Draupadi to the assembly hall. Dushasan drags Draupadi to the hall and tries to disrobe her but a miracle occurs.
Gandhari warns Dhritarashtra that the attempt to disrobe Draupadi would cause the destruction of his lineage. Dhritarashtra gives everything back to the Pandavs.
Duryodhan threatens to wage war against the Pandavs. When Dhritrashtra forbids him from war, Duryodhan secures Dhritrashtra's approval to entice Yudhishthir to another game of dice.
The departure of the Pandavs upsets Bheeshma, Vidur, Drona and the other elders of the Royal House of Kurus. Vidur advises Dhritrashtra to summon them back. Dhritrashtra rebukes Vidur, so Vidur leaves.
