A boy suddenly stumbles upon an old man named Vyasa. He says he composed a great poem, but can't write it down. He tells the boy the poem is about him, his race. When the deity Ganesha arrives on the scene, Vyasa can finally immortalize the story that starts with his mother Satyavati. When the king casts an eye on her and wants to marry, she demands that only her children inherit the title. But the only child she delivers is a weakling, who dies on his wedding night. Vyasa decides to take matters in his own hand. He makes sure the two wives get a child, the blind Dhritharashtra and the pale Pandu. Pandu becomes king, but is forced to give the title to his brother after he was cursed. He can never make love, but with divine intervention his two wives get five sons. Dhritharashtra's wife Gandhara also gets children. The two groups are raised together, but from the beginning there is a lot of animosity.
—Arnoud Tiele (imdb@tiele.nl)