Mahabharata Crossword Puzzles: Free Printable and Online

Five brothers, a hundred cousins, and a war that lasts eighteen days. Test your knowledge of the Mahabharata's Pandavas and Kauravas, Krishna, Draupadi, Karna and Bhishma, the dice game and forest exile, the Bhagavad Gita, celestial weapons, and ancient kingdoms.

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Mahabharata: Famous Episodes from the Dice Game to the Exile

Hard · 11×11 · 14 words
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  1. 2. Ten thousand hungry disciples accompany this guest, arriving after Draupadi has eaten.
  2. 6. Antlers snag a Brahmin's fire-making sticks, setting a deadly search in motion.
  3. 7. Sanskrit fire-kindling wood, caught in antlers before the brothers' fatal thirst.
  4. 10. Sage who answers Yudhishthira's gambling grief with the story of Nishadha's king.
  5. 11. ___ Parva: the gambling section within the Mahabharata's second book.
  6. 12. ___ Parva: the third book, with a wilderness for its stage.
  7. 13. Divine giver of the Pashupata weapon after Arjuna's mountain ordeal.

Down

  1. 1. Another king undone by gambling, whose tale consoles Yudhishthira in the forest.
  2. 3. Wisdom at court, ignored: the counselor who warns against the gambling match.
  3. 4. Court messenger who carries Draupadi's question: had her husband lost himself first?
  4. 5. One of the hundred challenges the outrage against Draupadi in their own assembly.
  5. 8. Gandhara prince and Kaurava uncle who makes family fortunes turn on a throw.
  6. 9. Forest beside the Sarasvati where the dispossessed brothers establish an early refuge.
  7. 10. Dhritarashtra's royal 'ask and receive', used first to free Yudhishthira.

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Mahabharata: Kingdoms and Places of the Epic

Medium · 11×11 · 14 words
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  1. 2. Modern name of the epic's Shona River, also a word for a male child
  2. 6. Modern name of the Punjab river called Iravati in the epic
  3. 7. Coastal city of Krishna that the sea eventually swallowed
  4. 9. Coastal pilgrimage site where the Yadavas' final gathering ended in their destruction
  5. 11. Ravana's island stronghold in the Rama narrative retold within the Mahabharata
  6. 12. Kingdom represented in battle by the brothers Vinda and Anuvinda
  7. 13. River known in the Mahabharata as Vipasha

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  1. 1. Shalya's kingdom, birthplace of the mother of the Pandava twins
  2. 2. Modern name of the northwestern river ancient texts call Suvastu
  3. 3. Drupada's kingdom, divided after his defeat by Drona
  4. 4. Realm associated with the legendary king who protected a dove from a hawk
  5. 5. Town relieved of the ogre Baka's demands by Bhima
  6. 8. Jarasandha's powerful kingdom, ruled from Girivraja
  7. 10. Shishupala ruled ___ before confronting Krishna at Yudhishthira's royal sacrifice

Mahabharata: Celestial Weapons and Great Warriors

Medium · 11×11 · 15 words
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  1. 3. Lord of death, often identified with Dharma, the god who fathered Yudhishthira
  2. 6. Birth father of Karna, honored as the sun god
  3. 8. Destructive weapon bestowed on Arjuna after his encounter with a hunter
  4. 11. Pandava whose appetite rivals his prodigious strength
  5. 12. Primordial sword born from a sacrificial fire in the Shanti Parva
  6. 13. Meaning 'victory,' ___ is an early name associated with the Mahabharata
  7. 14. Duryodhana's signature bludgeoning weapon, in Sanskrit

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  1. 1. Celestial weapon released by both Drona's son and Arjuna after the night raid
  2. 2. Axe-bearing teacher whose pupils included Bhishma and Karna
  3. 4. Drona's son, born with a protective jewel in his forehead
  4. 5. Karna gives away this inborn protection along with his earrings
  5. 6. Moon deity whose son Varchas was reborn as Subhadra's child
  6. 7. Panchala ruler who sought a son destined to defeat Drona
  7. 9. Princess reborn as Shikhandi to bring about Bhishma's fall
  8. 10. Royal preceptor whose twin sister Kripi married Drona

Mahabharata: Bhagavad Gita Terms and Teachings

Medium · 11×11 · 14 words
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  1. 3. Krishna's name in Arjuna's question about the value of a kingdom, in verse 1.32
  2. 7. Sanskrit name for desire, called an enemy in chapter 3
  3. 8. Evenness of mind in success and failure, praised in verse 2.48
  4. 12. One of three qualities that bind the embodied being to material nature
  5. 13. The Gita's term for a spiritual path of sustained practice
  6. 14. Ancient sacred text whose ritual rewards the Gita contrasts with higher wisdom

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  1. 1. The cosmic form revealed to Arjuna in chapter 11
  2. 2. The quality of passion that drives craving and restless activity
  3. 4. Training that steadies the wandering mind in chapter 6
  4. 5. Loving devotion as a spiritual path
  5. 6. In chapter 13, the body is called the ___, with a knower distinct from it
  6. 9. Divine illusion, described as difficult to cross in chapter 7
  7. 10. Three-letter spelling of the sacred syllable Krishna identifies with himself in chapter 7
  8. 11. The sense of "I am the doer" challenged in verse 3.27

Mahabharata: The Kurukshetra War

Medium · 11×11 · 13 words
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  1. 1. Arjuna's teacher who later commanded the opposing army
  2. 3. Madra ruler who served as Karna's charioteer
  3. 5. State exploited by the attackers in the Sauptika Parva
  4. 6. Deception involving an elephant named for a teacher's son
  5. 8. Hidimba's son whose death cost Karna his single-use divine spear
  6. 10. Any one of the five brothers born to Kunti or Madri
  7. 11. Fire deity who helped equip Arjuna before the burning of Khandava
  8. 12. Commander who lay on a bed of arrows until his chosen time of death

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  1. 2. Ill portent, such as the jackals' cries before the great battle
  2. 4. Traditional army unit of which eighteen fought in the great battle
  3. 5. Drupada's child whose presence kept Devavrata from fighting back
  4. 7. One of Dhritarashtra's hundred sons
  5. 9. Celibacy pledge that earned Devavrata his fearsome name

Mahabharata: Duryodhana and the Kauravas

Easy · 11×11 · 13 words
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  1. 1. Excessive self-importance shown by Duryodhana in refusing to share power.
  2. 6. Large room in Yudhishthira's palace where Duryodhana confused water and flooring.
  3. 7. Horse-drawn vehicle used by Duryodhana and other battlefield nobles.
  4. 8. Duryodhana's mother, originally a princess of Gandhara.
  5. 10. Heavy blunt weapon used in Duryodhana's final duel.
  6. 11. Organized military force that Duryodhana gathered for battle.
  7. 12. According to the Mahabharata, Duryodhana's parents had one ___ sons.

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  1. 1. Freedom from armed conflict that Krishna sought through negotiations with Duryodhana.
  2. 2. Family relationship between Duryodhana and Dushasana.
  3. 3. Royal capital ruled by Dhritarashtra.
  4. 4. Unable to see, as Dhritarashtra was from birth.
  5. 5. Krishna's elder sibling, who taught Duryodhana to fight with a club.
  6. 9. Reptile whose bite counteracted the poison in Duryodhana's childhood plot.

Mahabharata: Krishna, Draupadi and Key Characters

Easy · 11×11 · 14 words
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  1. 1. Wise holy man, such as Narada.
  2. 3. Objects rolled in the gambling match that cost the Pandavas their kingdom.
  3. 4. Gandiva is the famous ___ used by the third Pandava.
  4. 7. Pandava archer who wins Draupadi's hand at her marriage contest.
  5. 10. Leader of the Kauravas and eldest son of the blind ruler.
  6. 11. Son of the sun god, born with natural armor and earrings.
  7. 12. Traditional composer of the Mahabharata.
  8. 13. The eighteen-day conflict between the Pandavas and Kauravas.

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  1. 1. Balarama's sister who marries the third Pandava.
  2. 2. Bhagavad ___, the sacred dialogue before the great battle.
  3. 5. Projectile that must hit the high target in Draupadi's marriage contest.
  4. 6. Second eldest of the hundred Kaurava brothers.
  5. 8. Divine charioteer and friend who guides the Pandavas.
  6. 9. Narrator who describes the distant battlefield to the blind ruler.

Mahabharata: The Five Pandava Brothers

Easy · 11×11 · 14 words
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  1. 1. Twelve forest years plus one in disguise, imposed after the rigged dice game.
  2. 2. The central heroic brothers number ___.
  3. 4. Thunder god regarded as the third brother's divine father.
  4. 6. Long bladed weapon associated with the fourth brother's fighting skills.
  5. 8. Plain where the great battle of the Mahabharata takes place.
  6. 11. Monkey hero shown on the third brother's banner.

Down

  1. 1. The Mahabharata is a long heroic poem called an ___.
  2. 3. Solemn promise, such as the second brother's pledge to defeat Duryodhana.
  3. 5. Sanskrit term for righteous duty, a central ideal of the eldest brother.
  4. 6. Youngest brother, known for his wisdom.
  5. 7. Princess of Panchala who married all the central brothers.
  6. 8. Mother of the three eldest brothers.
  7. 9. Royal title held by the eldest brother after the great war.
  8. 10. One of two siblings born together, like either of the youngest brothers.
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