Dhrishtadyumna is the son of Raja Drupada and brother of Draupadi, wife of the Pandavas. There is a legend regarding the birth of Dhrishtadyumna and his sister Draupadi. It is said that after being defeated and disgraced from his kingdom, king Drupada was waiting to take revenge. So, he appointed a supernatural agency to procure the birth of a son, who should one day avenge his defeat and complete the death of Dronacharya.

Birth of Dhrishtadyumna
To annexation of Drupada by Arjuna as per the instruction of Dronacharya, the later took away almost half portion of Drupada"s kingdom. Drupada became very angry at this fact. He desired to kill Drona. He had sons and a daughter known as Shikandi. However, none of the child had the capability to kill Dronacharya. A yajna was arranged for creating a son who can kill Dronacharya. The yajna started as per the guidance of maharishis Upayaja and Yaja. A son emerged from the fire very soon as a young man. He was named Dhristadyumna. Along with him, another beautiful lady emerged who was named Draupadi.

Kurukshetra War
The battle of Kurukshetra is one important chapter in the epic Mahabharata. The Panchalas decided to fight from the side of Pandavas because Draupadi was married to Pandavas. They had brought an Akshauhini for the Pandavas who were led by Dhristadhyumna. In the war of Mahabharata, every son of Drupada died. Dronocharya killed Drupada on the fifteenth day of war. After that, the Pandavas reached a decision that the time has come for Dhristadyumna to fulfill the purpose of his life. They reach to a point of decision where Dronacharya can only be killed using trickery. The fact he cares a lot about his son Ashwastamma was known to them. Bhima had killed an elephant named Ashwastamma during the war. Yudhistira came to Dronacharya and declared that Ashwastamma is dead. Dronacharya went into a shock. He sat on his chariot and started to meditate. It was the time when Dhristadyumna went up to him and chopped off his head. However, Dronacharya"s soul had left his body already before that.

War with the Paundraka Vasudeva and Kasis
Paundraka Vasudeva decided that he would attack Krishna. He rallied towards the side of king of Agna and King of Kiratas. The king of Kasi, Kasiraja and Sudhanva, his son joined their hands to help Paundraka Vasudeva. The army of Panchala with their lead, Dhrishtadyumna became allies and helped Krishna. Krishna, Pradyumna and Dhrishtadyumna defeated the enemies in the following war. The kasi army got destroyed by the rage of Dhrishtadyumna. The Paundraka Vasudeva killed the kasi raja and fled from there. Sudakshina and Sudhanva, sons of Paundraka Vasudeva arranged for an Agni Kritya to do their bidding. Meanwhile, Krishna had sent Sudarshana Chakra at the Agni Kritya. The chakra destroyed the Agni Kritya and city of the Kashipura. Pradyumna and Dhristadyumna were then killed by the army and Sudakshina himself.

Marriage of Dhristadyumna
Sudhanva, the prince of Kashi once attacked a princess, who was heading for tirtha. Somehow, the princess had managed to escape and ran towards the tirtha. She saw Dhristadyumna was offering his prayers there. She ran to him and told him that the Kashi prince is chasing her against her will. Dhrishtadyumna picked his Agneya bow and defeated Sudhanva single handedly. Later to that, Dhrishtadyumna married the princess. They have sons named Kshatranjaya, Manada, Kshatradharman and Satyadhriti.