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Meelo Evaru Koteeswarudu (Who among you is a Millionaire?), MEK for short, is the Telugu version of the more popular Hindi KBC show. In a recent air of the show (Season 4), the final and the ₹ 10 million (1 cr.) question was based on the Mahābhārata. The guy unfortunately guessed the answer wrong and took home just ₹ 300,000.

The question was:

According to the Mahabharata, who among these is not one of the 100 sons of Gandhari?

A. Sulochan    B. Nanda    C. Ugrasena    D. Srutasru

enter image description here

The correct answer according to the show is:

!! spoiler alert !!

    D. Srutasru


I tried to look up the above names in answers to Name all the hundred Kauravas in Mahabharata but the names are spelled differently in different answers.

So did MEK base its question on Vyasa Mahābhārata or Andhra Mahābhārata or Wikipedia?

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  • This question isn't really about Hinduism, because the issue is clear cut as far as Hinduism goes: three of the names occur in the list of 100 Kauravas given in the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata, and one name does not. So the question is just why they spelled it the way did. So I think it should be closed as off-topic.
    – Keshav Srinivasan ♦
    Feb 15, 2017 at 4:43
  • And I think the reason they spelled it as Sulochan as opposed to Sulocahna is just that someone converted the name from Sanskrit to Hindi.
    – Keshav Srinivasan ♦
    Feb 15, 2017 at 4:44
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    And to be clear, the fact that this question references a game show question is not the reason I think it should be closed. It's fine to use something you saw in a game show, TV serial, movie, etc. as a jumping-point to ask a question about Hinduism.
    – Keshav Srinivasan ♦
    Feb 15, 2017 at 4:46
  • @KeshavSrinivasan My main question was surrounding the name Nanda vs. Nandaka. Both are separate names. The TV show used Nanda/Nandu and not Nandaka. That's how it's related to Hinduism. Where does the name Nanda come from?
    – Say No To Censorship
    Feb 15, 2017 at 5:10

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Names of Kauravas are almost same in Vyasa Mahabharata and Andhra Mahabharata.

Chapter 108 of Adiparva of Vyasa Mahabharata gives names as

duryodhano yuyutsuś ca rājan duḥśāsanas tathā duḥsaho duḥśalaś caiva jalasaṃdhaḥ samaḥ sahaḥ vindānuvindau durdharṣaḥ subāhur duṣpradharṣaṇaḥ durmarṣaṇo durmukhaś ca duṣkarṇaḥ karṇa eva ca viviṃśatir vikarṇaś ca jalasaṃdhaḥ sulocanaḥ citropacitrau citrākṣaś cāru citraḥ śarāsanaḥ durmado duṣpragāhaś ca vivitsur vikaṭaḥ samaḥ ūrṇu nābhaḥ sunābhaś ca tathā nandopanandakau senāpatiḥ suṣeṇaś ca kuṇḍodara mahodarau citrabāṇaś citravarmā suvarmā durvimocanaḥ ayo bāhur mahābāhuś citrāṅgaś citrakuṇḍalaḥ bhīmavego bhīmabalo balākī balavardhanaḥ ugrāyudho bhīmakarmā kanakāyur dṛḍhāyudhaḥ dṛḍhavarmā dṛḍhakṣatraḥ somakīrtir anūdaraḥ dṛḍhasaṃdho jarāsaṃdhaḥ satyasaṃdhaḥ sadaḥ suvāk ugraśravā aśvasenaḥ senānīr duṣparājayaḥ aparājitaḥ paṇḍitako viśālākṣo durāvaraḥ dṛḍhahastaḥ suhastaś ca vātavegasuvarcasau ādityaketur bahv āśīnāgadantogra yāyinau kavacī niṣaṅgī pāśī ca daṇḍadhāro dhanur grahaḥ ugro bhīma ratho vīro vīrabāhur alolupaḥ abhayo raudrakarmā ca tathā dṛḍharathas trayaḥ anādhṛṣyaḥ kuṇḍa bhedī virāvī dīrghalocanaḥ dīrghabāhur mahābāhur vyūḍhorur kanakadhvajaḥ kuṇḍāśī virajāś caiva duḥśalā ca śatādhikā etad ekaśataṃ rājan kanyā caikā prakīrtitā

But translation of Asvasena is made as Ugrasena by Ganguli as Ugrasena was another name for Asvasena.

...Jarasandha, Satyasandha, Sada, Suvak, Ugrasravas, Ugrasena, Senani, Dushparajaya, ...

Bori Critical Edition also mentions "Ashvasena".

dRRiDhasandho jarAsandhaH satyasandhaH sadaHsuvAk |
ugrashravA ashvasenaH senAnIrduShparAjayaH || 9||

Bibek Debroy translates as "Ashvasena"

..Dridhasandha, Jarasandha, Satyasandha, Sadahsuvak, Ugrashrava, Ashvasena, Senani, Dushparajaya, Aparajita, Panditaka,..

Panchamaasvasam, Adiparvam of Andhra Mahabharatam (Pg-518) mentions exact names as mentioned in question.

enter image description here

Sulochana is same as Sulochan (maybe Hindi sound). Nandopanandaka = Nanda + Upanandaka which is guNa sandhi (गुण सन्धि). Names of those brothers were Nanda and Upananda. Suffix "Ka" क is used in the sense of diminution or similarity or endearment.

Apte dictionary says

क: A Taddhita affix added to nouns and adjectives, mostly to the former, in the sense of diminution, deterioration, similarity, endearment, or sometimes to express the original meaning of the word it- self; e. g. वृक्षकः a small tree; बालकः a chap; पुत्रकः dear boy; अश्वकः a bad horse, or like a horse, or a horse itself (स्वार्थे कन्).

So, we can consider they based this question on Andhra Mahabharata.

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  • I think Ganguli tr. link is pointing somewhere else. How do you correctly split "nandopanandakau" in Sanskrit? I didn't notice Asvasena => Ugrasena, good find.
    – Say No To Censorship
    Feb 15, 2017 at 14:42
  • "we can consider they based this question on Andhra Mahabharata" – yes, seems like it. I doubt if the show producers did as much research as you did :P Though Chiru later clarifies Srutasru is Jaraasandha's son not Gandhari's and that is why it's the correct answer. Also, if you notice, Bhima, Karna etc. are also names of some Kauravas. Now if they included one of those in the answer options, it can get really confusing!
    – Say No To Censorship
    Feb 15, 2017 at 17:11

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