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How many people survived the great war in the Mahabharata? Obviously, the Pandavas, Krishna, Ashwaththama, Dhritarashtra, Gandhari and Draupadi come to mind. Are these the only ones?

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We shouldn't count Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Draupadi, Gandhari because they didn't participate in the war. They are not survivors of the war as they didn't fight the war.

On the Kaurava side:

On the Pāṇḍava side:

  • Five Pāṇḍavas

  • Krishna - We should count him because he is the charioteer of Arjuna and participated in the war.

  • Sātyaki

  • Yuyutsu

Aśvatthāma and Kṛpācārya are considered immortals.

So it sums up to 11 people who survived the Kurukshetra war. As said above, Gandhari, Draupadi shouldn't be counted as they didn't take part in the war. Dhṛtarāṣṭra was only listening the narration of the war from Sanjaya.

Source: Different chapters of sauptika parva.

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    I believe most of the Yadavas did not die in the war as they were cursed to kill each other. The few instances of yadavas dying in the war where due to yadavas on the other side.
    – user1952500
    May 15, 2017 at 7:03
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    @user1952500 The army of Yadavas(1 akshauhini) went with the Kauravas. But the prominent warriors (like the rank of Maharadhi etc.,)were given choice whether or not to take part in the war. Satyaki chose Pandava side. But kritavarma chose Kauravas. Rest of them remained neutral like Balarama. They didn't take part in the war. All the yadavas died in the mass killing happened later. Kritavarma, satyaki also died at that time. But they survived the kurukshetra.
    – Sarvabhouma
    May 15, 2017 at 7:25
  • 1 akshauhini soldiers were war prisoners, they were supposed to be killed, before killing they were used in one side of the war
    – Neel Basu
    May 15, 2017 at 11:02
  • @NeelBasu Oh! Where did you read that? AFAIK, it was yadava's own army not prisoners. All the kshatriyas are meant to be killed.It is one of the purposes of Krishna avatar? So, Krishna even let his own army to die.
    – Sarvabhouma
    May 15, 2017 at 11:05
  • @SreeCharan Killing Kshatriyas afaik is one of the purposes of ParashuRamar Avatar.
    – DirghaChintayanti
    May 15, 2017 at 14:19

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