Kauravas
Shakuni
Shakuni was the prince of Gandhara Kingdom in present-day Gandhara, later to become the King after his father’s death and one of the main villains in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was the brother of Gandhari and hence Duryodhana’s maternal uncle. Portrayed as an extremely intelligent but devious man, Shakuni is often credited as the mastermind behind theMahabharata war. Shakuni had two sons named Uluka and Vrikaasur (Bhasmasura).
It is said that in a military campaign by either Bhishma, Pandu, or Shantanu, Gandhara came under attack from Hastinapur. Hastinapur conquered Gandhar, killed the king Achala Suvala, and imprisoned all the male members of his line, saying that line was full of adharma. This included Shakuni and his 100 brothers (in some accounts, “brothers” is literal, in others it represents other family members in what was common usage at the time). Since all of them were sparsely fed (with one grain of rice each per day) in the prison, the family decided that at least one of them could survive and gave all the rice to Shakuni, the most cunning of them all, so that he could live on to take revenge. Eventually, King Subala, bends the knee to make a permanent mark of the injustice. Considered a man of dharma, his family is allowed to live.
Shakuni was unhappy with his sister Gandhari’s marriage to Kaurava prince Dhritarashtra. He was especially angry with Bhishma for bringing this proposal as he found it insulting and demeaning, not only because Dhritarashtra was blind, but also because the Kurus had destroyed his line years before. He swore to avenge this insult by slowly destroying Bhishma’s clan. He achieved this by poisoning the mind of his volatile nephew Duryodhana into instigating the war with the Pandavas, which destroyed the Kuru line. Thus, he is seen by many as one of the key persons that caused the Kurukshetra War.
Some popular versions of this story focus on Shakuni’s anger over Hastinapur. But that version is not present in the original Mahabharata and is found mostly in modern versions of the epic. Likewise, some versions of the story describe Shakuni using the bones of his dead parents to create dice that will never lose him a game, as Shakuni’s father’s soul enters the dice to make it roll to whatever number Shakuni wanted.
Shakuni is perhaps best known for masterminding the infamous Game of Dice between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. A master of sorcery, Shakuni had his blessed dice which would always follow his will. Unaware of this fact, the Pandavas were defeated in the gambling match. Shakuni encourages Duryodhana, Dushasana, Karna, and the others when they taunt and humiliate the Pandavas.
He mainly worked by inciting hatred between the Kauravas and Pandavas; his plans culminated in the biggest wars in Indian history. Although he was very often not successful, he never lost his faith in his ability to destroy the lineage of Kuru. The story mentions that Shakuni, by staying at Hastinapur, is neglecting his duties as king in Ghandar; Shakuni explains to Uluka that his desire for revenge overruns his concern for Gandhar’s people.
Duryodhana
Duryodhana was the eldest of all the kauravas. He was the first son who germinated from the one hundred pots that Gandhari kept filled with ghee.
Maharaj Dhritarashtra was blind from birth and had a vast expanse of kingdom. Since, he was the eldest of the two brothers named Pandu and he himself, he ascended the throne. Due to his inabilities, he was unable to rule the kingdom properly.
At the time of marriage, he got a very devoted wife, the epitome of chastity and surrender to husband, Gandhari. He was blessed with 100 sons. Out of them, the first one was Duryodhana.
Gandhari was pregnant for more than a year and when she saw that Kunti had 3 sons, she kicked her womb and a lump of flesh came out. Meanwhile Srila Vyasadeva appeared on the scene and Gandhari showed her anger. In return, Vyasadeva asked her to sprinkle cool water on the mass and it divided into 100 fragments. He asked her to arrange for 100 pots full of clarified butter and then, he put each piece of lump in each pot.
From the first pot, Duryodhana came out and as soon as he came out, his crying resembled braying of an ass.Duryodhana is said to be the incarnation of Kali (demon), the overlord of Kali Yuga and the embodiment of evil source. The day he was born, he unleashed a donkey-like scream which the donkeys outside the home replied to. Despite the advice from Vidura to discard the evil baby,Dhritarashtra kept the child because demons had received a boon from Shiva that the future king would be invincible.
Although loved by his family, Duryodhana and most of his brothers are not seen on the same level as the Pandavas in their adherence to virtue, duty, and respect for elders. Duryodhana is mentored by his maternal uncle Shakuni, who masterminded most of Duryodhana’s plots to humiliate and kill the Pandavas.
He proved himself to be a nice disciple of Kripacharya and Dronacharya. He was a master in using the Mace. Instigated by his maternal uncle Mama Shakuni, he tried to cheat Pandavas and disrobe Panchali in front of others. He even asked her to sit on his thighs to which Bhima took an oath that he would crush his thighs.
When all of her sons had nearly died, Gandhari called Duryodhana and asked him to present himself before her completely naked so that he would be invincible by her powers. On Krishna’s advice, he covered his genitals and hence, they were unexposed to her powers.
While battling with Bhima, he was almost unconquerable, but Sri Krishna told Bhima to give a sharp blow on his thighs to which he succumbed.
Gandhari
In the pretext of mahabharata, Gandhari is the wife of maharaj Dhritarastha, the blind king. She is regarded as the epitome of chastity and devotion to her husband. Even as a maiden, she was very humble and devoted in her services to the saints and Lord Shiva, the devotee vaishnava of Lord Sri Krishna, the center of Mahabharata.
Lord Shiva appeared before her. Gandhari asked for herself only the boon that she may be blessed with a long and fulfilling married life, and that she may never deviate from the path of womanly virtue. Impressed with a maiden of such strong mettle, Lord Shiva granted her the boon she wanted, saying that she would be renowned on earth and in heaven as a pati-vrata, a woman devoted to her husband, that she would rank with Arundhati and Anusuya for her merit as an ideal wife, and further that she would be the mother of a hundred sons.
She was a pativrata nari and was highly devoted to her husband. At the time of her marriage. when she came to know that her husband was blind, she also took a vow to blindfold her for the whole life. As a result of such austerity, she acquired powers to bless her son Duryodhana with powers to become invincible.
Veda Vyasa is impressed with Gandhari’s devotion to her husband and gives her a boon to have a hundred sons. She gets pregnant but carries the child for an unusually long period. Later she hears that Kunti (queen of king Pandu, younger brother of Dhritharashtra) has given birth to Pandavas, and in frustration she pounds on her stomach. A small grey mass comes out of her. Veda Vyasa divides this into 101 parts and keeps them in cool earthen pots filled with clarified butter i.e. ghee to incubate. First Duryodhana comes out, followed by 99 brothers and one sister, Dushala.
All of Gandhari’s sons were killed in the war against their cousins, the Pandavas, at Kurukshetra, specifically at the hands of Bhima. Upon hearing the news, it is said that through a small gap in the blindfold, her gaze fell on Yudhishthira’s toe. His clean toe was charred black due to her wrath and power. When she heard the news of the death of all the sons of Pandavas(Upapandavas), she embraced the Pandavas and consoled them for their losses. Later her wrath turned to Krishna for allowing all this destruction to happen. She cursed that he, his city and all his subjects would be destroyed. Lord Krishna knew and wanted this to happen and said “tathastu”(so be it). She tried to take back that curse, but Krishna says that curse was irrevocable and anyhow Yadavas’ destruction was fated. Her curse took its course 36 years after the great war when Yadu dynasty perished after a fight broke out between yadavas at a festival. Lord Krishna ascended to his heavenly abode after living for 126 years. The golden city of Dwarka drowned exactly seven days after his disappearance.
Arjuna was in win-win situation: 10 facts that made Arjuna a perfect character!
A story becomes a great epic only because of its characters and their peculiar traits, which leaves the footprints on the sand of time and stays eternal forever. The portrayal of niche thinking, complexities and determination of attaining fame; better explained through the phrase ‘Everything is fair in love and war’ and yea it was definitely ‘The War’. The great epic, Mahabharata marks the beginning of egocentric, shrewd and all other negative sides of human nature with a tint of humanity.
Though every character justified with their specific roles, yet the hero is only one and probably ‘Arjuna’, the middle one out of the five Pandavas warriors out shined as a true hero. I am not saying that ‘Arjuna’ was a perfect character but in spite of his own complexities or as per the plot of the story, he was usually in a win-win situation.
#A grand celebration was performed at Arjuna’s birth and Lord Indra was gratified by the success stories of his son and called himself a proud father of Arjuna.
#Arjuna was focussed and perspicuous about his goals and he earned his success by working hard. He practised to shoot an arrow in darkness as well as by hearing the minute audible sounds.
#Arjuna remained in the priority wish list of Bheeshma and Dronacharya forever. Both the talented warriors supported him and even opted for inappropriate actions to prove his excellence.
#Karan being an equally capable warrior as Arjuna, could never flourish because of his karmas and favouring the wrong doers i.e. Duryodhan; which indirectly lead Arjuna to excel.
#Arjuna’s feelings for his beloved Draupadi were true but sharing his wife with the other four was not his idea. Yet he abided his mother and accepted the truth.
#In spite of any complex situation, Arjuna bestowed full faith upon his soul mate- Lord Krishna and received his hearty blessings as a devotee and follower.
#At one point, Arjuna had to raise his sword to kill his dear brother Yudhistra, as per his oath. Yet Arjuna could not accept his own deed of disrespecting his brother and paid for his sin.
#The moral code and empathetic attitude of Arjuna, made him receive laurels and blessings from all his relations.
#Till the end, Arjuna had a soft corner towards Karan and respected him as a brave competitor. Only to abide by his master’s wish, Arjuna had to shoot an arrow on Karan.
#In spite of an opportunity of choosing the great army of 10,000 warriors, Arjuna remained firm with his decision of choosing Lord Krishna. The success of Arjuna was sure shot, since he preferred to sit near his master’s feet rather that near his head like Duryodhan.
The enlightening journey of Arjuna in holy Bhagvad Gita is an epitome of his successful and perfect character and proves my above statement judiciously.
Contributed By: Meenakshi Ahuja
Unexplored journey of the mighty and benevolent fighter: Bhishma Pitamah
The more we know about it, the greater it raises the curiosity within us to explore and analyse it further. The greatest epic in history, Mahabharat is an epitome of longest text that highlights the controversial politics, sibling rivalry, hegemony over women and power along with the increase in ‘adhrama’. Despite all this, the relevance of the epic, has still not lost its essence and is an inspiration for all. Apart from the widely known stories, till date the scholars discover the hidden secrets and unravel new mysteries as they comprehend the epic.
• ‘Ganga putra’ Devavratha (Bhishma) was the eighth son who had been known for his principles and vows towards his kingdom. His vow of bachelorhood became the reason for the agony of Amba, who wanted to seek revenge for the denial of her proposal. Lord Subramanya appeared with the fresh garland of lotuses and it was said that whosoever would accept that garland would turn into an enemy of Bhishma. Later, when Amba came in her next life as the daughter of King Drupad, she wore this garland playfully as a child, but later she became the reason of his death in the form of Shikhandi.
• Prabhasa (Vasu) was cursed by Vashishta to be born in the human world, as during one of the journeys Prabhasa’s wife insisted him to bring Vashishta’s cow. This made Vashishta angry and he cursed Prabhasa, so he was born as the eighth son of Ganga and Shantanu named, Devavratha.
Strengths and weakness of Bhishma:
Bhishma, known for his valour and principles driven life, sacrificed his entire journey for the benefit of Hastinapur. Bhishma refers to someone ‘who takes a difficult vow’ and his duty as a son and further as a brother, father and grand-father are quite known to us. In spite of his courage and dutiful attitude, these qualities became his weakness too, as many times even when he knew that he was favouring the wrong side, still he carried on to do so because of his vows and value system.
• He took away the three daughters of the King of Kashi for his younger brother Vichitravirya, but when he came to know about Amba’s love for someone else, he dropped her back to his father’s palace, which was indeed an act of disrespect. Her lover refused to marry her due to Bhishma. Bhishma couldn’t undo the promise, made to Satyavati’s father, of remaining a bachelor throughout his life so he denied the marriage proposal too.
• His subservience towards the throne of Hastinapur made him stay numb and helpless during Draupadi’s humiliated disrobing in the court before King Dhritarashtra and everybody else. Bhishma is renowned for his mighty strengths but when it was actually needed to react and use his skills, he chose to be a puppet in the hands of external forces and overlooked the respect of women.
• At times he unintentionally became a part of the evil strategies of Kauravas, as after the 12 years of exile when Pandavas were in their hiding period, he said that “there must be absolute law and order, as well as peace and prosperity prevailing wherever Yudhisthira stayed”. This gave an immediate clue to the evil Duryodhan and his skepticism made him reach King Virat’s kingdom. By keeping the gun on Bhishma’s shoulder, the Kauravas once again invoked King Virat to fight by snatching away his herd of cattle.
• Bhishma was aware of the wrong intentions of Guru Drona against King Drupad, still he welcomed him to his kingdom and later on we saw that Guru used his students for his own 
selfish motives. This rivalry resulted in the animosity between Hastinapur and Panchal, which lasted till the end.
Thus being an idol son and faithful towards his kingdom, he failed to follow the right path due to his ignorance and old values. Though he was following his words and expected the welfare of his kingdom but ultimately due to his reluctance of not adapting to the change, he could not alter the evil thinking of Kauravas. Being a great warrior, he tried to prevent the war by reconciliation between Pandavas and Kauravas, yet as it was already written, the war was essential for the end of ‘adharma’ and rise of the peaceful and righteous world once again.
Bhishma had to suffer at his death bed as earlier in his 73rd life birth, he injured insects by piercing needles into their body. So at the end Krishna blessed him and freed him from the Karmic cycle of life and death and the curse of Vashishta.
Contributed By: Meenakshi Ahuja
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