"Ensure that the Kuru kingdom is destroyed. Carve my finger bones into dice and they will always follow your bet". Thus spoke King Subala to his youngest son Shakuni inside the prison cellar.
It is said that as per Gandhari's astrology her first husband was sure to die soon. As per the customs then, she was married to a goat which was killed immediately. This was not known to Dhritharashtra during his marriage to Gandhari. Years later, Dhristharashtra learns about this, is insulted by marrying a widow and locks the entire family of Gandhari in the prison cellar (so that this news does not spread). Everyday the family is fed only a handful of rice which will not be enough for everyone and yet, the King cannot be blamed of starving his in-laws. Subala was wary of this. Subala took a decision that Shakuni who was the most intelligent and the youngest will survive and everyone was to give their share of the food. The family members died one after the other till Subala and Shakuni is left. Subala somehow was able to gain pity from Dhritharashtra for Shakuni before passing away. Also, before he could die he had broken Shakuni's one leg with a iron bar so that Shakuni always remembers how the family died. It is then he gave the instructions mentioned above. Shakuni then stays in Hastinapur in her sister's palace till his death.
This illustrates the story behind someones seemingly evil actions. Without knowing the background, we can't state that Shakuni was pure evil. Maybe, he was trying to met out justice to the treatment his family had received. Thus, he poisoned Duryodhan's mind against the Pandavs and planned treacherous methods. Shakuni was instrumental in ensuring the great war breaks out and eventually it destroys the kuru clan. But yet, he was not an out and out evil person. He was just another human trying to avenge the wrongs done to his family.
Shakuni convinces Duryodhan to mix poison with porridge and offer the same to Bhima. Shakuni reasons that Bhima is the strong man and he needs to be eliminated so that Duryodhan's road to the crown cannot be challenged by any of the Pandavas. Duryodhan does as instructed and throws Bhima to the river. Here, he is escaped by the Naga community. This community is related to Kunti (which I am not explaining here) and knowing that this is Bhima they cure him completely. Also, their medicinal herbs increases his strength by multiple times. This shows that then forest people had advanced science of Ayurveda but was kept a secret and not disclosed outside the group. Maybe, that is why those sciences have now died out.
When Bhima returns, he finds that the people had thought that he had already died. He also understands that this was Duryodhan's plan. But then as per Yuddhistira's advise (or Kunti's advise as in some retellings), the truth about Bhimas poisoning is never revealed to the elders.
It is said that as per Gandhari's astrology her first husband was sure to die soon. As per the customs then, she was married to a goat which was killed immediately. This was not known to Dhritharashtra during his marriage to Gandhari. Years later, Dhristharashtra learns about this, is insulted by marrying a widow and locks the entire family of Gandhari in the prison cellar (so that this news does not spread). Everyday the family is fed only a handful of rice which will not be enough for everyone and yet, the King cannot be blamed of starving his in-laws. Subala was wary of this. Subala took a decision that Shakuni who was the most intelligent and the youngest will survive and everyone was to give their share of the food. The family members died one after the other till Subala and Shakuni is left. Subala somehow was able to gain pity from Dhritharashtra for Shakuni before passing away. Also, before he could die he had broken Shakuni's one leg with a iron bar so that Shakuni always remembers how the family died. It is then he gave the instructions mentioned above. Shakuni then stays in Hastinapur in her sister's palace till his death.
This illustrates the story behind someones seemingly evil actions. Without knowing the background, we can't state that Shakuni was pure evil. Maybe, he was trying to met out justice to the treatment his family had received. Thus, he poisoned Duryodhan's mind against the Pandavs and planned treacherous methods. Shakuni was instrumental in ensuring the great war breaks out and eventually it destroys the kuru clan. But yet, he was not an out and out evil person. He was just another human trying to avenge the wrongs done to his family.
Shakuni convinces Duryodhan to mix poison with porridge and offer the same to Bhima. Shakuni reasons that Bhima is the strong man and he needs to be eliminated so that Duryodhan's road to the crown cannot be challenged by any of the Pandavas. Duryodhan does as instructed and throws Bhima to the river. Here, he is escaped by the Naga community. This community is related to Kunti (which I am not explaining here) and knowing that this is Bhima they cure him completely. Also, their medicinal herbs increases his strength by multiple times. This shows that then forest people had advanced science of Ayurveda but was kept a secret and not disclosed outside the group. Maybe, that is why those sciences have now died out.
When Bhima returns, he finds that the people had thought that he had already died. He also understands that this was Duryodhan's plan. But then as per Yuddhistira's advise (or Kunti's advise as in some retellings), the truth about Bhimas poisoning is never revealed to the elders.
I am loving it. You are capturing the gist very well.
ReplyDeleteKeep writing. Mahabharata shows how one can be a participating witness or a non-participating witness. Krishna participated in the great war while Balarama did not. But the War happened anyways.
At the end of it all, nothing much changes. But everything changes too. It's kind of the meeting/melting pot where neti-neti meets iti-iti...
really valuable blog.
ReplyDelete