Mahabharata characters 65 Duryodhana 4 Incompetence and fault finding personified

This talk is a part of the “Fascinating Mahabharata Characters” series. To know more about this course, please visit: bhakticourses.com

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna.
Hare Krishna. Welcome back to the Mahabharata Character Series. We are discussing about Duryodhana.
We just finished in our last session, discussion about Duryodhana’s obstinacy and how that led him to reject Krishna’s peace proposal and reject even the demonstration which Krishna gave of his Vishwaroopa as just some magic, some mystic illusion and still continue with his obstinate plan for war. Until the next day, Krishna departed. Now, war became inevitable.
And as the plans were made, it was decided the war will be fought at Kurukshetra. And then the two armies assembled. And on the eve of the war, Duryodhana called Uluka, the son of Shakuni, whom he told, you act as my messenger.
Duryodhana was so arrogant, he was sure that because his forces were much greater than that of the Pandavas and because he had warriors like Bhishma, Drona, Karna with him, he was sure of his victory. So he decided to incite the Pandavas further. And that’s why he told Uluka to go and give a message.
So he told Uluka, go and give this message to the Pandavas. And he spoke for one full hour, provoking all the Pandavas. He said, O Yudhishthir, you claim to be a virtuous king, but now today you stand exposed for the avaricious, greedy person that you are.
You know, it is because of your greed for wealth that this war is taking place and thousands of kings and soldiers are going to risk and lose their lives. What kind of virtuous person are you that for the sake of your personal gain, you are sending so many people to death? Indeed, your so-called virtue is just a show, like that of a cat who had pretended to become a renunciate. Listen as I tell the story as it is told by Narada Rishi to my father.
So once there was a cat, it had become old and it could not catch mice. So it pretended to have taken to the renounced order. And then it would just sit in mystic posture on the banks of a river, just apparently meditating and seeing her like this, looking like a saintly person, suddenly the mice started getting attracted.
And when they came near her, initially they were apprehensive, but when they saw that she was apparently not non-threatening, they came near her and then she said that, you know, oh, I have renounced the world now. I am focussing on the absolute truth. And oh, really, they’re very impressed.
And they said, oh, we should offer some respects to you then. Please bless us. So surely I’ll bless you.
But I have become very old now. So please, you should come. I’ll offer my prayers and blessings to you and you help me go to the daily bath as a part of my secret vows.
So the mice agreed. And every day when they would go towards the river, the cat would secretly eat several of the mice and the others would not even notice. But after some time, they started noticing that the numbers are decreasing.
And they started suspecting what is happening. And then a wise old mouse pointed out that, look at the excreta of this cat. If she is supposed to be vegetarian, then there should not be any hair in her excreta.
Therefore, she’s actually eating mice. And in this way, the cat was exposed. And you, O Yudhishtir, are just like that.
You pretend to be virtuous, but you are simply avaricious, greedy for wealth. And he said, I am a true Kshatriya hero. A hero is one who rules others.
And those who oppose that hero, he makes them suffer. He said, just see how I have caused suffering upon all of you. He said, it is I who made the proud Bhima wash the pots in a kitchen.
It is I who made Arjuna wear bangles and braid his hair like a woman, like a eunuch. It is I who made Yudhishtir, who was supposed to be the world emperor, into the servant of a king of a small kingdom, Virat. These are the ways in which a great Kshatriya hero crushes his enemies.
And in this way, I have crushed you time and time again. And from tomorrow, when the war starts, I will crush you again. If you have any courage, come and fight with me tomorrow and meet your death.
Otherwise, flee. And that is the only way you can save your life. As Duryodhana paced around speaking his message, Karna and Dushasan were hearing and they were goading him on.
And he spoke and spoke, pouring out the venom from his heart, insulting the Pandavas and praising himself and his allies. And he spoke for almost an hour. He had the capacity to memorise attentively and speak and repeat accurately.
So immediately he left. And now he went in his chariot, but he knew that the message would outrage the Pandavas. So he was apprehensive.
And he said to Yudhishthir, when Yudhishthir welcomed him into his camp, when he was assured into Yudhishthir’s presence, he said, O king, I have come simply as a messenger and I will only repeat the message that Duryodhana has given. So please do not be angry with me. Yudhishthir smiled compassionately and said, without any apprehension, you can repeat the message.
And then Uluka bowed down and then he repeated the whole message. By the time he had finished, the whole Pandava camp was in uproar. The Kshatriyas jumped up and they started beating their arms.
Someone was taking out their swords. And Bhima’s eyes were red with rage and he looked at Krishna. Krishna just laughed.
And he looked at Uluka and said, O Uluka, go and tell your master that as your words are saying, so it will be. Tomorrow in the war, all his threats and insults will be answered by the Pandava’s weapons. Bhima could no longer control his rage.
And he said, tell that wicked Duryodhana that it is only because of our reverence for our eldest brother that we have not pounded him and his allies to death. Look at my arms. Who can after angering me stay alive? No one in the three worlds can.
I have taken a vow to break your thigh, to break the chest of Dushyasan, to kill all the hundred Kauravas. Do not think that these are empty vows. You think that we are inactive and powerless and that we need to be incited by your words? You, a fool, will see tomorrow the consequences of inciting us.
When all of you will meet death in the war that follows. Bhima decides himself with rage, the difficulty he controlled himself. Sahadev got him and he spoke.
Tell that wicked one that it is he who is responsible for the war. It is his misdeeds. It is his evil scheming.
It is the insult that he cast at us that are going to come back and cause the death of him and his allies. It is his evil deed that is the root of the war. Why does he blame Yudhishthir when he himself is to be blamed for the war? Man, the whole camp was so angry.
Uluka was practically trembling. Arjuna calmed everyone down. And he says, O Kshatriyas, do not get angry at the foolish words of that fool.
And he says, I do not need to get angry with Uluka. He is simply an envoy. And then after the assembly calmed down, he turned to Uluka and he said, tell Duryodhana that tomorrow in the war, my Gandiva will be the answer to his message.
Only then Arjuna became silent. Yudhishthir spoke and he said, tell Duryodhana that a Kshatriya fights with his own strength. What is his strength? He says that he relies on the strengths of others and boasts about his own power.
He is a wicked person who will meet destruction because of his wickedness. Why does he boast when he has no power of his own? By this time, Krishna had also become incensed. Tell Duryodhana that he may think that because I am unarmed and because I am not going to be a combatant, I will be inconsequential.
He will be a fool to think like this because I will be there with Arjuna on his chariot and together we are unstoppable. Even if Arjuna, even if Duryodhana goes into the netherworlds, goes to the mountains, nowhere he will be able to escape. Arjuna’s chariot will follow him and so will Bhima and he will be destroyed.
Arjuna again was not satisfied with the curt reply that he had given earlier and he sprang up again and he spoke. Tell that wicked one that he should not think that because he has appointed Bhishma as his commander, I will not attack Bhishma. My grandfather is worshipable to me but because he has sided with Duryodhana now, I will not spare him.
In fact, I will make him my first target. I will not spare anyone and one by one all the warriors on his side will die and then he will also die. Bhima jumped up and said, know that I will drink the blood of Dushyasana.
I will break the thigh of Duryodhana. Indeed, I am the death of the whole Kaurava dynasty. And he was breathing heavily.
His eyes were red. A bit of smoke was coming from him and as he was departing, Yudhishthira spoke. Tell Duryodhana that it is he who is completely mistaken about my intentions.
He says, I would not want to harm even an ant or a bird. What to speak of my own relatives? That’s why I was ready to be satisfied with even just five villages. But it was he, the wicked Duryodhana, that he refused the proposal for peace of Krishna when Krishna personally came as a messenger, as an envoy for peace.
And because of his obstinacy in refusing that proposal, it is he who is the cause of this war and it is he who is the cause of the destruction of the Kuru dynasty. And as Uluka rushed out, seeing that, feeling that his life was at threat, seeing how angry the Kauravas, Pandavas were, Dhristadyumna’s voice rang out. He says, tell him that I was born for the death of Drona and I will surely kill Drona and his followers.
And Uluka jumped on his chariot and urged his charioter away and they left. The Pandavas were incensed. But when Duryodhana heard the news, he just laughed on hearing how angry they had become.
So Duryodhana was so arrogant, so arrogantly confident of his victory that he could not… the idea that he could be defeated did not even enter his mind. Although time and time his plans to humiliate, dispossess, dishonour the Pandavas had gone awry. And although he had sunk to more and more malicious deeds, but still, on no occasion did remorse enter into him.
On no occasion did he thought that I will be defeated. So sure that he was practically like stamping on a sleeping lion who was about to wake and now he would wake and become angered also. So then the next day the war began.
Now if you see, throughout the war, there is practically no occasion when Duryodhana acquits himself heroically. The only thing that Duryodhana does throughout the war is goad others for not being diligent enough in their fighting. So it is that Duryodhana time and time again rebukes Bhishma and Drona, although they are his elders, he rebukes them that you are not fighting wholeheartedly and Bhishma is so fed up.
Actually on the fourth day and as far as his own one-to-one combat is concerned, Duryodhana is humbled so many times. Twice on the fourth and the eighth days, he fights with Bhima and Bhima totally overpowers him, rules him, makes him unconscious and if his chariot had not taken him away, he could have been killed also. That happened on the fourth day, that happens on the eighth day and then not only that, even apart from that, there are other fights between Bhima and others.
Bhima fights with Duryodhana and others and Duryodhana fights with Ghatotkach and actually Ghatotkach also overpowers Bhima, Ghatotkach overpowers Duryodhana and knocks him unconscious and almost kills him and again Duryodhana is unconscious and Duryodhana flees from there and another time there is a fight between him and Satyaki. Satyaki and he had been close friends when they were in Drona’s group and even in that fight, Duryodhana is no way able to get the upper hand over Satyaki and Satyaki overpowers him and then there is a fight between him and several other warriors. For example, on the 13th day when Abhimanyu is going inside, penetrating, at that time Duryodhana fights with him also and Duryodhana gets severely wounded by the attack of Abhimanyu and you know on the 14th day when Arjuna was going in, Drona had given his own impenetrable armour and still despite having that, he could not check Arjuna.
So he is not, he doesn’t show his heroism even once. There’s no significant victory that Duryodhana achieves by his own strength in the war. Time and time and time again, he is defeated and humiliated.
After fourth day’s defeat, he is so shaken that he goes and asks Bhishma, how is it that despite having such a huge army and despite having such maharathas that our army has been defeated and at that time Bhishma speaks Krishna’s glories and Duryodhana hears it, he is a little sober because of the defeat but the attachment is so much that again his evil mentality comes up and he says, yes, I will fight and somehow I will win and then again he goads Bhishma on the eighth day and makes him take the promise of investing the five arrows with weapons to kill the five Pandavas. When Arjuna takes away that by Krishna’s plan, then again Duryodhana goads Bhishma and Bhishma takes a vow that either I will kill Arjuna or unless Krishna lifts weapons, today I will kill Arjuna and Krishna actually lifts weapons and on the next day, Duryodhana makes a full plan in Dushyasana and others he deploys for the protection of Bhishma but he’s not able to do that and then even in the death bed, Bhishma requests him. He says, now that I have fallen, let the hostilities end.
Actually, when Bhishma falls, Duryodhana still has affection and respect for Bhishma as a great warrior, as his grandfather and most importantly he thinks that because Bhishma is on my side, I will win and that Bhishma has fallen is devastating for him also and tears of grief come in his eyes. It is said that when a person is dying, one should try to fulfil his desire, last desire but Duryodhana is so obstinate, he just refuses to respond when Bhishma requests that let the hostilities end with my death. He says there is no use of fighting in the Pandavas, you cannot win but he is not ready to listen and then he tricks Duryodhana into giving him a promise to have Yudhishthira arrested so that he will gamble with Yudhishthira and send him to the forest once again but that doesn’t work and especially on the 13th day when Abhimanyu enters into the Chakravyuha, one of the warriors who challenges him is Lakshmana and they have a fierce fight but Lakshmana, Lakshmana is the son of Duryodhana and although he fights fiercely, he is no match in skill and speed to Abhimanyu and Abhimanyu slays him.
Now Duryodhana has estranged and groomed Lakshmana to be his heir and he is expecting that I will be the king for my life and after that my son will become the king and when he hears the news that Lakshmana has been killed, he is enraged and he himself goes and attacks Abhimanyu but again he is no match for Abhimanyu and eventually he along with the other Maharathas, they conspire to kill Abhimanyu very viciously. So we don’t see his heroism anywhere at all. Then on the 15th day when Drona falls, after that on 16th day Karna is made the commander and again Karna has taken a vow that I will kill Arjuna and every day Drona is, Duryodhana is goading with Karna, you know Karna why have you not killed Arjuna till now and on the 16th evening when the fight has gone on and Karna has exhibited his prowess but still he has not been able to defeat Arjuna.
So he asks and then Karna makes a request. He says although I am equal to or even better than Arjuna but still Arjuna is better than me in one regard. He has Krishna as his charioteer and such a charioteer gives him a big advantage.
He says I also need an equally skilled charioteer and I think the only person who can act that expertly, who is that expert charioteer is Shalya. So when Duryodhana hears this, he looks at Karna sharply. Now Shalya is one of the foremost maharathas surviving in the Kuru force.
To lose him, because if a warrior is fighting, is acting a charioteer then that warrior will not be fighting. So to lose him as a warrior would be a great loss for the Kaurava forces and moreover that warrior, that king would not take such a request kindly also because for a Kshatriya to be asked to become a charioteer for another Kshatriya itself is sometimes considered demeaning but for a Kshatriya to be asked to become a charioteer for a Suta and Karna was considered a Suta putra, so that would be unacceptable. But Karna remained grave and he said if I have this because Shalya is a charioteer, then surely I will be able to win the war.
So then Duryodhana goes to Shalya and he requests him. He says that you have fought gallantly on my side and I am very grateful to you. I have one request for you.
He says please accept the post of the charioteer for Karna so that he can fight and defeat Arjuna. Shalya is incensed when he hears this. He springs from his seat and he says how dare you insult me like this.
He says I am a king of a illustrious dynasty. How can you demean me by asking me to become the charioteer for Suta. Indeed I feel that after being insulted thus I should just leave this battlefield and go away.
But I will not abandon my duty in a rush of emotions. Why oh king are you insulting me like this? Do you suspect my loyalty to you? You give me, I am in every way equal to Karna. You allocate any section of the Pandava army to and I will annihilate that army.
So Duryodhana realised that Karna has become, that Shalya has become enraged and immediately goes into damage control mode. And in damage control mode he says oh Shalya please, oh king please do not get angry. I had no intention of disrespecting you.
He said just remember the greatest among all the warriors on the both the sides is actually Keshava and he is the greatest warrior and still he has become the charioteer of Arjuna. So rather than demeaning you I was actually comparing you to Keshava and just as Keshava is the greatest warrior but he has agreed to become a charioteer. Similarly you are the greatest warrior but I am requesting you to become a charioteer.
Now Shalya he was in his own way virtuous but he had often a misdirected sense of honour and he was very susceptible to flattery. So when he heard Krishna being praised and when he heard himself being compared to Keshava he became pacified and then Krishna he spoke again. Now Duryodhana when he wanted his ends to be achieved he could be very shrewd and cunning and he said you know don’t worry in a long time ago there was a fight between the Devas and the Dhanavas and at that time Shiva had become the warrior of Taas and he needed a charioteer.
So Brahma became the charioteer of Shiva. So Duryodhana told Shalya actually when the need is there for a great warrior to become the charioteer of another great warrior is no dishonour and then he alternately praised Shalya and then he praised Karna also. Just look at this warrior, just look at his body, just look at his skill at warfare.
How can he not be a Kshatriya? Surely he must be born from the gods and this way he persuaded Shalya to fight for Karna and that day somehow Karna and Shalya started having a fight and then again Duryodhana intervened and he told them I need both of you. Oh Shalya, please do not goad Karna. Oh Karna, please forgive Shalya.
Please and then he pacified them and then the fight started and eventually so Duryodhana tried to get Arjuna to be engaged with other warriors so that he would become tired but at the same time he also wanted that Arjuna’s thread be finished once and all. So he was eager that Karna eventually fight with Arjuna and then that long awaited confrontation took place and when that confrontation took place at the end of which we will discuss the details of that conversation which we will talk about Karna but then when finally Karna’s head was cut off. It was like Duryodhana’s heart was cut off.
Duryodhana was completely devastated. Oh my friend! Oh my friend! Oh Karna! He was crying bitter tears of grief and remorse and he got off his chariot and went around went near Karna. The Pandavas also got off their chariot to offer their last respects to the fallen warrior and then the Pandavas especially Bhima was jubilant and they knew that the war was over.
Duryodhana’s greatest hope had been shattered and Duryodhana was disconsolate, completely devastated. Oh my friend! Oh my friend! Throughout the long years since he had first met Karna he had always hoped and believed that Karna would kill Arjuna and he had never even entertained the thought that Karna could ever be killed by Arjuna. Although time and time again he had seen that Karna had been defeated by Arjuna and by others still he maintained his fond hope but now that hope was shattered and Vidura’s words of warning and chastisement, the words of the sages reproaching him started ringing in his ears.
They calling the hostilities for the day over. All the Kauravas in a broken lot retreated. They went and sat in their camp and Duryodhana lamented crying again and again alternating between despair and devastation.
Despair, despair, despair. Gradually that despair changed over to anger and he said my friend the great Karna has been brought down unfairly. This cannot be broken.
He said we must fight and we must take revenge. You know we can there is no other way for us as honourable warriors. The way we can pay tribute to those who have been laid down their lives for us is by taking revenge against those who have killed them.
If not then we should lay down our own lives. That is the only fitting way the war will end. Hearing Duryodhana’s courageous spirit the warriors cheered a little bit.
They knew that the war would end only with the death of all of them. The next morning Duryodhana approached Shalya. Please take charge of my army and just as the gods are led to victory by Indira, please lead our forces to victory.
Shalya had already accepted the fact that he would not emerge alive from the war. So he accepted and they charged into battle. Duryodhana was angry at the death of Karna, devastated at that death but neither the anger nor the devastation were substitutes for competence and he was just no match to the Pandava’s strength and slowly but surely all the remaining forces started getting killed.
Arjuna killed Susharma, the king of Trikarta. Yudhishthira killed Shalya. Shakuni killed Sahadeva and finally Duryodhana fled from there.
Seeing him, especially when Shakuni fell, Duryodhana just fled in fear, fled in confusion, fear and he ran away from the battlefield. Practically all his soldiers also or the few that remained they also ran away and Duryodhana ran, ran and finally he came to a lake in a distant forest. The Pandavas had been caught up in fighting with the remaining forces and they had not noticed where Duryodhana had disappeared.
So Duryodhana used his mystic powers to enter deep into the lake and to freeze its water so that he could rest, he could rest at the bottom of the lake. He wanted to calm his enraged and devastated mind which just not accepted the reality that he had been defeated and now he would soon be killed. So now Kripa, Ashwathama and Karna and Kripa, Ashwathama and Kritavarman were the only surviving warriors and they came to Duryodhana at the side of the lake to talk with him because they had noticed that he was still there and when they, so they stood outside the lake and he was inside the lake and they had a discussion and eventually Duryodhana was too dejected.
He had lost the spirit to fight and he dismissed his warriors and he deliberated what he would do. But this conversation which had happened between the Kauravas, between the remaining Kaurava forces and their leader Duryodhana, that had been heard by some hunters and they knew that the Pandavas were searching for someone who would carry the, they were searching for Duryodhana and they had promised rewards for anyone who brought news to Duryodhana. The Pandavas would surely reward them if they brought the news and thinking thus, they immediately and discreetly departed from there.
What happened next, we will discuss in our next session. Thank you. Hare Krishna.