Pranam 1 MYTHBUSTING: Modern media portrays Shakuni as a very revengeful character. The media says that Shakuni wanted to exact his revenge against Bhishma for Gandhari’s marriage. He obviously didn’t like the marriage, but his life wasn’t focused around revenge. There are many stories from various versions of the Mahabharata that are made to display Shakuni’s revenge. The most prominent of these is the story of Shakuni’s imprisonment. The story is such that Gandhari had a problem in her astrological chart, so her first husband would die. Thus, Subala married her to a goat first, which died. Gandhari then married Dhitrastra. Soon, Dhitrastra got to know that Gandhari had first married a goat. He was enraged and imprisoned Subala and his 100 sons, including Shakuni. Dhitrastra only gave them a fistful of rice a day. Subala knew that all of them would die, so he started giving all of the rice to the smartest brother: Shakuni. Soon, Shakuni’s 99 brothers died and when Subala was about to pass away, he told Shakuni to take revenge and told Dhitrastra to release Shakuni. Later, Shakuni crafted his magical dice from his father’s bones. This incident is just an additional story added to some versions to portray Shakuni as an epitome of revenge. This story isn’t mentioned anywhere in the original Mahabharata. Thus, we are going to deem this story as fiction and not as an event that actually occurred in the Mahabharata. Shakuni’s brothers and father didn’t actually die in prison. Shakuni’s brothers even appear in the Mahabharata war, so this is definitely fictitious. 2 Sahadevan was an intelligentia and able astrologer; he fixed the start of the Mahabharatha war; he was Govt advisor; he killed 42 top warriors in the war was defeated only by the elder brother Karnan who spared his life. while facts about Sahadevan is strewned right from Adi Parva in Bharatham, what is said above is unreal. 3 Duryodhana would not have won the war at any cost; mahabharatham is called war to protect the dharma; means that in order to protect dharma, adharma can be adopted as a diplomatic axct swa dharma of kshatriya; if so duryodhana must have adopted that diplomacy and how named as adharma?. sending pandavas to forest for 13 years by playing dice is diplomacy; but playing with the dice different from normal dices is adharma; insulting the queen of a country diplomatically is tolerable; but pulling the saree outraging the modesty of a woman is adharma; killing in war is swadharma; killing an unharmed young kid by so many Maharatas on the 13th day -Abimanyu is adharma; so many adharma caused the war; till 2/3rd war everything was normal; after abimanyu, dharma and adharma was one and the same KRISHNA; its diplomacy of killing out of the weakness of the enemy; drona, karna, duryodhana were killed by their weakness; even Bhishma was done with the same; its not adharma; it is diplomacy; karna was asked to use the diplomacy to send the arroe few inches down by his driver but Karna refused so cannot kill Arjuna; Jayadradhan was done with the life-chord he carried; all asuras are done only like that; its brainy; Krishna knew it and duryodhana knew the strwngtth of Krishna; but did not ask for HIM but only HIS army; diplomacy was used and unused in war which caused the defeat and victory; Duryodhana lost all his opportunities; vinasha kale vipareetha budhi. So question is wrong. KR IRS 11521
On Tue, 11 May 2021 at 12:42, 'gopala krishnan' via iyer123 < [email protected]> wrote: > *CULTURAL QA 05-2021-11* > > *Being a compilation there may be errors* > > Q1 Why was Shakuni bent on destroying the Kuru race? > > A1 The Xennial Mon, 10 May, 2021, The uncle of the Kauravas > played a long game... > > One of the first things that comes to mind when one says Mahabharata is > the epic war at the very end. Indeed, even though it’s just one of the only > two epics to have been written in India, Mahabharata is considered by > some a book that shouldn’t be kept in one’s home since it’s the story of a > family going to war. > > For most part, the war gets blamed on Duryodhana’s ambition but also to a > great degree Shakuni’s machinations. > > While Shakuni did indeed play a large part in egging on an influenceable > Duryodhana into seeking the throne, he did so because he sought revenge. > To know why Shakuni hated the Kuru race so much, we must go back in time > when Bhishma was still a young man. > > At the time, Dhritarashtra was single and Bhishma was seeking alliances > for him. His search led him to Gandhara and asked for the hand of its > princess, Gandhari, for the blind Hastinapur prince. *At first Subala was > hesitant but eventually agreed, in part because he knew he couldn’t afford > to anger the great Bhishma.* In any case, neither he nor his son Shakuni > was particularly happy with the match. > > Shakuni was the youngest of Subala’s 100 sons and, by all accounts, also > the most intelligent too. He loved his sister Gandhari more than anyone > else in the world and was obviously angry with the idea of her marrying a > blind prince. When she was a child, Gandhari would be afraid of the dark > and hence the Gandhara palace would always be fully lit up on all nights. > So when she chose to blindfold herself, it broke Shakuni’s heart to see her > spend her entire life in darkness. However, knowing better, Shakuni let his > resentment against Bhishma slide and went with the plan. > > During the wedding preparations, Bhishma is said to have discovered that > Gandhari was a manglik, which is to say she was born under a sign that > would’ve meant an early death to her first husband. As was the practice, > Gandhari was first married off to a goat, which was then beheaded and then > married off to Dhritarashtra. > > *However, Bhishma was angry that Subala had chosen to keep this a secret > and so he imprisoned the king and his 100 sons.* > > They pleaded that they be fed but Bhishma only granted them a grain each. > Together, they agreed that Shakuni, being the most intelligent of them > all, must stay alive. So they donated their share of the grains to him. One > by one all the Gandhara princes died in prison as did Subala who reached an > agreement with Bhishma to let Shakuni live. > > As a result, out of the 100 Gandhara princes, only one survived. And he > was filled with vengeance against Bhishma: *first for being forced to > marry his beloved sister to Dhritarashtra and then for imprisoning and > killing his entire fa*mily. As he stepped out of the prison, Shakuni > promised himself to avenge their death and began plotting a series of > elaborate plans to drive a wedge in the empire that had done him wrong. > > Q2 What is the incredible story of Sahadeva, the youngest Pandava > > A2 The Xennial 14 April 2021· > > Relegated to the backdrop, this Pandava prince was no small fry. > > Nakula, a legendary warrior in Hindu myth, supposedly followed Sahadeva to > a lake, where he discovered Sahadeva dead. In the lake a crane, named Baka, > warned Nakula that drinking from the water without first answering his > riddle would lead to death. Nakula ignored the crane, drank, and also died. > > > The thing about being raised alongside luminaries such as Arjuna, Bhima > and Yudhishthira is that you tend to get relegated to the backdrop. For > most part, this was true of the twins, Nakula and Sahadeva. In fact, > chances are you’d never have even thought of them as two separate people > what with most of the story being focussed on the three brothers and their > warring cousins. > > Yet, both Nakula and Sahadeva were luminaries in their own right. Both > were experts in wielding the sword, sure, *but Sahadeva was singularly > intelligent, perhaps more than anyone else in the epic*. It was something > he was aware of and was arrogant about it. But we’re getting ahead of > ourselves. Let’s start at the beginning. > > *Sahadeva was born alongside Nakula to Madri one of Pandu’s two wives*, > the other, of course, being Kunti. As you may remember, Kunti was granted a > boon by Sage Durvasa due to which she could invoke any god she wanted and > beget a child from them. > > *Pandu, who was cursed by another sage, was unable to bear a child and > therefore turned to Kunti to use her boon.* It was thus that Kunti bore > three children: Yudhishthira from Dharma, Arjuna from Indra, and Bhima from > Vayu or the God of Wind. *Using the same boon, she was able to get Madri > impregnated by the Ashwini twins, the gods of health, dawn and sciences.* > > > > The story goes that Pandu’s knowledge, one that he had gathered due to > years of meditation, got passed down to Sahadeva just before the former’s > death. It was a lot of knowledge for one person to handle. Even so, the > young Sahadeva seemed unfazed. Due to the knowledge he inherited, he was > able to see the past as well as the future. > > As a result, he knew everything that was going to happen – the fact that > there would be several attempts on his and his brothers’ lives, the fact > that they would be challenged to a game of dice where they would be cheated > of their empire, the fact that there would be a war, and that they would in > fact win. As a result he was the greatest astrologer in the entire land. > > *However, soon after he received this knowledge, Krishna approached him > and made him promise that he’d never reveal the entire truth to anyone.* > > Sahadeva pointed out that this wouldn’t be possible. And that should > someone ask him, there was no way he could lie. Krishna agreed but told > him that he couldn’t reveal more than what was asked. In return Sahadeva > made Krishna promise that he would protect him and his brothers at all > costs and that should something happen to any one of them, Krishna too > would have to kill himself. > > > > In another version of the story, Sahadeva was granted the vision to see > into the past as well as the future but the price for revealing it to > anyone unless asked was his head exploding. Either way, Sahadeva remained > the quietest of all the Pandavas for good reason. > > Sahadeva was, in fact, asked if there was a way to avoid the war and *he > replied that there indeed was one way: to imprison Krishna and Shakuni, for > all the Kauravas and Pandavas to go into the forest after making Karna the > king. *And while this may have well been the only way to avoid the > gruesome war, Sahadeva knew well that it wasn’t going to be. > > So, like a good Kshatriya, he went to war. *He vowed to kill Shakuni for > Draupadi’s humiliation and he fulfilled his wow.* > > After the war, he carried the flag of Hastinapur all the way down to south > India and beyond into Lanka and brought them under Hastinapur’s protection. > And he did all of this, while carrying the impossible weight of knowing > the inevitable. > > *Q3 What is the information- **Duryodhana would have won the war > if he hadn’t been tricked.* > > A3 The Xennial 12 April 2021·The Kaurava prince had a boon but > he was tricked... > > As the Kurukshetra war raged on, the casualties increasing with each > passing hour, it became evident to everyone that the Kauravas were going to > lose. Most of the veteran generals on the Kaurava side had been slain by > now and the war was in its endgame. > > *After the death of Shalya (Pandavas’ uncle who was tricked into fighting > on the side of Kauravas) Duryodhana goes into hiding.* > > By now he’s the only Kaurava prince surviving. Bhima challenges him to a > mace duel in order to ultimately bring the war to an end. *Duryodhana > agrees.* > > When Gandhari hears of this challenge, she decides to break her vow of > being blind folded for life for just one brief minute. It was just days > after she’d lost her son-in-law, Jayadrata, husband to Dushala due to > Krishna’s deviousness so she felt it important to give her son an unfair > advantage. > > Now, Gandhari was a very pious woman and a Vishnu devotee, which is also > why she was angry with Krishna for not having done anything to prevent > the death of her sons and even cursed him. > > The curse didn’t just kill Krishna, it brought down his entire dynasty. > Even in the little that’s written about Gandhari’s powers you can get a > sense of her superpowers. > > There are only two recorded instances during which she removed her > blindfold. The first was when she summoned Duryodhana before his mace duel > with Bhima. Her only order to her firstborn was that he come to her as > the day he was born. > > And so following those orders, Duryodhana took a bath in the lake and > began walking towards his mother’s chambers. It was late in the night and > no one was around so he didn’t think much of his state of nudity. But > suddenly, Krishna appears from seemingly nowhere and looks at the Kaurava > prince bemused. A flummoxed Duryodhana blurts out the reason why he’s > without clothes. The ever astute Krishna realises that something is up and > pretends to chide Duryodhana. > > Let’s not forget despite the animosity, *Duryodhana was aware that > Krishna wasn’t one to be messed with. He nods his head in agreement – > Krishna had argued as to how a Kaurava prince could go to his mother stark > naked – and wraps some leaves around his thighs.* > > When he reaches his mother’s chambers, Gandhari asks him if he was ready. > Duryodhana replies in the affirmative and *Gandhari removes her blindfold > for the first time in her life. Just a brief look from Gandhari covers all > of Duryodhana in an invisible armour… except the parts he had hidden from > her view.* > > Gandhari realises her son wasn’t in fact in the nude and is extremely > angry. It was, after all, the one instruction he had to carry out. How > difficult could it have been to understand it, she thunders. *A sheepish > Duryodhana explains that he ran into Krishna on his way to her chambers and > it was he that had convinced him to wrap something around him before > appearing before her.* > > An incensed Gandhari scolds Duryodhana for falling for Krishna’s devious > ways*. The armour, she explains, would have protected Duryodhana during > his duel with Bhima the next day*. > > *Duryodhana is upset, of course, but assures his mother that the rules of > a mace duel prevent participants from attacking each other below the waist.* > Gandhari, of course, knows better and dismisses her foolish son from her > chambers. > > The next day when Bhima and Duryodhana face off in the ultimate duel, the > rules are reiterated. Balarama, a friend and teacher to Duryodhana and a > mace expert, agrees to referee the duel. As the duel begins, it becomes > clear that Bhima’s blows were not affecting Duryodhana in any manner at > all, let alone hurting him. > > Krishna realises what may have happened and signals to Bhima to attack > Duryodhana on his thighs. > > Remember, this was against the rules of the duel and it would have been > against a warrior’s ethic to attack in such a manner. However, seeing that > he had no choice, Bhima followed Krishna’s orders and dealt a fatal blow > to Duryodhana on his thighs. Since that was the part of Duryodhana’s body > that wasn’t covered in a divine invisible armour, Duryodhana collapses > and eventually dies. > > *Balarama protests that the blow was against the rules of the duel but > Krishna argues that the Kauravas had broken several rules during the war > including one that cost his son-in-law Abhimanyu his life.* > > With this duel, the war of Kurukshetra comes to an end. *If only > Duryodhana had followed his mother’s instructions, it was quite likely he > would have emerged undefeated* and maybe even turned the war around > single-handedly. > > *All the above QA are based on news item in **Yahoo opening page ** on > 11-05 - 2021. **Yahoo answers **need not be 100% correct answers * > > *Compiled and posted by R. Gopala krishnan on 11-5- 2021* > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "iyer123" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/iyer123/1184666202.1773966.1620717134329%40mail.yahoo.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/iyer123/1184666202.1773966.1620717134329%40mail.yahoo.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CAL5XZopbgaDfWZ%2B0oVZEDiCQ78oHtsxTJEvN60VvBdEvMr0-oQ%40mail.gmail.com.
