Characters/Persons from Mahabharata - Part 20

Characters/Persons from Mahabharata

 

 

 

The story of Shalya
Characters/Persons from Mahabharata

King Shalya was the brother of Madri, the mother of Nakula and Sahadeva and the ruler of Madra-desa or the kingdom of Madra. Thus, he was the maternal uncle of Nakula and Sahadeva and was loved and revered by the Pandavas. When he was young, he entered a competition among princes and nobilities to marry Kunti, but subsequently lost to Pandu. Madri was married off to Pandu as part of a secret deal between Shalya and Pandu. Shalya was a skilled archer and formidable warrior.
The Pandavas had counted on Shalya joining their side with his huge army. On the way to assist the Pandavas in the Kurukshetra War, Shalya was tricked by Duryodhana, who arranged a huge feast for Shalya and his men. When Shalya was impressed by the hospitality of his host who he mistakenly thought to be Yudhisthira, he offered to be at his host's service. Unable to turn down Duryodhana's request to join the Kauravas, Shalya met Yudhisthira and apologized for his error. Yudhishtira knowing that Shalya was a great charioteer and forecasting that Shalya would someday be asked to be the charioteer of Karna, extracted a vow from Shalya to the effect that Shalya will demoralise Karna and dampen his spirits. Yudhishtira, a person of immaculate character, for once, stooped to a low level. It is still unclear as to why Yudhishtira did so. Anyway, Shalya assured the Pandavas that he would do everything possible to demoralise Karna and dampen his spirits.
Shalya reluctantly entered the Kurukshetra war on the Kauravas' side. Shalya served as Karna's charioteer during the latter's battle with Arjuna, while continuously praising the Pandava prince and citing Karna's shortcomings. Shalya took over the leadership of the Kaurava army on the eighteenth and last day of the great battle after the death of Karna when it was becoming rapidly clear that the war was a lost cause, and close to the end of the battle he was killed by Prince Yudhishtira with a spear. Shalya was the second to last Kaurava commander-in-chief and after his death, the Kauravas were left leaderless and broke ranks fleeing from the slaughter despite Duryodhana's best efforts.

The story of Shakuni
Characters/Persons from Mahabharata

The villain Shakuni, an avatar of Dwapara, the personification of Dvapara Yuga, was the brother of Gandhari in the Mahābhārata. He was very fond of his nephew Duryodhana. He won the kingdom of the Pandavas' for his nephew, as a wager in a rigged game of dice. The dice that were used were made with Shakuni's father's thigh bones and would always do his bidding.
Some sources say Shakuni had been insulted when his beloved sister has been married to the blind Kuru king Dhritarashtra and swore to destroy the Kaurava clan. He achieved this by poisoning the mind of his volatile nephew, and influenced Duryodhana into instigating the war with the Pandavas, which resulted in the destruction of the Kauravas. Thus, he is seen by many as the ultimate cause of the destructive Kurukshetra War
When the Pandavas were given the arid part of Hastinapura, with their great labor and effort, they managed to convert this arid and barren land into a great city called Indraprastha. Soon word of this fabulous city spred and Duryodhana himself came to see the palace. He mistook water for a floor, and fell into it. Draupadi, the wife of the five Pandavas, burst out laughing and insulted Duryodhana by saying that the son of a blindman can only be a blindman. Enraged, Duryodhana returned to Hastinapur. Reading his nephew's state of mind, Shakuni plotted a clever plan to strip Pandavas of Indraprastha. He invited the Pandavas to a friendly game of dice against Duryodhana, being a pastmaster of the game himself. When the game started, he stoked Yudhisthira's gambling urges by letting him win a few minor victories. Soon however, Shakuni used his skills in the game to good effect, and before Yudhishtir could be persuaded to stop playing, he had already lost all his wealth and kingdom. Then Shakuni suggested that he would return all Yudhistir had lost and more if he would put up his brothers at stake. He also taunted Yudhisthira whenever he hesitated from playing. After two more rounds of play, Yudhisthira lost his brothers and their wife, Draupadi, to Duryodhana, thus ensuring his revenge.
Shakuni took Duryodhana's side in the great war at Kurukshetra. He was killed on the battlefield by Sahadeva, one of the Pandava brothers.