Duryodhana: Encyclopedia II - Duryodhana - Gandhari's blessing and the fight with Bhima

Duryodhana - Gandhari's blessing and the fight with Bhima

Queen Gandhari is distraught when she hears that all her sons save Duryodhana have been slain. Despite knowing that Duryodhana was wicked and his cause unrighteous, she decides to help him win. Asking him to bathe and enter her tent naked, she prepares to use the great mystic power of her eyes, blind-folded for many years out of respect for her blind husband, to make his body invincible to all attack in every portion.

But when Krishna, who is returning after paying the queen a visit, runs into a naked Duryodhana coming to the tent, he mockingly admonishes him for his intent to appear so before his own mother. Knowing of Gandhari's intentions, Krishna criticizes Duryodhana, who sheepishly covers his loins before entering the tent.

When Gandhari's eyes fall upon Duryodhana, they mystically make each part of his body invincible. She is shocked to see that Duryodhana had covered his loins, which were thus not protected by her mystic power.

When he faces the Pandava brothers and Krishna alone, Yudhisthira offers him the option of fighting any of the Pandava one-on-one. If he defeated that Pandava, Yudhisthira would hand the kingdom to Duryodhana, despite having won the wider war.

Out of pride, Duryodhana picks his archnemesis Bhima. Both possessed exceptional physical strength and had trained under Balarama in mace fighting and wrestling to the same level of prowess. After a long and brutal battle stretching many days, Duryodhana begins to exhaust Bhima.

At this point, Krishna, who is observing the fight, motions to Bhima, pointing out Duryodhana's thigh as the only possible target. Bhima viciously attacks Duryodhana with a mace in his loins, and Duryodhana finally falls, mortally wounded.

Although Duryodhana bemoans that he was slain by unfair means, given that it was illegal to attack that sensitive area according to dharma and the norms of battle, Krishna points out to the dying prince that his humiliation of Draupadi, murder plots and cheating of the Pandavas and the killing of Abhimanyu did not comply with dharma or the norms of battle either. It was useless thus, for Duryodhana to hope that religious values would protect him, when he had honored them not once in his whole life.

Duryodhana - Death and Heaven

Duryodhana dies slowly, and is cremated by the Pandavas. When Yudhisthira himself ascends to Swarga, he sees Duryodhana there upon a throne. He is angry that Duryodhana is enjoying a place in heaven despite his sins, but Indra explains to him that he had served his time in hell, and had also been a good and powerful king.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Gandhari's blessing and the fight with Bhima", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki