Duryodhana: Encyclopedia II - Duryodhana - The Kurukshetra War

Duryodhana - The Kurukshetra War

At the end of the exile term, Duryodhana refuses to return Yudhisthira's kingdom, despite the counsel of Bhishma, Drona, Vidura and even Krishna, whom he attempted to kidnap. Although Dhritarashtra criticizes his son, he tacitly desires that Duryodhana, and not Yudhishitra remain Emperor.

Making war inevitable, Duryodhana gathers support from powerful kings and armies. The most legendary warriors - Bhishma, Drona, Kripa, Ashwathama, Shalya, even though most of them were critical of him - are forced to fight for Duryodhana. He ends up amassing a larger army than his rivals.

In the war, Duryodhana repeatedly eggs on the invincible Bhishma and Drona to forward his cause, even though his main hope is Karna. He asks Drona to capture Yudhisthira alive, so that he may blackmail the Pandavas into surrender, or force Yudhisthira to gamble again. He also participates in the brutal and unethical murder of Arjuna's son Abhimanyu.

But he is repeatedly frustrated when the Pandavas succeed in downing the two Kuru legends, and is emotionally distraught when Arjuna slays over one million Kuru soldiers in one day and kills Jayadratha, the king of Sindhu over the killing of Abhimanyu. And all along, Bhima is steadily slaying his brothers, increasing his misery and bringing him closer to defeat.

Duryodhana's hopes are finally shattered when Karna is killed by Arjuna after an intense and legendary battle. After making some final desperate efforts, he flees the battlefield and hides in a lake, within which he survives by his mystic powers of yoga. He re-emerges after Ashwathama and Kripa encourage him to face his destiny with courage.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The Kurukshetra War", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki