Duryodhana: Encyclopedia II - Duryodhana - Usurping the kingdom

Duryodhana - Usurping the kingdom

When the princes come of age, Yudhisthira is given half the kingdom and made king of Indraprastha, so as to avoid a clash with the Kaurava princes over the whole Kuru kingdom. Duryodhana becomes the prince regent of Hastinapura, and owing to the age and blindness of his father, he accumulates much control and influence, managing the state affairs himself with a coterie of his advisors that include his uncle Shakuni, brother Dushasana and friend Karna.

But Duryodhana remains jealous of Yudhisthira, owing to Indraprastha's prosperity and fame exceeding Hastinapura's. When Yudhisthira performs the Rajasuya sacrifice that makes him emperor of the World, Duryodhana is unable to contain his anger, which is intensified when Yudhisthira's queen Draupadi makes fun of him when he slips into a pool of water in the court.

Duryodhana - The dice plot and Draupadi's humiliation

Knowing that the Kauravas cannot rival the Pandavas in martial power, Shakuni devises a scheme to rob Yudhisthira of his kingdom and wealth by defeating him in a game of dice, which Shakuni is an expert at and Yudhisthira a complete novice. Unable to resist the challenge, Yudhisthira gambles away his entire kingdom, his wealth, his four brothers and even his wife, in a series of gambits to retrieve one by staking another.

The first time, the king Dhritarashtra and Vidura make Duryodhana re-establish Yudhisthira. But when the plot is repeated, Shakuni sets the condition that Yudhisthira and his brothers must spend thirteen years in exile in the forest before they may receive their kingdom back. The thirteenth year must be passed igcognito, or else they would be condemned to repeat the term of exile.

Duryodhana encourages his brother Dushasana to drag Draupadi into the court and strip her clothes, as she is now his property as Yudhisthira had gambled everything away to him. Dushasana attempts to strip Draupadi, who is mystically rescued by Krishna, who gives her an inexhaustible supply of sari.

Nevertheless, due to this action Bhima swears that at the end of the exile, he would kill all one hundred of Dhritarashtra's sons single-handedly.

Duryodhana - World emperor

During the exile, Duryodhana attempts to humiliate Yudhisthira by flashing his wealth and prowess in their forest of exile. He is however caught in a conflict with the Gandharva king Chitrasena, who captures him. Yudhisthira asks Arjuna and Bhima to rescue Duryodhana, who is humiliated. Setting his mind to die, Duryodhana pledges to fast unto death.

During his fast, Duryodhana is mystically taken to a gathering of powerful Daitya and Danava beings, who inform him that he was born as a result of their tapasya, and his mission was to destroy the purpose of the Devas and Krishna upon earth. The demonic beings assure him that powerful demons had been incarnated as his allies, making his defeat impossible. Encouraged, Duryodhana returns to Hastinapura.

Karna now embarks upon a worldwide military campaign to subjugate kings and impose Duryodhana's imperial authority over them. Bringing tribute and allegiance from all the world's kings, Karna helps Duryodhana perform the Vaishnava sacrifice to please Vishnu, and crowns himself World emperor, as Yudhisthira did with the Rajasuya.

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