With Karna behind him like a veritable tower of strength, Duryodhana’s scheming became more intense than ever before and his unceasing hatred of his cousins now bordered on paranoid lunacy. Abandoning all pretence, the Prince worked towards annihilating the Pandavas with fanatical fixity of purpose and Karna aided and abetted him every step of the way. The combined hatred and anger of the friends would eventually come close to wiping out the entire Kshatriya race. The cream of the age would be obliterated, Mother Earth would wear garments drenched with the blood of her finest sons, and a river of tears would be shed.
The Kuru elders foresaw all this and did everything in their power to weaken the unholy bond between the two. Karna’s constant bragging, vainglory, and his tendency to egg on Duryodhana in his efforts to crush the Pandavas, earned him the contempt of Bhishma, Vidura, Kripa and Drona. They never missed an opportunity to do a comparative analysis of Karna and Arjuna, and always pointed out that the third Pandava brother was superior in every way. As chance would have it, Karna himself provided the grounds for his detractors to belittle him.
Many Brahmins would come to Dhritarashtra’s court, bringing news of the exiled Pandavas. Duryodhana loved to hear of their suffering as it enhanced his enjoyment of the wealth he had stolen from his cousins. However, any reports of their triumphs dulled his spirits and he would grow despondent. Arjuna’s acquisition of divine weapons and his meeting with the three-eyed Lord was told and retold with great gusto by every person to visit the court. And if this was not enough, the Kuru elders, not without a hint of malice, took to repeating it every time Duryodhana was within earshot. This caused the tempestuous Prince to fall into a deep depression.
Duryodhana’s cronies tried to cheer him up. Karna reminded him of their own prosperity and compared it to the penury of the Pandavas saying, ‘You need not fear them anymore Duryodhana; we sent them off into exile in abject disgrace, don’t you remember? While we live like the Gods in heaven, they have been brought lower than the meanest beggar. They live in the forest like wild animals, are clothed in bark, and subsist on roots and berries. We live in a palace fit for Kubera, dress in the finest apparel, and eat the choicest delicacies. Their whore of a wife is now their maid whereas our ladies are the envy of Goddess Lakshmi herself! We want for nothing, so you must not sully your happiness by brooding over those miserable creatures.’
Duhshasana chimed in, ‘Karna is right, for blessed is the man who lives to see his enemies suffer while he himself prospers. The Pandavas must be emaciated with starvation by now; Draupadi too, has probably aged a thousand years and her beauty is sure to have faded, leaving her looking like a hag and her husbands must hate enduring the sight of her!’
‘All you say is true and it gladdens my heart,’ said Duryodhana, ‘but sometimes I worry that we will lose everything we have gained. What if our enemies come back, reclaim their Kingdom, and become more prosperous than ever before? I will not be able to endure it. Death will claim me before I allow that to happen!’
Karna became upset when he heard his friend ramble on morosely about loss and death. He decided to provide a distraction for Duryodhana, to lift him out of his depression. ‘I know exactly the thing to cheer you up. Let us go to Dwaitavana. I hear the Pandavas are residing there. There is also a ranch there and it is the time of the year when stock-taking of the cattle and other livestock is done. If we volunteer to supervise the process, your father will surely let us go.’
Duryodhana became excited at the prospect and decided it would be great fun to go poke fun at the Pandavas and watch Draupadi perform the menial chores of a maid dressed in nothing but bark. Divining their intentions, the Kuru elders warned Dhritarashtra and urged him to forbid them from going. But Duryodhana got his way with his father as usual and left the capital with a large retinue, eager to put up a flagrant show of vulgar prosperity.
However, things did not go in the manner expected by Duryodhana and Karna. Indra saw the procession from his vantage point in the heavens and decided he would not stand by and watch Duryodhana humiliate the Pandavas. He summoned Chitrasena, Arjuna’s former teacher and King of the Gandharvas, and ordered him to do battle with the Kauravas.
The Gandharva King was pleased with the task assigned to him; summoning his followers he rushed to the most picturesque spot in Dwaitavana and set up camp. When the Kauravas arrived, their scouts recommended the same spot, as it was surpassingly beautiful and close to the hermitage where the Pandavas were staying. However, while attempting to prepare the site for their royal master, Duryodhana’s men found themselves unceremoniously evicted from the spot.
When the news reached Duryodhana, he reacted with characteristic aggression and arrogance, and fighting broke out between the two camps. Initially, the Kauravas had the upper hand but when the Gandharva King joined the fray, the balance tilted the other way. Chitrasena and his Gandharvas trounced the Kauravas soundly and sent them scurrying for cover. Karna rushed to meet the audacious usurpers who dared to challenge the might of the royal house, but found he had no answers for the divine weapons Chitrasena possessed. He had no choice but to flee for his life.
Abandoned by his allies, Duryodhana was taken captive. Pleased with the royal booty they had captured, the Gandharvas crowed with delight. The scattered forces of the Kauravas were alarmed at this turn of events and a few of them rushed to the hermitage to beg the Pandavas for assistance as the Crown Prince had been taken hostage by the Gandharvas.
Bheema roared with laughter when he heard the tale. ‘Serves that scoundrel right! Duryodhana must have come here to laugh at us, but I doubt he is laughing much now!’
‘Is that how you respond to the misfortune of your relatives, Bheema? It is a despicable way to behave and you know it!’ Yudhishthira severely chastised him.
‘I only know that at long last Duryodhana is getting his just desserts! Hopefully the Gandharvas will hold him captive in an enchanted cage in a distant corner of the world for the rest of his natural life. With him out of the way, the Grandsire will be able to talk some sense to the indulgent fool who is sitting on the throne and we will get our Kingdom back at the end of our exile. It will be the solution to all our problems,’ Bheema rhapsodised happily.
‘Wouldn’t that be wonderful? I wish we could have seen the battle and the humbling of Duryodhana!’ Nakula said, infected by Bheema’s contagious glee.
‘Nakula! I will not tolerate such talk. It is immoral,’ said Yudhishthira sternly.
‘Was it not immoral when they tried to kill us? Was it the height of virtue when they stole our Kingdom and humiliated our wife? Why should I weep over the misfortune of our worst enemy? To hell with him,’ burst out Bheema, his face red with outrage.
‘If we rejoice over a fallen foe, how are we different from him whom you condemn so harshly? Did he not come here to do the same to us? As decent human beings, we must strive to do the right thing even by our enemies,’ reasoned Yudhishthira.
‘Fine! Then you cry over him all you want. I’ll stop laughing since you think it is unseemly, but I am not shedding tears for that wretch!’ said Bheema.
‘We need not lament. But remember that a humiliating defeat has been meted out to members of our family by the Gandharvas. It is a shame for the entire clan and that includes us. The family name and honour must be redeemed. I suggest you and Arjuna make haste to rescue the Kuru Prince,’ said Yudhishthira.
‘Let us go Bheema!” Arjuna urged his mutinous brother. ‘Just imagine the moment when Duryodhana looks up happily to see the face of his blessed rescuer and finds you instead!’
‘Now that would be a fine moment indeed!’ said the second Pandava brother, immeasurably cheered.
‘Besides if the Gandharvas lock him up in an enchanted cage for the rest of his natural life, you won’t be able to break his thighs in battle like you swore. And I will be denied the pleasure of using my hard-earned celestial weapons on that sorry lot, especially on Karna!’ Arjuna added.
‘You are rig
ht, Arjuna. Can we go along with them to see Duryodhana bound up in a Gandharva’s chariot?’ Nakula pleaded with his eldest brother.
‘Certainly not! The two of them are adequate for the task. And since their opinions are setting such wonderful examples for their younger brothers, it is preferable you remain here,” said Yudhishthira firmly.
Laughing all the while, Arjuna and Bheema prepared themselves for battle while the twins watched wistfully. ‘Don’t worry! I’ll give you every juicy detail of the heroic rescue of our worst enemy when I return. And you can watch when I break his thighs in the near future. That is a promise!’ said Bheema.
Yudhishthira shook his head at this cavalier disregard of the moral code he so faithfully adhered to; but his lips twitched nevertheless and he was glad nobody was looking his way.
Arjuna and Bheema gave battle to the Gandharvas when they refused to release the Kuru Prince and the other royal captives, including the women. A short conflict took place and Arjuna slew Gandharvas by the hundreds. Chitrasena appeared before him, convinced that the brothers had no idea of the evil motives of Duryodhana. Arjuna, recognising his former friend and mentor, lowered his weapons immediately. After a brief discussion, Chitrasena realised that the Pandavas, despite knowing all, were acting in accord with the purest code of clan dharma, and so agreed to hand over his captive to Yudhishthira.
The eldest Pandava thanked Chitrasena for sparing Duryodhana’s life. The Gandharva King was moved when he saw the manner in which Yudhishthira treated a bitter foe. Feeling humbled, he freed his captives and returned to the celestial abode of the Gandharvas.
Yudhishthira turned to Duryodhana and chastised him in the avuncular tones of a well-meaning elder. He advised him not to allow hatred and anger to cloud his judgment and mar his happiness before giving him leave to depart. Duryodhana flushed with barely suppressed rage and humiliation. Through lowered eyes, he thought he saw the Pandava twins shudder with the humongous effort to subdue the laughter that bubbled within them; and Arjuna’s calm mien surely belied the contempt he felt for Duryodhana’s predicament! He could not bring himself to cast a glance at Bheema, but he could almost feel his gaze boring into his flesh. With a supreme effort of will, he forced his feet to lead him away from the Pandava camp.
Duryodhana trudged along, feeling sick at heart. He camped on the bank of a river and sank deep into the quicksand of anger, hate and despair. Karna found him there. He was so delighted to find him alive that he completely misread the situation. ‘Duryodhana, you are alive! It must be on account of some good deed in a former life that I have been spared the grief of separation from you. Chitrasena’s accursed illusions forced me to retreat from battle but clearly you were more than a match for him. Truly, it is your destiny to rule all three worlds!’
Unable to bear the praise he did not deserve, Duryodhana burst out, ‘Born to rule the three worlds, you say? Alas! I am little more than a beggar. Yudhishthira spared my life and returned it to me as a gift of alms!’
Narrating all that had transpired with the air of a man who derived masochistic pleasure by rubbing salt into his own festering wound, Duryodhana announced that he had made the decision to end his life by foregoing food, since it would be too hard for him to live out a life that was received as largesse from a hated enemy. Moreover, he felt all who knew him would be shamed by association, and he wished to spare them that ordeal.
Duryodhana refused to listen to all the earnest entreaties of his followers. Transferring his responsibilities to Duhshasana, he began his preparations to observe a fast unto death.
Meanwhile, the Danavas and Daityas who resided in the remote crevices of the earth, were horrified with this development. In a bygone age, when the great clash between good and evil represented by the Devas and Asuras took place, the Danavas and Daityas had been defeated along with the others of their ilk. They were then handed over by Dharma, on behalf of the Gods, to Varuna, one of the Guardians of the Universe, in chains. Using his signature weapon, the noose, Varuna bound them further and held them entrapped in the bowels of the sea, in order to keep the world safe from their evil designs.
Banished but not vanquished, the creatures of darkness waited over the eons with the patience of the damned, slowly gathering strength and ever on the lookout for an opportunity to restore the balance in their favour. Sure enough, the tide was starting to ebb, signalling yet another great conflict between the forces of good and evil. The residents of the limbo realm between life and death elected Duryodhana as the champion of their cause, as they sensed in his black heart a soullessness that matched their own.
When reports of Duryodhana’s decision to end his life reached them, they were distressed. An occult rite of tremendous power was performed in order to bring the Kuru Prince before them. At the end of the ritual, a female form emerged from the flames. She was a fearsome apparition born of deadly intent and her eyes reflected the terrible purpose she was to serve. Black hair and dark robes bellowed in bilious gusts as the fiend stepped forward to receive the command of her creators. Her name was Kritya.
Ordered to bring Duryodhana before her creators, Kritya did so immediately. In a daze, the Kuru Prince found himself in the midst of an unholy gathering. Mission accomplished, the woman who had ensured that a great calamity which had come close to being averted but which would now proceed on course, stood quietly to one side.
The Danavas then addressed Duryodhana: ‘Why do you wish to forsake your life? You are a scion of a great dynasty and destined to be the greatest of your illustrious lineage. If you persist in pursuing this ridiculous fast you have undertaken, nothing but ignominy will be yours to claim. On the other hand, if you proceed on your assigned course, great glory will be yours!’
‘Ignominy is already my lot and I cannot see how that can be undone. Death, with its cold embrace, is all the comfort I seek, for glory is beyond my reach,’ said the wretched Prince, the memory of his disgrace still raw in his mind.
The Danavas and Daityas sat him down in their midst and spoke reassuring words to him: ‘You do yourself a great injustice by conceding defeat and refusing to reach for the glory that awaits you. Ever since the defeat we suffered at the hands of the Devas and our consequent imprisonment, we have been performing penances to win a boon from Shiva and you are the fruit of our austerities. Shiva himself created your upper body with indestructible diamonds, to render it immune to weapons; and Parvati, the three -eyed God’s other half, devoted her attentions to your lower half and used celestial flowers to make you irresistible to the fairer sex! As a child of this divine couple, you are no ordinary mortal!’
Wonderment suffused Duryodhana’s face and he spoke in hushed tones: ‘I never knew any of this!’ At the time of his birth, a number of evil omens had been seen. The air was rent with the howling of jackals, the braying of donkeys, and the shrill screams of crows. Vultures ventured boldly among the living, and whirlwinds swirled across the region, uprooting trees and conjuring up mighty dust clouds that blocked clear vision. Holy men had prophesised that the child would cause the destruction of the clan and should be killed. But Dhritarashtra could not bring himself to harm his firstborn and had disregarded their advice. Vidura too, had spoken about this during the ill-fated game of dice, much to Duryodhana’s anger. His detractors had taken to bandying the story of his birth whenever he was around, much to his secret embarassment.
Now that the Danavas had told him the real truth of his origins, the Prince became ecstatic. He had secretly begrudged the Pandavas their divine origins and enjoyed calling them bastards who had a whore for their mother. But with this revelation, he felt sure that since he had been created by Shiva and Parvati, he was truly superior to them and the rightful heir to the throne.
The Danavas hastened to press their cause further. ‘Since you are the great hope of our people, we are doing everything possible to help you. Many have been assigned the task of taking possession of the souls of the great warriors on your side, like Bhishma, Drona and Kr
ipa. As a result, they will lose the humanity and innate nobility that is often the bane of many a great warrior and succumb to bloodlust. They will fight with the ferocity of beasts of prey and rip the Pandava army to shreds, like a deer in the jaws of a tiger. The soul of Narakasura, who was slain by Krishna, will enter Karna’s body and render him terror incarnate on the battlefield. The slain Asura longs for vengeance and it will be his when Krishna is forced to watch Arjuna die, powerless to stop Karna’s arrows, imbued with the essence of the mighty Asura. In addition to this, we have procured the services of the Samsaptakas for you. As you know, these warriors are invincible because of the terrible oath they have taken and they will definitely neutralise Arjuna in battle, celestial weapons notwithstanding. Go with courage and cast away your grief. In a short time you will reign over this world. We will continue to perform sacrifices for your victory as you are a beloved ally and the champion of our cause!’
Kritya carried the wonderstruck Prince back to the bank of the river where she had found him. His eyes were closed as if in deep slumber and his body shook with the force of some inner conflict. The woman with the dead eyes then placed her lips on his and siphoned away all his fear and uncertainty. In their place she left a hardened spirit without a conscience, that would clinically obliterate all traces of reason or compassion and rejoice in the misery of others. The fiend, with her vile errand done, licked her lips with deep satisfaction and vanished.
Arjuna Page 21