Shakuni : The Tale Of Epic Revenge

We all know the character of Shakuni from Mahabharat, as the one whose sole-purpose was to bring the downfall of Hastinapur. His devious ways and conniving strategy resulted in the destruction of all Kuru-clan (Kuruvansh). Deemed as the ultimate war between Good and Evil, the two sides that were cleverly played against each other were Kauravas and Pandavas. The immense amount of destruction that it brought forth was all credited to Shakuni. So, let’s take a dive into what made Shakuni the sworn enemy of all Kuru-vansh. 

As per the texts of Mahabharat, Shakuni is said to be the personification of Dwapar Yuga, the third yuga as per Hindu Mythology. He was born to the king of Gandhara, Subala and was seen as one of the most promising sons of the king. He had many wonderful brothers and a beautiful sister named Gandhari. As Gandhari grew older, her kundali or astrological chart was made as per Hindu traditions. The acharyas, after assessing her chart, came to the conclusion that Gandhari’s husband will die soon after marriage.This problem was unique but not irreparable. The astrologers suggested King Subala to marry her daughter to a goat so that the problem could be resolved. The king along with his sons married off the princess to a goat as advised and then sacrificed the goat. The princess was free of the ill-effects of her birth-chart and now was ready to be married off. 

As her beauty and fame reached far and wide, many alliances came for Gandhari. Among them came the alliance of one of the strongest and most influential kings, King Dhritarashtra, the king of Hastinapur. The only issue was that he was blind. But as the alliance was brought by his respected uncle Bhishma and refusing them would mean risking the lives of their whole kingdom, Gandhari decided to agree to the marriage. The wedding was celebrated with much aplomb and Gandhari went to settle herself in her Hastinapur accompanied by Shakuni. 

After a few days Bhishma came to know of a rumor about Gandhari. According to this rumor, Gandhari was married and her husband was now dead. Bhishma was infuriated for being duped like this by Gandhar-naresh (King of Gandhar, Subala). He accused Subala of marrying off their ‘widowed’ daughter to Dhritarashta, the king of Hastinapur. Before the rumor could be cleared by Gandhar-naresh, Bhishma took the whole family captive including Shakuni and his brothers. They were sentenced to die in jail for treason. The Gandhar royal family was given very little ration to survive and they knew that not all could survive through this ordeal.

Hence, they would all collect their limited supplies and give it to Shakuni as he was the brightest of them all. One by one all the brothers of Shakuni perished and as his father, King Subala, came to his last moments too, he begged Bhishma to free his son.

Bhishma took pity and decided to release Shakuni. Simultaneously, his father drew his last breath but before dying he did 2 very important deeds which would shape the destiny of Hastinapur: 

1. He broke Shakuni’s leg to always remind him of the pain that they were caused by Bhishma. 
2. Subala advised his son to collect his bones and make dice out of them. These dice would have the curse of Subala in them and Shakuni would win any gambles played with them. 

After this the king died and Shakuni was freed from the prison. His sister took pity on his crippled form and decided that he could stay at Hastinapur. This is where Shakuni devised his plan to bring the ruins to Hastinapur. His target was the young and volatile prince Dushhasan. He poisoned the mind of the young Kaurav pitting the brothers against their own cousins, Pandavas.

The pinnacle of Shakuni’s plot was reached when he roped the cousins in a game of dice. The very game that will make Pandavas loose all their wealth and cause irreparable damage to the prestige of Draupadi. 

After losing out on all their wealth, Pandavas were forced to go to exile. Once they had rightfully completed the exile, the Pandavas came back to settle their debts with Kauravas. When they asked for the equal division of the kingdom, it was Shakuni who advised Dushhasan to not relent leading to the war, Mahabharat. 

As one dives deeper into the story of Shakuni, it is easy to note that even the biggest of kingdoms can be felled with enough cunning. It is also notable that a short temper and naivety can cause one to invite destruction for not just themselves but their whole clan.