Credit : Star Plus Factually Incorrect Mahabharat Page Gandhari blesses Duryodhan The story starts on the 18th day of the war. All the sons of Dhritarashtra, except Duryodhan are dead. Duryodhan is himself expecting to be in the last battle of his life with Duryodhan. Throughout all these days, Gandhari steadfastly refused to bless Duryodhan with victory - instead she always said have a long life whenever he met her and sought blessings. On the 17th night, Gandhari asks Duryodhan to take a holy bath very early in the morning, perform daily pooja at the river and come and see her before dawn. Duryodhan also must appear before her completely naked. Meanwhile, Krishna, the all knowing, realizes something afoot. He accosts Duryodhan the next morning who is on his way to meet Gandhari (naked as asked). Krishna asks Duryodhan where he is going in this manner and upon learning tells him that he is a grown man now and it is highly improper to appear before ones own mother in this fashion. At least, he must cover his genital area. So Duryodhan went to see Gandhari after covering his waist-down by leaves (some say a lion cloth). Gandhari receives him and then she tells him that she is going to open her blindfold for the first time in her life and look at him (Duryodhan may have secretly thanked Krishna and himself in taking the precaution at this point). So saying, Gandhari removed her blindfold and looked at her son. It is said that she put her full yogic powers earned by her severe penance in following her husband as she was in thick and thin, into her vision. Where her eyes fell, the body of Duryodhan became iron-like. Then she saw the covered area and her dismay was immediate. She told and scolded him, O Son, I have looked at you for the first time. My vision has turned your body like iron and you will not feel the blows of battle any more. I told you to appear before me naked but you did not. Alas! That part of the body will be vulnerable. Duryodhan said, Krishna told me to show some modesty. But it is no matter. I will remove these leaves that cover me immediately. Gandhari sighed and said, Krishna is the Lord. He knows all. To my and your misfortune, guessed what I was going to attempt. Alas! I can no more repeat what I did. I put my entire power of a sati into my vision. I cannot do this again. If only you had decided, at least once in your life, to obey your parents without question, so much tragedy could have been avoided. Duryodhan, though slightly disappointed, said, O mother, I am thankful to you for this gift. I am going to fight my last battle with Bheem and it shall be a mace fight. As per the rules of the mace fight, it is forbidden to strike your opponent below the navel. So I am quite safe anyway. And then he left. Later on, we know what happened. Duryodhan and Bheem fought a terrible duel. The mightiest and hardest hits from Bheem would not harm Duryodhan at all while Duryodhan was making incisive openings and wounding Bheem. Bheem appeared to be tiring. An anxious Arjun asked Krishna who was stronger and who would win. Krishna replied that while Bheem has more power, Duryodhan was more skilled and had been practicing all the 13 years with an iron image of Bheem. It would be impossible to defeat Duryodhan in a fair fight. Krishna then added, Arjun, it is now time that you remind your brother of his oath which he took 13 years ago in the dyut-sabha. Arjun accordingly made several signs of striking the thigh. But Bheem either did not read the signs or was unwilling to break the rules. Finally, the Lord himself rose and said, Bheem, remember your oath and then he too struck his left thigh in the same manner Duryodhan did (in the dyut-sabha while mocking Draupadi and telling her that she was his maid and she should sit on his lap). Bheem finally took the cue and in the next move when Duryodhan jumped to strike, Bheem struck him very powerfully on the left thigh, breaking it and mortally wounding Duryodhan. _____________________________________________________ The above story, i.e., the first part of Gandhari blessing Duryodhan, is popular folklore. There are no shlokas to support the story. Moreover, it is later written, that Gandhari happens to look at Yudhishthirs toes and she sees something for the first time. The power of her vision burns Yudhishthirs toes. Later on, Gandhari uses her yogic power to curse Krishna. So if she had already used up her powers, then the later part is difficult to support (since Gandhari herself mentions that she had used all her yogic powers to make Duryodhan all iron-like). The story probably finds support because of the immense strength, resilience and pain-bearing capacity of Duryodhan. Till that time, Bheem is shown to be invincible. Right from his childhood, when he breaks a large rock to smithereens when he fell on it accidentally, till the killing of the 99 sons of Dhritarashtra. How is it that the powerful Bheem who killed super demons like Hidimb, Baka, Kirmira, as well as powerful men like Jarasandha and Keechaka, could not even harm Duryodhan but instead come close to being defeated himself?, question many. Duryodhan had never received any blessing from any God, Tapasvi/Rishi or demi-God any time in his life. During the 13 years of Pandavas exile, he practiced hard. He made several people hit him hard on his body from the mace. He practiced his own strength of blows with an iron statue of Bheem. Besides, he was the favourite pupil of Balaram, Krishnas brother who taught Duryodhan and Bheem together. Balaram held Duryodhan in higher esteem and felt that he was better than Bheem in mace fight.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 06:48:32 +0000
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