The Lac Palace

The Lac Palace

King Yudhisthira, the eldest Pandava, was made the  yuvaraja (crown prince) of Hastinapur as he was the eldest prince. This made Duryodhana jealous. With the help of his uncle, King Shakuni, he made a plan to kill the Pandavas. They persuaded the Pandavas to attened a grand fair in the town of Varnavat. Duryodhana had a lac palace built for them. Lac burns very easily. He had planned that when the Pandavas were sleeping in the palace, one of his men would set it on fire and they would be burnt to death. Vidura, the prime minister, came to know of this plot and warned the Pandavas to escape. The Pandavas and their mother Kunti, stayed in the palace on fire. The Pandavas safely escaped through the tunnel and Duryodhana thought that they had died in the fire .

The Game of Dice

The Game of Dice

Duryodhana was jealous of the prosperity of the Pandavas and wanted to rob them of their wealth. His uncle, Shakuni, made a plan.

Yudhisthira loved gambling. They would invite Yudhisthira to Hastinapur for a game of dice. Shakuni was a master of the game and would throw the dice on behalf of Duryodhana and defeat Yudhisthira and win over his kingdom. Duryodhana liked this plan and asked his father King Dhritarashtra to invite Yudhisthira. When King Dhritarashtra hesitated, Duryodhana told him about the way Draupadi had insulted him and called him a blind man's son. King Dhritarashtra gave his consent. Yudhisthira gave his consent and came with his brothers to play the game. Shakuni used a charmed dice and defeated Yudhisthira again and again. Yudhisthira lost his palace, army, and the whole kingdom. Duryodhana was not satisfied at that, he encouraged Yudhisthira to stake his brothers. One by one, Yudhisthira lost all four of his brothers and then even himself. Duryodhana's joy knew no bounds.

When Yudhisthira lost everything he had, Duryodhana said, "Why don't you stake something else, maybe this time you will win and get everything back?" Yudhisthira said, "I have nothing left to stake." At this Duryodhana said, "Why, you have Draupadi, stake her. "Yudhisthira was embarrassed by his defeat; he wanted to win everything back. He took his last chance and staked Draupadi. But he even lost her. Everybody was aghast at this turn of events. The Kauravas were jubilant.

Mama Shakuni Meets His End

Mama Shakuni Meets His End

Shakuni was Duryodhana's wicked uncle who had helped the Kauravas win the Pandavas' half of the kingdom from them in a game of the dice, and sent them into exile. He was very cunning and devious. On the sixteenth day of the battle of Kurukshetra, a fierce fight was going on between Nakula and Shakuni. Shakuni was a brave warrior and he was overpowering Nakula, when Nakula's brother, Sahadeva, came to his rescue. He shot an arrow at Shakuni saying, "It is your evil mind and numerous sins that have led to this war. Now face your doom." The arrow cut Shakuni's head off. 

After Shakuni's death. Duryodhana was left all alone. He did not even have Karna to support him. Duryodhana realized that his end was also near and was sad and broken hearted.