Shakuni – His Unspoken Words

Prologue

Among all historical characters, the name Shakuni evokes an image so powerful of villainy, hatred, and conspiracy, the one man who consistently poisoned Duryodhan and Dhritarashtra against Pandavs. Was Shakuni always like this? Circumstances maketh a man – no man is born evil – it is his circumstances which make him so. Even a casual reader of Mahabharat will be prompted to ask – Despite being Gandhar Naresh (King of Gandhar), why did Shakuni never go to Gandhar but stayed in Hastinapur with his sister? How could Gandhari be so righteous and self-sacrificing and her own brother be such an epitome of treachery and deceit?

To answer all these questions and to know Shakuni better, we will have to delve into the past of Saubal (Shakuni’s real name), the hundredth son of the King of Gandhar – Subal, the father to a hundred sons and one daughter, Gandhari.

Shakuni loved his sister Gandhari more than anybody else in the whole world and was furious when his father had agreed to give her hand in marriage to the blind prince of Hastinapur – Dhritarashtra. Actually, his father was helpless when Bhishma presented himself with a massive army at the outskirts of Gandhar ostensibly to ask for Gandhari’s hand in marriage. The message was clear, either agree to the marriage or face the consequences. The mountainous kingdom of Gandhar had not fought a war in years. Their weapons were rusty and their warriors unused to even minor battles, let alone a war with the mighty Hastinapur army commanded by Bhishma himself.

Worse was to follow because after marriage, Dhritarashtra found out that in order to avert widowhood for Gandhari, as directed by the Gandhar court astrologer, Gandhari had first been married to a goat which had been sacrificed! He was livid at not being the first husband of his wife and was so enraged at this fact being hidden from him, that he once again sent his massive army to capture King Subal and all his hundred sons and ordered their incarceration in Hastinapur’s dungeon prisons. For all of King Subal and his hundred sons only one bowl of rice was sent as their daily meal and Subal soon knew that the objective was to starve them to death. Subal then chose his youngest and cleverest son to survive and everybody sacrificed their part of the meal so that Shakuni could survive and exact revenge for all of them.

Day after day, as he saw life ebb out of his ninety-nine brothers, Shakuni’s resolve to completely eliminate the Kuru dynasty began to take a firm hold within his psyche but even Subal knew that if Shakuni remained incarcerated all his life, he would never be able to exact revenge. So, King Subal did two important things on his deathbed – he indicated to Dhritarashtra that his last wish was freedom for Shakuni and to Shakuni he requested to make dice out of his bones – these dice would have his spirit in them and would always do Shakuni’s bidding. King Subal soon breathed his last and Shakuni was free once more with only two dice and an all- consuming passion for revenge to destroy the entire Kuru dynasty. Shakuni then stabbed himself in his knee so that his limp would forever remind him of his sole purpose in life.

Once free, Shakuni soon realised that odds were insurmountable against him – he had not been to his kingdom for years, he had no army, and traditional warfare would soon see him dead just like his father and brothers – and this is when the crafty and devious Shakuni emerges. Opportunity soon presented itself when he saw Duryodhan and his cousins – the illustrious Pandavs. A plan began to form in his mind. Only the Pandavs could destroy the Kauravs – and he had to somehow bring that about. The brilliant Shakuni soon realized that if he controlled Duryodhan’s mind – the vast resources of Hastinapur and the mighty warriors of Hastinapur’s army would be under his control. Today, we would call it mind games, Out-of-the-box thinking but Shakuni proved to be a master at it. Shakuni became an expert at Chausar or Chaupat – at throwing the dice so that he always won. One of his little known traits was that he was also a master illusionist. Not only did his prey think what he wanted him to think but they also often saw what Shakuni wanted them to see.

With the barest of resources but an indefatigable will, this poem traces how Shakuni keeps his promise to his dead father and brothers…

Poem

Shakuni – His unspoken words

Dhritrashtra, like my father, you too shall grieve,
On the death of all your hundred sons for as long as you live!
Your merciless torture of my family is imprinted on my broken leg forever,
I shall not rest until I avenge them, every step a painful reminder!

But I know what I was up against, your unconquerable army, warriors and all,
Only a bitter family feud with the mighty Pandavs could cause your downfall.
And so, I began to use treachery and deceit as weapons of mass destruction,
And sowed in your sons’ minds, seeds of hate, rivalry, anger, and suspicion!

It bore fruit when Duryodhan, in a game of dice, stripped them of everything,
Unknown to them, my father’s soul resided in my dice and always did my bidding.
It bore fruit when Duryodhan refused to part with land, in his words was my voice,
Leading them to self-destruction; war with the Pandavs was actually my choice.

Now on the battlefield, dying, I see carnage and destruction untold,
I smile with satisfaction, isn’t revenge a dish best served cold?