DURYODHANA.

Duryodhana originally named "Suyodhana" is a major character in the Hindu epic Mahabharata and was the eldest of the Kauravas, the hundred sons of blind king Dhritarashtra and Queen Gandhari. Being the first born son of the blind king, he was the crown prince of Hastinapura along with his cousin Yudhishtra who was a few days older than him. Karna was the closest friend of Duryodhana. Notably, Duryodhana, with significant assistance from Karna, performs Digvijaya Yatra when the Pandavas are in exile, conquering all kings in every direction of the world, establishing himself as the emperor of the world. He was a fearless warrior and never believed in miracles of Lord Krishna. Even when Lord Krishna tried to intimidate him by showing him his universal form prior to the commencement of war it had no effect on him. Although he had no powers or boons granted- unlike Pandavas, who were demi-gods, he always gave them a tough fight.

Suyodhana which means 'Great Warrior', but he changed his name to Duryodhana which means 'the unconquerable one' OR ‘difficult to fight with'; many people hold the misconception that he was called Duryodhana because of his misdeeds. Literally, Duryodhana means 'hard to conquer'.

Although loved by his family, Duryodhana and most of his brothers are not seen on the same level as the Pandavas in their adherence to virtue, duty, and respect for elders. Duryodhana is mentored by his maternal uncle Shakuni who masterminded most of Duryodhana's plots to humiliate and kill the Pandavas.

Duryodhana's hatred for the Pandavas stems from his sincere belief that he—being the son of the eldest brother—he is the heir-apparent to the throne of Hastinapura.  Because of his blindness, his father had to renounce the throne in favor of the younger Pandu. Duryodhana deeply believed that what was rightfully his was being given away to his older cousin Yudhishthira. He also felt that the Pandavas were sons of Kunti and Gods (devakin), not of Pandu. He never believed that their divine origin alone proved their superiority, on many occasions questioning their merits, and always calling them the 'Kaunteya' (sons of Kunti). He also bore a deep hatred of Bhima, who was younger than him but much stronger and dominated his brothers in sport and skill with his immense physical power and strength. When they were young, Bhima's bullying and taunting were a constant source of pain for Duryodhana and his brothers.

At the martial exhibition where the Kaurava and Pandava princes demonstrate their skills before their elders, their guru Drona and the people of the kingdom, the great effulgent warrior Karna appears and arrogantly challenges an unsuspecting Arjuna, who is considered by Drona to be the best of the warrior princes. But Karna is stopped when Kripa asks him to ascertain his caste, as it would be inappropriate for unequals to compete.

Duryodhana immediately defends Karna, and makes him king of Anga so that he is regarded as Arjuna's equal. Karna pledges his allegiance and friendship to Duryodhana. Neither of them know that Karna is in fact Kunti's oldest son, born to (sun god) Surya, before her marriage to Pandu.

Nonetheless, Duryodhana's friendship with Karna is genuine and deep.

In the Kurukshetra War, Karna is Duryodhana's greatest hope for victory. He truly believes that Karna is superior to Arjuna, and will inevitably destroy him and his four brothers. When Karna is killed, Duryodhana mourns his death intensely, even more than the death of his brothers.

The epic Mahabharata tells us all the exploits and traits that Duryodhana supported--he was a good person but was spoilt by the poisonous thought-feeding done by his uncle Shakuni.

When Duruyodhana was finally defeated by Bheema in one to one fight, he declares
"I have no interest in becoming a king now, I have lost all interests in this world which is fake and temporary, slain in battle I shall spend the rest of my afterlife in heaven in the company of my friends, relatives and well wishers. You defeated us by cheating and trickery, otherwise the likes of Bhishma, Drona, Karna amongst others were unconquerable. The victory which you obtained is not true victory and your names will bear black stains in the future. I have always been a good son, loyal friend, caring brother, and terrible enemy, while I lived I stamped my foot on the heads of those who dared oppose me in any way, I am happy to have died fighting and thank everyone who laid his life down for me, I die happy."

Duryodhana was a

1)  Loyal friend and trusting person.

2)       Respecter of merit.

3)       Man of Valor

4)      Good King

5)      Strategist

At Poruvazhy Peruviruthy Malanada Temple in Kerala's Kollam district, Duryodhana is worshipped as the main deity. It is the only temple in South India where a Kaurava is considered a God.

In the Kumaon region of Uttranchal, several beautifully carved temples are dedicated to Duryodhana and he is worshipped as the deity. The mountain tribes of Kumaon fought along with Duryodhana armies in the Mahabharata war; he was venerated as a capable and generous administrator.

Good Qualities of Duryodhana

Everybody speaks about the justice and good qualities but when the practice comes, hypocrisy is followed. This is clear to everybody because the inner self is the real witness. We cannot condemn such souls because these qualities are precipitated from millions of previous births and are like hard diamonds.

Every soul is made of the three qualities (Good Sattvam and bad Rajas and Tamas). Good quality may predominate and the bad qualities may exist as invisible traces of impurities. Any single quality of these three cannot exist in isolated way. When the human being boasts that he is completely good, the boasting itself is a bad quality (Rajas)! In some other time, Rajas and Tamas predominate even in the case of top most devotees.

Even the top most spiritual preacher like Veda Vyasa wrote that Ghritachi, a dancer from heaven, attracted him. 

Many critics argue that Duryodhana was not without positives. In the epic, he decries the means of discrimination employed by Dronacharya. He goes one step further to accord Karna place among the royals, by crowning him the King of Anga and standing by him whenever anyone pointed a finger at his lower-birth. 

 He seems to not care about the low birth of Karna and is the only one to vocally support Karna candidature in the archery contest without caring about caste inequality. When Draupadi refuses to allow Karna to string the bow at her Swayamvara because of his low birth, Duryodhana defends him saying "great sages, philosophers, and warriors have no source. They are made great, not born great".  

In modern light, his disrespect for discrimination and blind following of tradition is seen more positively. According to Mahabharata, when Bhishma has to pick Dhritarashtra's successor, he mentions to Vidura many of Duryodhana's positive qualities in comparison to Yudhishthira. Having spent so many years in the forest, Yudhishthira doesn't have Duryodhana's experience, military expertise, education, and courtly manners. Bhishma adds that Duryodhana is loved by the people, while Yudhishthira is an unknown quantity to them. However, Bhishma ultimately selects Yudhishthira for other reasons.

Duryodhana and Pandavas

And it is the offspring of the elder brother, who has the first claim on the crown. Moreover, the Pandavas were not truly the children of Pandu. They were born to five different Devas who have no lineage connected to Hastinapura. So their claim was suspect, if not void. So, was Duryodhana wrong in staking his claim?

Throne and Duryodhana

Duryodhana’s claim to the throne is not entirely unfounded. Duryodhana had a genuine right for the throne as the son of Dhritharashtra, the eldest of his generation.

Drona and Duryodhana

We should also recognize that Duryodhana faced prejudice of all elders all through his life. The bad omens at the time of his birth created prejudice in the mind of Bheeshma and Vidura who recommended that the child should be abandoned. Drona was strongly biased towards Arjuna and dead against Karna who was associated with Duryodhana.

Pandavas Fight

Of course, the Pandavas did not respond in the same way. Bheema killed Duryodhana by smashing his thigh – unfair means to down an enemy in gada yudha in which hitting below the waist is not allowed.

Duryodhana is lying in the battle field, awaiting death, badly bruised by the wounds inflicted by Bhima. He kept his three fingers in a raised position and is unable to speak. All the efforts made by his men to understand the meaning proved to be futile. Seeing his plight Krishna approached him and said "I know what issues occupied your mind. I will address them". Krishna identified the issues as:

·         Not building a fort around Hastinapur,

·         Not persuading Vidura to fight the battle, and

·         Not making Ashwatthama the commander-in-chief after the death of Drona.

As Duryodhana is about to die, he looks at Krishna malevolently. “I have been a good king,” he says. “I have conducted myself as a Kshatriya should and have come by death in battle. I’ll die and attain heaven, but you will live in grief and sorrow.” He fell back and flowers rained from the heavens to drop gently on his pain-wracked body. The Pandavas, wincing with shame, turned away. 

Legend has it that Yudisthira is angry that Duryodhana, the cause of much evil, has earned a place in heaven. Lord Indra explains that he has served his time in hell, and has also been a good king.

The epic Mahabharata tells us all the exploits and traits that Duryodhana supported--he was a good person but was spoilt by the poisonous thought-feeding done by his uncle Shakuni.

As we learn from the complete saga of Kuru Dynasty, the destiny does not favor the crooked and jealous. Duryodhana had to suffer ridicule, righteous hate and disapproval of elders at every step of his life.

It's believed that Duryodhana went to heaven after completing his time in hell owing to his bad Karma but ultimately dying as a warrior.

Yes, it's true. Pandavas had to incur the fruit of whatever they did and it actually landed them in the hell. The tricks they were forced to use during the war were not counted as good Karma!