Another rift grows when the Pandavas
contest the right of Duryodhana’s friend
Karnato take part in an archery match,
claiming that Karna’s unknown parent-
age makes him unfit to compete with
kings. Duryodhana skirts that issue by
proclaiming Karna as the King of Anga,
but by then the bad bloodbetween the
cousins is well-established.
This bad blood becomes apparent
in many different plots. Duryodhana
first tries to kill the Pandavas by build-
ing a flammable house of lacfor them,
which is then set on fire. The Pandavas,
however, are able to escape unharmed.
Duryodhana later entices Yudhishthira
(a Pandava brother) into a game of dice.
Yudhishthira wagers and loses every-
thing that he has, including himself, his
brothers, and their common wife
Draupadi. After this loss Duryodhana
and his brother Duhshasana publicly
humiliate Draupadi, after which Bhima
swears a solemn oath to kill them both.
Dhrtarashtra gives the Pandavas their
freedom, which they promptly lose in
yet another game of dice. The outcome
of this loss is that the Pandavas agree to
spend twelve years in exile in the forest,
and live incognito for the thirteenth,
with the condition that if they are dis-
covered in the thirteenth year the cycle
will begin anew.
Despite the best efforts of Duryodhana’s
spies, the Pandavas manage to escape
detection during the thirteenth year,
and at its conclusion send envoys to
Duryodhana to claim their share of the
kingdom. Perhaps emboldened by
Yudhishthira’s comment that he and his
brothers will be satisfied with a mere
five villages, Duryodhana replies that he
will not give them enough land to put
under the point of a needle. In the face
of such stubbornness and injustice, the
Pandavas prepare for war to claim what
is rightfully theirs. During the war
Duryodhana fights valiantly, but in the
eighteen days of battle sees his forces
disintegrate around him. His final battle
is with Bhima, who in exchange for
Duryodhana’s earlier insult to Draupadi
(he had directed her to sit on his thigh,
which was a euphemism for the
genitals), smashes Duryodhana’s thigh
with his mace, killing him.Dushana
In the Ramayana, the earlier of the two
great Indian epics, Dushana is one of the
brothers of the demon-king Ravana.
Together with his brother Khara,
Dushana tries to avenge the honor of
their sister Shurpanakha, whose ears
and nose have been cut off by Rama’s
brother Lakshmana. In a fierce battle
with their demon(supernatural being)
army, Rama destroys the army and kills
Khara and Dushana. Seeing the failure
of her two brothers, Shurpanakha goes
to Ravana to beg for vengeance. Ravana
realizes he cannot kill Rama in battle but
resolves to avenge his sister by
kidnapping Sita, wife of Ravana. This
sets in motion the plot of the latter part
of the epic.Dushyanta
In the Mahabharata, the later of the
two great Hindu epics, Dushyanta
is a king of the Lunar Line and
the husband of Shakuntala. Their
romance is also described in Kalidasa’s
drama Abhijnanashakuntala. Dushyanta
meets Shakuntala, who is living in a for-
est ashram(abode of an ascetic), while
he is hunting in the forest. They fall in
love and are married by their mutual
consent. After a short time Dushyanta
has to return to his kingdom, with
Shakuntala to follow soon after. In the
meantime, Shakuntala has been cursed
by the sage Durvasasthat her beloved
will completely forget her, although
Durvasas later modifies the curse, and
says that Dushyanta will remember
everything if Shakuntala can show him
any proof of their union. The bulk of the
story in both episodes is concerned
with Shakuntala’s trials and tribulations
as she strives to regain her rightful place
as queen. In both versions, Dushyanta
is a minor character, but clearly an
essential one.Dushyanta