History And Secrets Of Shakuni In Mahabharata

Who Was Shakuni

Shakuni was the king of the Gandhar Empire. This place is in present-day Afghanistan. He was the brother-in-law of Dhritarashtra, the father of Hastinapur Maharaj as well as the Kauravas, and also the mother’s uncle of the Kauravas. Shakunii is believed to be the hand behind Duryodhana’s devious policies and is considered to be the main culprit for the Kurukshetra war.

In the Mahabharata saga, Mama Shakunii of the Kauravas is known for his devious intelligence. Shaakuni, a professional in deceptiveness, fraudulence, and wickedness, did lots of tricks to devastate the Pandavas till the battle. 

1. Parents of Shakuni (Mother/Father)

Shakunii Gandhar Naresh was the son of King Subal. Shakuni was born in the Rajprasad of King Subal of Gandhara. He was the more youthful sibling of Mata Gandhari. He was the master of great intelligence from birth, so King Subal was dear.

2. Shakuni In Jail (Prison)

According to legend, it is believed that before the wedding of Gandhari to Dhritarashtra, astrologists recommended that there is a situation in Gandhari’s very first marital relationship, so do her initial marriage from another person then wed Dhritarashtra. For this, Gandhari was married to a goat at the behest of astrologists. Later that goat was sacrificed. It is said that astrologers suggested this to rid Gandhari of any wrath. Thus, Gandhari was considered widowed as a symbol, and later, he was married to Dhritarashtra.

3. Gandhari Was A Widow

This fact was not known to the Kaurava side for a very long time. When Maharaj Dhritarashtra came to know about this, he became furious. He recognized that Gandhari had been wed to somebody before and did not understand why he was killed. Dhritarashtra got sad concerning this, and he blamed Gandhari’s father, Raja Subal, for this. Dhritarashtra put Gandhari’s father, Raja Subal, in prison along with the whole family.

In prison, they were given only one person’s food to eat. How would one fill one’s stomach with only one person’s food? It was a conspiracy to starve the whole family. King Subal decided that this meal should be given only to his youngest son so that none of his family could survive. And that was Shakuuni. At the time of marriage, his brother Shakuuni with Gandhari and one of his Sakhi elders came to Hastinapur, and both stayed here.

4. Shakuni Was Freed From Jail (Prison)

One by one, all the sons of Subal started dying. Everyone used to give their share of rice to Shaakuni to survive and destroy the Kauravas. Subal prepares his youngest kid Shaakuni for vengeance. Before his fatality, Subal begged with Dhritarashtra to leave Shakunii, which Dhritarashtra had accepted. King Subal’s youngest kid was none other than Shakuni. Shakunii saw prior to his eyes completion of his family, as well as Shaakunii was finally active.

When Duryodhana, the senior crown prince in the Kauravas, saw that only Shaakuni remained alive, he asked his father to forgive him and return to his country or stay in Hastinapur and see his rule. Shakunii decided to remain at Hastinapur.

5. A Sense Of Revenge

Shakunii, who taught the Kauravas the way of deceit and deceit, used to help them destroy the Pandavas, but they only felt revenge for the Kauravas. Because Dhritarashtra had put Shakuni’s entire family in jail and he was given only a handful of food. Shaakuni saw his entire household starving behind bars before his eyes. You may wonder what will take place in his mind and also for whom he will do it? It is said that Shakunii took vengeance, but only Shakuni can tell how right it is because no man would want to make a conspiracy to destroy the family of his sister, or maybe he wants to.

6. Shakuni Became A Minister

Shakuuni won everyone’s trust in Hastinapur and became the guardian of 100 Kauravas. Due to his faithful work, Duryodhana designated Shakunii as his minister. First, he subdued Gandhari and Dhritarashtra and asked him to plot a conspiracy against Dhritarashtra’s brother Pandu and establish Dhritarashtra’s dominion the throne. Then gradually, Shakunii tied Duryodhana in the guise of his intelligence. Shaakuni not just incited Duryodhana against Yudhishthira yet additionally laid the foundation of the battle of Mahabharata.

Shakuni’s respect was further increased when the trick was successful for any reason. Gandhari understood his brother’s tricks and told his son to stay away from evil, but he did not keep up. Gandhari was compelled between husband, brother, and son.

7. Shakuni’s Dice

Really few people will understand that Shakuni’s dice to gamble was the foundation of her dead father. After his father’s death, Shakunii had kept some of his bones with him. Shakuni excelled in betting as well as likewise aroused his fascination for gambling among the Kauravas. 

8. Shakuni Death

Shakunii supported Duryodhana in the battle of Kurukshetra. Shaakuni hated the Pandavas as much as he hated the Kauravas because he had got sorrow from both. Shakunii gave many pains to the Pandavas. Bhima harassed it on several occasions. In the Mahabharata war, Sahadeva killed Shakunii along with his son.

9. Who Killed Shakuni

According to the Puranas, Shakuni was slaughtered by Sahadeva in the battle of Kurukshetra, and all his brothers were slaughtered by Arjuna.

Even when injured, Shaakuni fought with Sahadeva for a long time and was eventually killed by Sahadeva. Sahadeva slaughtered Shaakuni on the 18th day of the war.

10. Shakuni Previous Birth

Kansa had also taken Mathura under his rule, and he started tormenting the subjects in many ways. Shishupala, son of Sri Krishna’s aunt, also had an inclination towards Kamsa. Kansa, in his former birth, was an Asura named ‘Kalanemi’ who was killed by Bhagwan Vishnu. It was said about Kansa that only a son of his sister Devaki would kill him.

11. Shakuni Temple

It is said that when the Mahabharata War came to an end, Duryodhana’s maternal uncle Shaakuni atoned that there was a lot of misconduct with the Mahabharata. This not only killed thousands of people but also caused incomplete damage to the empire. In this repentance, Shaakuni became very frustrated and renounced household life and adopted sannyas. Later, Mama Shakunii did the hard penance of Lord Shiva in Kollam in the state of Kerala to concentrate his distressed and heartbroken mind. After this, Shiv Ji gave a glimpse of his life by giving him darshan.

Later, at the place where Mama Shakuni did penance, at that place the temple is presently called Myamkottu Malancharuvu Malnad Temple. While sitting on the stone, he did penance to Shiva. That stone is worshiped. Presently, this place is called Priteshwaram.

Goddess Mata, Kiratamurthy, and Nagaraja are worshiped in this temple apart from Mama Shaakuni. Malakkuda Maholasavam Utsav is organized annually at this place, which is attended by thousands of people. Mama Shaakuni is worshiped on this occasion. It is also said that once the Kauravas reached this place in search of Pandavas. At that time, he had told Shukani Mama about Kollam.

Three Dangerous Tricks Of Mama Shakuni

1. First trick 

Under one plan, once the evil Duryodhana planned to poison Bhima at Shakuni uncle’s behest. Everyone gathered at the Pranamakoti place on the Ganges’ banks for water sports and celebrations, and according to Duryodhana’s plan, the poison was added to Bhimsen’s food by keeping silent. Then Bheeshtha Bhima is pushed into the water from the high bank of the Ganges. Other Pandavas do not also find out about it. Aryak, his maternal grandfather in Bhima, takes him to Vasuki Nag. Vasuki brings Bhima alive with his knowledge and fills thousands of elephants in it.

2. Second Move

According to Shakuni’s plan, the five Pandavas are sent to Varanavat, where a plan was made to burn the Pandavas alive by setting fire Lakshagriha. But at the same time, Mahatma Vidur sent a secret message to the Pandavas, and Shakuni’s trick was revealed. Then the five Pandavas dug the tunnel from a confidant of Vidur, and through the same tunnel, they came out of the Lakshagriha and went into the Gangapar forest. Here in Hastinapur, the news was spread that the Pandavas were killed in the Lakshagriha accident. But after some time, Vidurji brought the Pandavas to Hastinapur and then was given the kingdom of Indraprastha.

3. Third Move 

When Yudhishthira got the kingdom of Indraprastha, he performed a Rajasuya Yajna to expand his empire. Due to this sacrifice, his kingdom expanded, and his power increased. Concerned with this growing power, Shakunii, along with Duryodhana, created a new scheme of fraud.

It Was Due To Shakuni That The Pandavas Were Assigned A Barren Area After Partition.

Due to Shakunii, after the partition of Pandavas and Kauravas by Maharaj Dhritarashtra, the Pandavas were assigned a barren region. Still, the Pandavas, with their hard work, converted it into Indraprastha. Duryodhana got a chance to see this city during the Rajasuya Yajna performed by Yudhishthira. After entering the palace, Duryodhana mistook that land of water in a vast chamber and mistook it as a whole land and fell into it. Seeing this, Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas, laughed at him and said that ‘the son of a blind man is blind.’ Duryodhana became very angry after hearing this.

Shakuni Plans To Play Dice

This feeling of revenge in Duryodhana’s mind was conveyed by Shaakuni and taking advantage of this. He planned to play the game of dice. He told his plan to Duryodhana and said that you could take revenge by defeating him in this game. To beat the Pandavas through the game, Shaakuni invited all the Pandu sons to play with great affection and then began the game of throwing dice between Duryodhana and Yudhishthira. Shaakuni was lame from the feet but was extremely proficient in Chaucer or Dutekrida. His mastery of Chaucer or his mastery over the dice was such that he used to get the marks he wanted. In a way, he proved that the dice had predetermined dice marks on the rotation of his fingers.

At the beginning of the game, Shaakuni asked Duryodhana to win a few innings in favor of Yudhishthira to encourage the Pandavas towards the game. Gradually, in the excitement of the game, Yudhishthira lost all his wealth and empire in gambling.

Pandav Brothers Wife Draupadi At Stake

In the end, Shaakuni promised to return everything to Yudhishthira on one condition if he bets on the rest of his Pandava brothers and his wife, Draupadi. Yudhishthira was compelled to listen to Shakuni, and in the end, he also lost this innings. The humiliation of Pandavas and Draupadi proved to be the biggest reason for the Kurukshetra war in this game.