INTRODUCTION

Regardless of the versions of Mahabharata, the only Character or personality who admires in the
humongous mythological epic is Shakuni. The entire epic is a brainchild of this witty Gentleman.
Although, Mahabharata was a war of siblings which led to the sacrifice of plenty of lives in
Kurukshetra, essentially, it was a battle of strategies between Shakuni & Krishna. Both of them
had played their cards in such a way to design the destiny of the epic. They have cautiously
inscribed the every segment of the epic with their ingenious directions to their respective cadres.

Eventually, as Krishna was a God down to earth in that generation, he was thoroughly
appreciated as the mastermind of the victory of Pandavas which was reasonably untrue. He was
indeed the strategic advisor of Pandavas throughout the war since its infancy with an objective
that Pandavas to win the biggest mythological battle. But, his counterpart, Shakuni was
surprisingly having the same objective with a different dimension that the dynasty of Kauravas
should be destroyed. Incidentally, he was playing the role of betrayal to his own cadre by
creating a false faith on him with his wicked & sly nature which is strategically impeccable. Lord
Krishna was equally crafty in his moves to take his folks towards the journey of victory.
Surprisingly, both of these masterminds had the same objective and the rest of the people who
had been involved in the epic were singing to the tunes of these two inadvertently. Hence, it was
actually a one sided game with planned plots throughout inclined towards one team. Kauravas
were thoroughly deceived by both the strategic decision makers.

According to one of the anecdotes of this historic epic, Shakuni was taking a revenge to
demolish the dynasty of Kauravas. Here goes the story of conspiracy behind Shakuni's revenge
towards the Kaurava clan.

Shakuni was actually Ghandhari's beloved brother. As per the astrological sign of Ghandhari, it
was told that her first husband would die immediately after marrying her. So, she was married to
a Goat and it was killed after the ceremony. This was a secret known only to Ghandhari's family
which comprised totally 100 sons and she was the only daughter of King Subala, their dad. Later
on, King Subala got her married to Dhritharashtra who was visually challenged since birth yet
king of Hastinapur, one of the powerful kingdom of the era. As her husband was blind,
Ghandhari had intentionally blindfolded herself to ensure that she should not see the world which
her Husband couldn't see.

Eventually, Dhritharashtra got to know about the secret of Ghandhari's first marriage and her
astrological signs. He got pissed off as he was deceived with this fact. He had imprisoned
everyone in Ghandhari's family including King Subala. Subala and his hundred sons were
tortured and were poorly fed in the prison. They were slowly dying due to inadequate food and
sanitation. Shakuni was the youngest of his hundred sons and wittiest also. Subala and his sons
started feeding their food to Shakuni so that eventually he could at least survive. Subala had
requested Dhritharashtra to free Shakuni alone out to ensure his clan survives. Dhritharashtra
agreed after Ghandhari's request and finally freed Shakuni out of his prison. By the time, all of
Shakuni's siblings expired and Subala was fighting with his last breath. Subala had asked
Shakuni to take the revenge for Dhritharashtra's horrible act by demolishing his clan completely.
Shakuni had taken his dad's words in the death bed and had made them as the mission his life. It
was also told that Subala had asked to use his thigh bone to make a magical dice which could be
used to engender the most massive war of the era. He had told Shakuni that whatever he wish,
the dice would display accordingly. It was the superpower given by Subala to Shakuni to
facilitate his mission of declining Dhritharashtra's kinship. So, it was the driving factor behind
Shakuni's story of revenge towards Kauravas as per the above storyline.

The absolute inference from the above finding substantiates my admiration of considering
Shakuni as the Hero of the greatest mythological battle. I have recently read in an article that
Krishna's strategies used in Mahabharatha are being discussed as case studies in few top business
schools of the world. I would strongly recommend the strategies of Shakuni should also be
studied to get a wholistic abundance of thought process behind the best strategies and tactics
being used in the story of the biggest Indian battle.

If there wouldn't be Shakuni, there wouldn't be a decline for Kauravas!

If there wouldn't be Shakuni, there wouldn't be triumphant Pandavas!

If there wouldn't be Shakuni, there wouldn't be appreciation bows to Lord Krishna!

If there wouldn't be Shakuni, there wouldn't be 'BhagavathGeetha'!

If there wouldn't be Shakuni, there wouldn't be an epic called 'Mahabharata'!

Shakuni had no real animosity toward the Pandavas. He was actually targeting Bheeshma, since
he was the reason that Gandhari had to sacrifice so much after her marriage to Dhritarashtra.
Additionally, Bheeshma's ancestors had been responsible for destroying Gandhara in the past; as
also for torturing Shakuni and his family. Hence, he wanted to wreak revenge on them. He was
well aware that Duryodhana was no match for the Pandavas and yet, he instigated his nephew,
knowing that this was the only way he could bring doom to the the Kuru Dynasty. To that extent,
he probably never really loved Duryodhana the way he claimed to love him.

Shakuni was also referred to as Saubala. His father, King Subala, had hundred sons and one
daughter, Gandhari. Shakuni was the youngest son; also the most intelligent of the lot. Since he
was the hundredth son, he was named Saubala.

Shakuni had two sons, namely, Uluka and Vrikaasur. These sons, however, were relegated to the
background, as his constant focus was on Hastinapur. Uluka always wanted his father to return to
Gandhara before the Pandavas returned from their one-year-long Agyaatvaas (anonymous stay).
However, he opted to stay on, in order to put the Kurukshetra war in motion.

He was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. Gandhari was a devotee of Lord Krishna and always
prayed to him to protect her and her family. However, Shakuni's Ishta Devata (favourite deity)
was Lord Shiva.

Shakuni has a temple dedicated to his worship, in the state of Kerala. Although he was a negative
character, there were some undeniably good traits in him, which were acknowledged by the
Kuravar community in the Kollam District of Kerala. The Pavithreswaram shrine there is
dedicated to him. It houses a throne, which he was believed to have sat on. They say this was the
very place where he attained Moksha (liberation). Shakuni was believed to have traveled across
the country with the Kauravas. When they reached the place where the temple is now located,
they divided their weapons amongst themselves. Ever since then, the place was called
Pakutheswaram and then later came to be known as Pavithreswaram. Interestingly, there is
another temple nearby, which is dedicated to Duryodhana. Shakuni is considered to be the
personification of the Dwapara Yuga and Duryodhana, as Kali of Kali Yuga. No Puja or ritual of
any sort is performed at Shakuni's temple. Offerings to him include tender coconut, toddy, silk
and so on. The temple is maintained to this day by the same Kuravar community.

Shakuni was the brother of Gandhari, the wife of Dhrutharashtra and mother of Kauravas. As per
Wikipedia, it seems Gandhari was married to a goat initially (without the knowledge of
Dhrutharashtra) before being married to Dhrutharashtra, according to Sooth Sayers advice. Later
on, when Dhrutharashtra came to know about this, he got angry and imprisoned all members of
Gandhari’s family.

Shakuni was the youngest brother of Gandhari among 100 other brothers. Since all of them were
sparsely fed (with one speck of rice each per day) in the prison, the family decided that at least
one of them could survive and gave all the rice to Shakuni so that he could live on to take
revenge.

Shakuni not only survived, but became very close to Kauravas and especially Duriyodhan. From
there on, he weilded his influence on Duriyodhan and master minded the great battle of
Mahabharat. He played a key part in inciting the Pandavas to play the game of dice and made
them lose their kingdom and everything else to Kauravas. The dice, it seems was made of a bone
from his fathers leg and would listen to Shakuni’s command. If Pandavas lost the game, it would
inevitably lead to a war between Pandavas and Kauravas.

It revolves around the Kauravas, Pandavas and Karna the pre-marital son of the mother of
Pandavas, Kunti. The former is portrayed as the villains and the later as the hero's, saviors of
justice, good deeds and virtue. In a game of dice, the Pandavas are compelled to play with all the
things they have including the brothers, the king and their common wife Draupati. All were won
by the Dhartarashtras, the Pandavas were humiliated and sent to forest for 12 years. In their
return to claim their lost things, a war is declared between Dhartarashtras and Pandavas with
Karna at Dhartarashtras' side due to pure friendship and Lord Krishna at Pandavas' side due to
the family relationship. Lord Krishna plays tactically outside the war frame and also within the
frame to defeat the Dhartarashtras. The entire story is written as a book called the Bhagavad
Gita.

Now you may ask a question why "Lord Krishna" is the villain. After all, he saved the
Pandavas who are considered to be "Good" people and won the battle for them. Let us see why?
 I would like to introduce another hero rather the "hidden hero" of Mahabharata, Karna.
Bhagavad Gita portrays him as an all time generous and a good individual. He never says no to
anybody whatever they may ask for. After all, he also carries the same blood as that of the
Pandavas. He is the son of the "Sun" and "Kunti". Since he is a premarital son of Kunti, after his
birth he was rolled in a cloth and set afloat on river Ganga. He was then picked up by a
charioteer of the king and raised was by him. He was born with armour and earrings. He was a
great warrior and learnt the art by himself by just observing the guru. He was better than the best,
Arjuna. Karna is a true friend of Duryodhana, the king of Dhartarashtras.

So now let us come to the point. We all know that Lord Krishna played a vital role in
Mahabharata. Why do I portray him as a villain?

I call Krishna the Villain keeping Karna in mind as my hero. The only mistake, people
say, he did wrong was being in the bad company. Otherwise Gita portrays him as a gem of a
person. At one stage after the war Krishna himself says to Arjuna that Karna is the real warrior
and better than him. There are reasons how he was pulled into the bad company. Karna was
denied his rights in several kingship activities saying he is not a Kshatriya and son fo a
charioteer. He was humiliated and cursed for the reason of his birth. Naturally, he accepted the
person who extended a friendly arm. Though Duryodhana involved in evil activities, he was a
good friend of Karna and he saw Karna as his Commander in his army. Here, Krishna doesn't
have anything to do, but as we all call him "GOD" he could have stopped Karna ending up with
bad company. This was his first fault as Karna is worth a human being.

During the "Game of Dice" still Karna refused to support the activities of Shakuni and
he didn't like him. The climax of the "Game of Dice", the humiliation of Draupadi, is heart
breaking from the Pandavas point of view but it all started and ended with the knowledge of
Krishna and I would say it of no mistake from Duryodhana. In the game of dice the Pandavas
lost their wife, Draupadi. Krishna didn't stop Pandavas from playing their wife. He didn't do that
or he was not there to advice Pandavas and Pandavas, didn't know how to respect a woman,
leave alone their wife. They saw their wife equivalent to objects to play with. Krishna didn't
advice them but had decided to play it against Duryodhana and his friend Karna, who didn't have
his presence in the court room. If Krishna had to punish, he should have done it with
Duryodhana and Shakuni and not Karna.
 Just before the great battle of Kurukshetra, Krishna strategizes on the strengths and
weaknesses of Duryodhana. He understands Karna to be the biggest strength and meets Karna to
reveal the truth of his birth and mother and asks him to join Pandavas, ditching Duryodhana, but
Karna refuses. Now Krishna, as he had failed, tries to get Karna through the back door by using
his weakness, generous nature etc. He orders Lord Indra to meet Karna and ask for his golden
armour and earrings fearing that these two will guide Karna to victory. Karna though, knew that
the person who had come was Lord Indra in disguise and also of his intensions, still cut off the
armour and gave it to Lord Indra. In return Indra gave him to use the "Bhramashtra".

Krishna was worried by the meeting of Lord Indra and Karna, though he succeeded
50% in his plan. Still Karna had the bhramastra which Lord Indra gave him. This time Krishna
tries to play with Karna's emotions and asks Kunti to meet Karna and let him know the truth.
Kunti tried to get him with Pandavas but as usual Karna refused. He also gave her a word that he
will not harm the Pandavas but "Arjuna" and also use the ashtray only once. Since Arjuna is in
the hands of Krishna, Karna knew that nothing may harm him. In return Karna didn't ask for
surety of his own life.

During the war, Karna spared every member of the Pandavas. When he met Arjuna
with Krishna, Krishna plays a trick. When Karna used his Bhramastra, Krishna cunningly sunk
the chariot down to save Arjuna. Karna's aim was the neck of Arjuna and since the chariot was
sunk, it missed Arjuna. The charioteer for Karna, said not to aim his neck but the waist. Karna
didn't consider that advice, due to that the charioteer left the battlefield angry leaving behind
Karna helpless. When Karna tries to get his chariot running, Krishna orders Arjuna to attack him
and so does Arjuna, but Karna remains alive. The Dharma that Karna did unto others was saving
him from dying. Krishna knew that killing Karna is difficult when they face him and ordered to
kill him when he was busy pushing the chariot.

To tackle this Lord Krishna appears as an old aged brahmin in front of Karna and asks
him for the fruits of all the dharma that he has done and as usual Karna gives that and dies. After
the war, when Lord Krishna meets Gandhari, she tells to Krishna "you knew what was going to
happen and you still could've prevented the war".
 Krishna could have stopped the war, he could have brought everyone together well before
anything could have happened.Krishna hit the weak points of Karna before the war could begin
knowing that he cannot win him in the battlefield. This is an ultimate misuse of Krishna's
powers, as he is the god and he knew what was going to happen.

Krishna sent Lord Indra to get Karnas armour, which is the super cunning behaviour one
can show. Krishna sent Kunti to get two promises, which is what we call playing politics. Kunti
didn't have an option. She had to spare Karna life in return for her five legal sons, as Karna is not
a legal child and if the world comes to know about it, they would curse her.

Krishna sunk the chariot to save Arjuna and he knew that Karna would not use the ashtray
for the second time as he had promised his mother. This is against the nature. Just to save
somebody of his interest how can nature be changed?

Krishna uses the chariot which has the divine power of Lord Hanuman, which protected
them from Karna's arrows. This is against the rules of war, as people with equal powers are
expected to face each other.

After all, Krishna knew that Karna is a righteous and generous person. If Karna would have
lived for some more time then dharma would have stood in the minds and hearts of the people.
By killing Karna, Krishna has eradicated dharma from people.