The Gall of Gammon

Disclaimer: This story is my humble attempt to write a fanfiction of the epic Mahabharata. My intention is not to hurt anyone's sentiment.

Aum Namah Shivay!!

Major Jayant Roy, SM is a fictitious character. Any similarity with any living person is merely a coincidence.

Chapter 42

Hastinapur, Dwapar Yuga

Jayant/ Duryodhana POV

I was sitting on my room on a couch, with my eyes closed. The thoughts made a cobweb in my mind.

Balance of power.

These were three little, but impactful words. Everything in the world of politics was done to achieve this balance of power. In Dwapar Yuga, there was also a balance of power at first. As much as I understood Mahabharata, I had come to some conclusions and theories of my own.

In India, there were two large blocks or alliances of power. The eastern part of the country had a combination of allied kingdoms. They were Magadha under the rule of Jarasandha, Chedi under the rule of Sishupal, Karusha under the rule of Dantavakra, Poundra kingdom under the rule of Poundraka Vasudev, the fake imposter of Sri Krishna, Avanti kingdom under Vindha and Anuvindha, Vidarbha kingdom under Rukmi and Pragjyotishpur under the rule of Bhagadutta. In the western side of the country, there was another alliance. They were Kuru Kingdom, Gandhar, Trigarta Kingdom, Bahlika kingom, Anga Kingdom and Madra Kingdom. The ruler of Bahlika kingdom was Maharaja Bahlika, who was the brother of Maharaja Shantanu. Bahlika was killed in Kurukshetra war, by Bheem. After the war with Drupad, northern Panchal under Ashwatthama also entered into this alliance.

These two axes of power co-existed peacefully, but politics was playing its own games. The kingdom of Anga shared its border with Magadha. Now Jarasandha wanted an ally in the western part. He found his ally in Mathura. Jarasandha's two daughters got married to Kansa, the tyrant prince of Mathura. Jarasandha sent his army in the disguise of the wedding procession, and imprisoned Maharaja Ugrasena, the father of Kansa. Then Kansa became the king of Mathura, and Jarasandha got an ally in the west.

Then, the greatest politician and tactician of the world entered into this scenario. He was the one and only Vasudev Sri Krishna. His plan was simple, to disrupt this balance of power and unify the country under one centre of power.

I did not claim to understand the avatar of Narayana, because this was impossible. But I still could not understand one thing. In the Virata war, Arjun had no problem while fighting with Bhishma, Dronacharya, Kripacharya, Duryodhana and the Kauravas. Karna was his nemesis, so Arjun didn't have any hesitation to fight him. But why did he lose his nerve in Kurukshetra? Sri Krishna then gave him the knowledge of 'The Bhagawat Gita', and motivated Arjun to fight.

"Where there is Dharma, there is Krishna. Where there is Krishna, there is victory." I muttered the verse of Bhagwat Gita.

The first step taken by Sri Krishna was to kill Kansa. In a brilliant political masterstroke, he reinstated Ugrasena again into the throne of Mathura. Sri Krishna and Balrama were raised in the village of cowherds, so in the societies eyes, they lacked the proper qualification for a king. Jarasandha was enraged after the killing of Kansa, so he attacked Mathura. His army of 23 Akshauhini was defeated by Sri Krishna and Balrama. Jarasandha attacked Mathura 17 times, but each and every time, he was defeated. The Kuru Kingdom had a marital alliance with the Yadavas, but they probably turned neutral in those wars.

Sri Krishna then made another brilliant strategy. He left Mathura and went to Dwarka, a city in the western coast. Jarasandha had tasted defeat 17 times, but he was still adamant for revenge. But, the city of Dwarka was way far from Magadha, thus a tactical disadvantage for him. So he started planning a human sacrifice of hundred kings imprisoned by him. He wanted to please Mahadev by this foolish way, but no Devta could be pleased ever with the blood of innocent, be it animals or humans.

Dwarka was now desperately looking for allies. Though Sri Krishna was the supreme entity, but he was born in human world and had to abide by the rules of human world and the rules of Karma. If he wanted, one stroke of his Sudarshan chakra could slay all the evils in this world, and there was no reason for that Great War. But then came the philosophy of, "do your duties, without thinking the result." Sri Krishna needed allies for cleansing this earth of evil (?), and then he found someone who was devoted to him. He was the son of his aunt Kunti, the mighty Arjun.

Sri Krishna knew that Duryodhana would never leave the throne for Yudhisthir. The house of lacquer plot was clearly a sign of it. I myself thought that the plan was a foolish move. The better idea was to challenge Yudhisthir for a duel. But due to the Kauravas defeat in the Drupad war, which thankfully I managed to avert, Duryodhana didn't have much choice. But in case of challenging Yudhisthir, Bhishma, Dronacharya and Vidura would surely create a barrier.

Now, in case of my analysis, Sri Krishna planned a third axis in this land. Drupad was burning with humiliation and revenge after losing half of his kingdom. He already had someone who could be the cause of death of Bhishma, now he needed someone who could kill the mighty Dronacharya. He performed a yagnya for a son who would be the slayer of Drona and he got Dhristadyumnya. Then the fire born princess came into the world.

Draupadi!!

Now each and every piece on the chessboard was ready. The time had come to play the game, the great game of Mahabharata.

In Draupadi's swyamvar, Sri Krishna swiftly made his move. Draupadi refused Karna, the only archer who could have pierced the eye of the fish except Arjun and Sri Krishna himself. We all know who gave her this beautiful thought. Karna was humiliated, and he took revenge in the vilest way possible. It was him who called Draupadi a 'prostitute' in the infamous game of dice. It was him who remarked that the common wife of five men had no dignity, so she shouldn't have any shame without clothes. Though later he repented to Sri Krishna alone for this blunder, this incident became a black mark on his golden character like his armour.

I shuddered in my mind while thinking about that incident. I remembered watching Mahabharata in television. The dice game and humiliation of Draupadi was always something that saddens me. To tell the truth, I was not a fan of her. But even then, no woman should experience that kind of violence. This incident managed to turn the tide. The greyness was washed, and the situation became black and white. That idiot Yudhisthir, who himself staked his brothers and wife, was painted as the victim.

But I fast forwarded a lot of time. Let's get back for sometimes.

After the bifurcation of Kuru Kingdom, Indraprastha was also desperate for allies. But Duryodhana made a blunder here. He didn't act as quickly as he should. Only Shakuni, the most intelligent amongst the human beings, understood the real threat. He persuaded Duryodhana to learn mace-fighting from Balrama, which was a thing I was also eagerly waiting for. Duryodhana was a talented mace fighter himself, so he became a favourite student of Dau Balrama. Then Shakuni tried to make a marital alliance with Dwarka, by organising the marriage of Duryodhana and Subhadra. Again, Sri Krishna cunningly failed this plan. He told Arjun and Subhadra to run away, but Subhadra must drive the chariot, so it seemed that Subhadra herself abducted Arjun, not the opposite. He clearly used a loophole here, if Arjun abducted Subhadra officially (?!), then Balrama and the Yadavas would attack Indraprastha, but they couldn't attack their dearest sister. Draupadi, who enforced a rule for no entry of the other wives of Pandavas in Indraprastha, accepted her with open arms too.

Then the correct time came. Bheem killed Jarasandha in a wrestling match. Then Pandavas organised a Rajsuya Yagnya, and Yudhisthir was declared the emperor of Aryavart. At the time of that yagnya, Shishupal was killed by Sri Krishna. Sri Krishna also killed Dantavakra, who attacked him while he was going back to Dwarka. Both the new rulers of Chedi and Magadha allied with Yudhisthir, and the might of the Pandavas increased a lot. Then while a tour of the magical palace of Indraprastha, Duryodhana fall down in a pool of water. The Pandavas and Draupadi laughed at him, and a popular myth took its birth, which was Draupadi insulting Duryodhana saying "a blind man's son is also blind."

Now the balance of power was already destroyed. The old alliances were broken, and new alliances were made. Then the infamous game of dice happened. The Pandavas had to go for exile, but with Sri Krishna's advice again, they utilised the time well. Yudhisthir learned to play dice from a sage, a skill that helped him in his disguise at the time of hiding. Arjun got Pashupatastra from Mahadev and a curse for being a transgender for one year from the nymph Urvashi, which helped him in hiding. After those thirteen years, the Pandavas came back, with another ally by their side. King Virata of the Matsya Kingdom made a marital alliance with them. Pandavas saved him in the war with Susharma, the king of Trigarta Kingdom and the army of Hastinapur.

Then the time came for another brilliant move by Sri Krishna....

"Rajkumar Duryodhana ki jay!!" a voice broke the web of thoughts in my mind. I opened my eyes and saw a guard standing in front of me. The guard bowed to me, then said that Sahdeva wanted to meet me before going to the forest.

I heaved a sigh, and went outside myself. There, I saw the youngest Pandava standing outside. He was clad in saffron attire, the dress of sages. I didn't know why, but my heart filled with sadness after watching him.

"Pranipaat Bhrata Duryodhana.", He crossed his hands. I was at a loss of words; all I could do was to nod. I touched my right hand to his head to bless him. I didn't know that if the blessings of this human being from Kali Yuga have any power, but still I gave him my blessings.

"May Mahadev always make you happy."

Sahdeva nodded. His little young face had a small smile. His eyes were having an unknown glow.

"We are leaving for the forest now. But before leaving, I wanted to see you for once."

I nodded to him.

"Let's go outside Bhrata. My mother and other brothers and mother are preparing to leave the palace. We must do hard penance to avoid our death."

"You will not die. Your brothers will not die because..."

"Yes, because we are sons of Devtas, and they would shield us from death. But we must remember one thing, if our time and purposes in this world end, then death would come to all of us, and no Devta would shield us then."

"Well said, little boy, well said." I lightly slapped his back. Sahdeva winched in pain.

"Ow! It hurts!"

"Sorry, dear brother." I apologized to him. Then we walked outside of the palace, where the other Pandavas and Maharani Kunti were standing. All of them were wearing saffron dresses. Maharaja Dhritarashtra was requesting Yudhisthir to have a group of soldiers as their bodyguards. But, son of Dharma refused him saying that hermits didn't need any guards for them.

"The life and death is in the hand of Narayana. If he wants our lives, then no guard would prevent it."

Pitamah Bhishma, Kripacharya and Vidura were standing beside him. They all had a sad expression in their faces, but Yudhisthir pleased them with his answer. Mata Gandhari was hugging Kunti. Her tears made her blindfold wet. Kakishri Kunti was crying to. Mata Gandhari loved Kunti very much, though I knew that they had a little bit of rivalry amongst them. Then I saw Karna, who was standing at a far corner. He was watching Kakishri, with a sad expression in his face. Then he saw me looking at him, and quickly masked his expression. He nodded to me, I replied him with a nod.

Then I saw Yudhisthir coming towards me. He stood in front of me and crossed his hands.

"I have a small request to you. Please pray for our mother's long life."

His voice was sincere. I nodded to him. I didn't like Kakishri for what she had done with Karna, but still, I was not an enemy of her life. To be fare, I didn't even want the five half devtas to die. I want to be coroneted as the King of Hastinapur, in front of their eyes.

"I will prey.", I replied curtly. Then I didn't know what came into my mind, and it seemed like someone else was controlling my tongue.

"Tell your brothers that if someone asked them a question, then they should oblige. If they couldn't answer the question, instruct them to inform you."

Yudhisthir curiously looked at me, and then nodded affirmatively. I saw the other four Pandavas, who also heard my words. They were curious. I was curious too.

Then the six of them left on two chariots. I was standing outside, watching them leaving. Then I saw a long shadow behind me. It was Radheya Karna.

"Mitra, I want to ask you something.", He said in a shaking voice.

So, this is chapter 42.

The Pandavas had gone to the forest. Karna wanted something from his friend.

What would happen next?

Read to find out.

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