Duryodhana disgraced
Chapter 9
9th Grade, English
Background information
•
The story happens in the kingdom of Hastinapura. The eldest son of the
late king, Dhritarashtra, is born blind, so his younger brother, Paandu,
takes up the throne. But due to a curse by a Rishi, he dies in a forest
along with his second wife, Maadri. Paandu’s sons are called Pandavas
and Dhritarashtra’s sons are called Kauravas.
•
Paandu's first wife, Kunti, brings the Pandavas back to the city where
they are taken care of by their great grandfather Bhishma while the
throne is held by Dhritarashtra.
•
The Pandava brothers were Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula,
Sahadeva. .
•
Dhritarashtra has one hundred sons, eldest of whom
is Duryodhana. Dushasana is his second son. Duryodhana, is ambitious
of becoming king himself. But he learns that as long as the Pandava
brothers survive, he can not be made a king according to the laws. He
and the strongest of the Pandava brothers, Bhima, become mortal
enemies.
Background information…continued
•
Duryodhana forms a close friendship with a great archer, Karna. Karna
is the equal of Arjuna, the younger brother of Bhima, in archery.
Together with Karna, Duryodhana plans to win Pandavas in war.
•
Duryodhana's maternal uncle, Shakuni, poisons his mind and
encourages him to employ devious tactics. As a result of these
teachings, Duryodhana tries to kill the Pandavas and Kunti by setting
fire to a wax house he had made for the Pandavas.
•
But the Pandavas escape and live in exile for an year. At the end of the
year, they come back, now having married Draupadi. All five brothers
are married to the same woman.
•
Shakuni continues to poison Duryodhana's mind, and this culminates in
a cheating game of dice where Yudhishtira loses everything he owns,
including his kingdom, to Duryodhana.
•
Yudhishtira plays his own brothers, himself, and his wife in the hope of
winning everything back, but loses. Draupadi is humiliated and
Dushasana tries to disrobe her in public, but lord Krishna intervenes
and saves Draupadi.
•
Bhima vows to kill both Duryodhana and Dushasana, while Arjuna vows
to kill Karna, who had humiliated Draupadi during the dice game. As a
result of their loss in the dice game, the pandavas are exiled from their
kingdom for a total 13 years: 12 years of forest living and 1 year of
hidden living.
The Story
• Duryodhana wishes to visit Dwaitavana to see
the plight & suffering of Pandavas.
• The Kauravas reached the place with a great
army and camped four miles near Pandavas
abode.
• While hunting, they saw an attractive pond and
ordered to put a camp near the bank.
• But King of Gandharvas, Chitrasena had already
camped at that place and prevented
Duryodhana’s men from camping.
• Angered by this, Duryodhana orders his army to
clear Gandharvas from the place. But they fail.
• When Duryodhana came to know of this, he
took a bigger army and marched to fight with
them.
The Story…continued
• A big fight was fought and at last Karna and Kauravas lost
their chariot and had to retreat in haste & shame.
• Duryodhana was seized and was bound in chariot by
Chitrasena. The Gandharvas took many of the Kauravas
captive.
• Bhima heard of the news and rejoiced. But Yudhisthira
reproved him and told him to go and fight for Duryodhana
as he is their brother. Bhima thought it as unreasonable
due to Duryodhana’s old actions to him.
• Yudhistra heard the faint agony cry of Duryodhana from
distance. He felt bad and overruled Bhima’s objections
and asked him to go and help.
• Bhima and Arjuna rallied Kaurava forces and offered to
fight with Gandharvas. But Chitrasena was not ready to
fight with Pandavas and freed Duryodhana and said that
he just wanted to teach a lesson to arrogant Kauravas.
The Story…continued
• The disgraced Duryodhana felt humiliated and announced
his wish to fast until his death. He also asked Dushasana
to rule the kingdom henceforth.
• Karna consoled him by saying that this is not the way the
heroes should think. Shakuni cleverly interposed and
asked Duryodhana to return the kingdom to Pandavas and
befriend them instead of fasting to death.
• Duryodhana was not able to accept this and vowed to
conquer Pandavas. Karna also encouraged him and swore
to kill Arjuna in battle after thirteen years.
Activities..Comprehension
• Why were Duryodhana and Karuna very eager to go to Dwaitavana?
Duryodhana and Karna were eager to go to Dwaitavana to see the suffering of Pandavas and display
his happiness.
• Where did they stay in Dwaitavana?
They stayed in luxurious rest houses in a place four miles from the abode of Pandavas.
• How did they spend their time for the first few days?
They took stock of cows and bulls in the herd,they enjoyed the dance, the hunt, the sylvan sports and
other entertainment s arranged for them.
• Who was Chitrasena? Where was he staying in Dwaitavana?
Chitrasena was king of the Gandharvas. He was staying in the neighbourhood of the pool in
Dwaitavana.
• Why did Duryodhana march with a large army against Chitrasena?
Duryodhana wanted to setup camp in the same place as Chitrasena near the lake. Since Chitrasena
refused to vacate for the Kauravas, Duryodhana grew angry and marched with an army to drive
Chitrasena out.
Why couldn’t Duryodhana capture Chitrasena?
Chitrasena also had a large army and used magical weapons. Hence Duryodhana was not able to
capture Chitrasena.
Activities..Comprehension
• How did Kaurava princes and Karna fare in the battle?
Kaurava princes and Karna lost their chariots and weapons and had to retreat in haste and shame.
• How did Pandava princes came to know about the plight of Duryodhana?
The Pandavas heard the faint cry of Duryodhana and understood that Duryodhana had been captured.
• Why did Arjuna and Bhima offer battle to the gandharvas?
Yudhishthira was moved by the agonized cry of Duryodhana and ordered Arjuna and Bhima to rescue
him. Hence, the obedient brothers went to battle with the Gandharvas.
• Did Chitrasena fight with Pandavas? Give Reason
Chitrasena did not fight with the Pandavas. He just wanted to teach a lesson to the arrogant Kauravas.
He had no wish to fight with the Pandavas.
Activities..continued
1.
2.
3.
Bhima is the speaker.
Bhima wants to thank the Gandharvas as they have rightly fought with the
Kauravas who had come to mock the Pandavas.
Chitrasena is the Gandharva friend mentioned here.
Activities..continued
1.
2.
3.
‘our’ refers to Pandavas.
Gandharvas humiliated them.
They lost the battle with the Gandharvas and Duryodhana was captured in the
battle. Hence they were humiliated.
Activities..continued
1.
2.
3.
The speaker wants his brother to rule the kingdom henceforth.
The speaker felt disgraced as the Pandavas had freed him from the Gandharvas.
The enemies refer to Pandavas.
Activities..continued
1.
2.
3.
Karna said these words to Duryodhana.
The disgraced Duryodhana felt hurt and wanted to fast until death. So, Karna
said these words.
They refers to the Pandavas. They lost their kingdom and themselves in a game
of dice and had to live in exile for thirteen years.
Activities..continued
1.
2.
3.
Duryodhana is the ‘king’ referred here.
Duryodhana vowed to conquer the Pandavas. Hence the speaker said these
words.
Karna and Shakuni helped to regain his confidence.
Activities..continued
1.
2.
Duryodhana ordered a camp to be put up near the Pandavas to see their
suffering and display his happiness. So he reached Dwaitavana with a great
army and a large set of followers.
Initially the Kauravas were winning. Later, Chitrasena rallied his troops and used
his magical weapons to defeat the Kauravas.
Activities..continued
3.
4.
5.
6.
Yudhistra reproved Bhima that Duryodhana was a part of their family and it was
not the time to rejoice when Duryodhana was suffering.
Bhima thought that his request was not reasonable as Duryodhana had tried to
burn them alive in a wax house. He also felt that they should not feel sorry for
Duryodhana who had poisoned his food and tried to drown him. Further, he had
hauled Draupati in court and disgraced her.
Duryodhana felt ashamed and dejected. He even felt that it would have been
better if he had been killed by Chitrasena.
Karna consoled Duryodhana by saying that heroes of the Kuru race should not
commit suicide. Shakuni also said that instead of fasting to death, he should be
enjoying the kingdom.
Vocabulary
Make sentences
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
A flock of birds flew in the sky.
Sam took care of a herd of sheep.
A shoal of fish were swimming together.
The swarm of bees chased the young girl.
Usually poker is played with a pack of cards.
A group of friends started a business together.
The crowd clapped when the prize was announced.
A gang of robbers robbed the bank.
The Indian cricket team won the world cup.
The crew of the ship were lost in a storm.
The cast of the film Titanic were killed in a plane crash.
The staff in the hotel were courteous to the customers.
He arranged a pile of books in the shelf.
The clothes were piled in a heap on the floor.
The carpenter arranged a stack of boxes in garage.
The girl bought a set of clips for hair.
Phrases Meaning
Feel happy
Setting up a place
Send him away
Went in the opposite direction
Phrases Meaning
Protection or shelter
Capture and forcefully hold
Without a fight
Match the phrases with meaning
Language Activity
Direct and Indirect Speech
Bhima told Yudhishtira that Duryodhana had got what he deserved and felt that he
needed to thank their Gandharva friend.
Yudhistira reproved Bhima that it was not the time to rejoice and that the Kauravas
were their kith and kin and their humiliation at the hands of strangers was theirs as
well. He also told that they could not hold back and take it lying down. He said that
they must rescue them.
Language Activity
Direct and Indirect Speech
Duryodhana asked Dushasana to be crowned and rule the kingdom. He said that he
could no longer continue to live after he had become a laughing stock of his
enemies.
Karna said to Duryodhana that collapsing under sorrow did not befit heroes of the
Kuru race and that would only make his enemies happy.
Read Aloud