page_title: Duryodhana
section_title: Gada-yuddha
hierarchical_section_title: Duryodhana / Gada-yuddha
caption_attribution_description: English: The mace battle of Duryodhana and Bhima Author: Ramanarayanadatta astri Volume: 4 Publisher: [Gorakhpur Geeta Press] Possible copyright status: NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT Language: Hindi Call number: AAO-3248 Digitizing sponsor: University of Toronto Book contributor: Robarts - University of Toronto Collection: robarts; toronto Full catalog record: MARCXML [Open Library icon]This book has an editable web page on Open Library.
context_page_description: Duryodhana also known as Suyodhana, is a major antagonist in the Hindu epic Mahabharata and was the eldest of the Kauravas, the hundred sons of blind king Dhritarashtra and queen Gandhari. Being the firstborn son of the blind king, he was the crown prince of Kuru Kingdom and its capital Hastinapura along with his cousin Yudhishtra who was older than him. Karna was Duryodhana's closest friend. Notably, Duryodhana, with significant assistance from Karna, performs Vaishnava Yagna when the Pandavas are in exile. Duryodhana used his greater skill in wielding the mace to defeat opponents. He was also an extremely courageous warrior and he was said to be a good ruler. Duryodhana's greed and arrogance, were the two qualities said to lead to his downfall in the Mahabharata.
context_section_description: On the eighteenth day of the war, with his army reduced to himself, Ashwatthama, Kripa and Kritvarma, Duryodhana went to meditate in a lake. When the Pandavas and Krishna eventually found him, Duryodhana told them that he wanted to gift the kingdom to them, and retire to the forest. Yudhishthira rejected at the offer, telling him that Hastinapur is not Duryodhana's to gift. Instead, he offered that Duryodhana may pick any of the Pandava brothers to fight against one-to-one with a weapon of his choice, with the winner of the conflict the victor of the war.
  Despite his proposed advantage over Yudhishthira, Arjuna, Nakula, or Sahadeva with the gada, Duryodhana picked his nemesis Bhima. Despite Bhima's physical advantage, Duryodhana had the better technique due to his devotion to his craft. After a long and brutal battle between the two disciples of Balarama, Duryodhana began to exhaust Bhima, and nearly made Bhima faint.
  At this point, Krishna, observing the fight, called out to Bhima and signalled him by repeatedly clapping his own thigh with his hand. As intended, Bhima was reminded of an oath he had taken after the game of dice to crush Duryodhana's thighs. Bhima victoriously attacked Duryodhana with his mace and struck his thigh, mortally wounding Duryodhana. After having his face insultingly kicked by Bhima, Duryodhana bemoaned that he was slain by unfair means, given that it was illegal to attack below the waist in a mace fight.
  Infuriated at the violation, Balarama, the brother of Lord Krishna, raised his weapon to attack. Lord Krishna consoled Balarama, by reminding him of Duryodhana's evil deeds, and reprimanded him for trying to influence a war he refused to participate in.
  Lying defeated, Duryodhana boasted to the Pandavas about how he would die a glorious death, about how he got to enjoy Hastinapur while the Pandavas were in exile, and about how he would now spend the afterlife in the company of his friends and relatives. He again eviscerated the Pandavas for all their chicanery during the war and decried their legacy. Venerating his own character, Duryodhana proclaimed he will die happily.
caption: The final battle between Bhima and Duryodhana
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