A Curse That Shook The Heavens

From "I am afraid of darkness" to "I am ready to live with it," she showed the world what love is. With a piece of cloth on her eyes, she went on to give birth to a war that changed the horizon of Bharatavarsha. Let's delve into the life of a woman who sacrificed her eyesight to support her husband's blindness, a woman whose curse shook the entire clan of Lord Krishna, a woman whose name was Gandhari.

Gandhari: The tale of a lonely queen; Image Source: Manipal The Talk Network

The heaven and the earth shook with her uncontrollable rage. No one could stop a mother's heart-wrenching cry for her dead sons. Her once well-done hair was scattered in all directions, her beautiful eyes were now filled with tears, and her face was filled with pure anger and hatred towards someone who started the entire war. "Oh, Madhusudana, you made a plan to destroy the entire Kuru clan in the pretense of protecting dharma, and you executed it with such perfection that no one could identify your true intentions. I curse you, Krishna, that one day you will slay your relatives, your cousins, sons, and grandsons will slay each other, and you will wander in desolation in the woods. You will get killed by the hands of a stranger. All the women of your house would go mad and run into the woods. No one in your house would be able to live a peaceful life.", she said with a fit of unmeasurable anger in her eyes.

Gandhari was devastated at the death of her sons. As the wife of King Dhritarashtra and queen mother of Hastinapur, she had never expected to face such a situation where she would be sitting amidst the dead bodies of her sons. Going back to the days of yore, she thought of her childhood, filled with innocence and happiness.

Even after being the daughter of Subala, the king of Gandhara, Gandhari was never arrogant about wealth and beauty. Regarded as the reincarnation of Goddess Mati, she was pretty popular as a pious and devoted girl throughout the kingdom. When Gandhari was young, she always prayed to Lord Shiva, and as a result, she also received a boon to bear a hundred children. It is said that Bhishma chose Gandhari to be the wife of Dhritarashtra only because of this boon as he wouldn't have to worry about the throne remaining vacant.

When Gandhari learned that her would-be husband was blind, she decided to share his ill-fate and tied a blindfold in front of her eyes. If her husband could not see the colourful world, she decided to acquaint herself with the black world. When she was young, she was always afraid of the night as her room would fill with strange darkness that frightened her. Thus, she always insisted her maiden keep hundreds of lamps lightened up in her room so that she could sleep peacefully. From a woman afraid of darkness, she transformed into a woman who gracefully accepted the black world to support her husband.

When Gandhari's brother, Shakuni, heard that her sister was getting married to a blind man, he was furious, and this was why he had pure hatred for Dhritarashtra. He thought that it was Dhritarashtra's blindness that forced Gandhari to tie a blindfold in front of her eyes. But different versions of Mahabharata tell us things differently. In Vyasa's Mahabharata, we see no mention of Shakuni objecting to Gandhari's marriage with the king of Hastinapur. In Adi Parva of Mahabharata, it has been written that it was Shakuni who took Gandhari to Hastinapur with the marriage proposal between her and Dhritarashtra.

After Gandhari was married to Dhritarashtra with great pomp and show, she got to know that he would not be the future king of Hastinapur due to his blindness. Thus, Pandu was declared the future king of Hastinapur. But sad times for Dhritarashtra did not exist for long as Pandu went on exile after Sage Kindama cursed him. Finally, Dhritarashtra was declared the king, and Gandhari became the de facto queen of Hastinapur.

One fine day, Veda Vyasa came to the palace of Hastinapur and was exhausted after the long journey. Gandhari took care of him, and in return, she also received a boon from him that all her hundred sons would be powerful and intelligent.

However, she carried the fetus for two long years when she became pregnant. Meanwhile, Kunti gave birth to three sons, and this news was not taken well by Gandhari. Frustrated, she struck her belly, and all that came out was a massive lump of flesh that was as hard as an iron ball. When she was about to throw the ball, Vyasa arrived and stopped her. He ordered the maidens to bring a hundred pots filled with clarified butter, and in the meantime, he sprinkled cold water over the lump of flesh. When Vyasa had divided the lump into hundred pieces, Gandhari said that she also wanted a daughter. Once again, Vyasa divided the lump into one hundred and one parts and put them into the pots full of unclarified butter. After one whole month, a hundred sons and one daughter were finally born.

Gandhari's happiness knew no bounds when she saw her children. However, the entire atmosphere changed when the first child, Duryodhana, was born. Duryodhana cried like a jackal and caused violent winds and wildfire to blow in all directions. Worried at his unusual behaviour, Dhritarashtra called all the elders of the house, including Bhishma, Vidura, and numerous learned Brahmanas, who predicted that Duryodhana was an ill omen for the kingdom and should be renounced. But due to the love for his son, Dhritarashtra did not take their advice seriously, and the result was something that destroyed the entire Kuru clan.

Once a happy mother with all her hundred sons playing around her, today she was devastated with all her sons lying dead around her. Gandhari knew that this was her sons' fate and decided to accept it. But she had to stand up for herself and her sons. Wiping her tears angrily, she stood up with the same grace and poise that she had always possessed. Her eyes were raging with fire, which was directed to each person who was present during the Kurukshetra war. Her eyes could burn anyone who came in front of her. Though her eyes were covered, everyone could sense the amount of pain she was going through.

After a few days, when the Hastinapur began the preparations for the new king's coronation, Yudhisthir came to Gandhari to seek her blessing. But Gandhari was in no mood to give her blessings to a man who killed her sons. However, Vyasa advised her that she should not be angry with the Pandavas, especially Yudhisthir, as Duryodhana lost the war and his life because of his own mistakes. Controlling her anger, she said with a grave voice, "Let dharma prevail." When Yudhisthir bent to touch her feet, she could not control her anger and lifted the veil. But then again, she controlled her rage and lowered it. Everyone in the court knew that Gandhari's sense of control over her anger prevented her from burning Yudhisthir to ashes with the uncontrollable rage in her eyes.

Heartbroken at the thought of never seeing her sons again, she had lost all interest in living. Thus, she decided to retire to the forest along with Kunti and Dhritarashtra. Life was not easy in those wild forests. But she found the trees and the animals and the birds more peaceful than the comforts of the palace of Hastinapur. Kunti, Gandhari, and Dhritarashtra burnt themselves in the fire of the Himalayan forest and left for the heavenly abode to gain moksha or salvation.