Offbeat: Who was that brother of Duryodhana whose death saddened even the Pandavas
There are many characters in Mahabharata about whom many people do not know anything. One such character is Vikarna. He was one of the 100 brothers of Duryodhana. Vikarna was more intelligent than his other brothers and he also understood religion. When Dushasan disrobed Draupadi in the court, Vikarna also opposed it.
As we know Gandhari had 100 sons and 1 daughter. Her children were born due to a boon. The eldest of these 100 sons was Duryodhana and the youngest was Dushasan. Vikarna was also one of her 100 sons. He had an understanding of good and bad. He also opposed the disrobing of Draupadi.
What did Vikarna say?
When Dushasan dragged Draupadi to the royal court, Draupadi asked- 'When Maharaj Yudhishthir had lost himself in gambling, he had no right to put me at stake, what will the people sitting here say on this.' The entire court became silent after listening to Draupadi's words, at that time Vikarna said, 'Draupadi is right, after losing himself, Yudhishthir had no right to put Draupadi at stake.' Hearing this, Karna scolded him and silenced him.
How did Vikarna die?
When the war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas was certain, Vikarna sided with his brothers and fought on the side of Duryodhana. In the Mahabharata war, Vikarna, who was the most pious and just among the Kauravas, killed many warriors of the Pandava side, including Chitrayuddha and Chitrayodhina. When Bhima saw that Vikarna was causing serious damage to his army, he came forward to fight him. Bhima advised Vikarna to withdraw from this war. But Vikarna replied, "You follow your dharma, and I will follow mine." After this, a fierce battle took place between the two, in which Bhima killed Vikarna. Bhima and other Pandavas were also saddened by Vikarna's death because they respected Vikarna's piety.
pc: asianetnews