Shakuni: The Master Conspirator in Mahabharata

Shakuni also called as Saubala and well known as Gandhararaja or the king of Gandhara is one of the primary villains in the Hindu epic of Mahabharata. He was the elder brother of Gandhari and hence Duryodhana’s maternal uncle.

Portrayed as an extremely cunning as well as devious character, Shakuni is often credited to be the mastermind behind the great war of Mahabharata. Shakuni was the second greatest illusionist of the then era, next only to Lord Krishna.

Here are some lesser-known facts about the master conspirator in Mahabharata.

1. It is well-known that Shakuni had 100 nephews but fewer people are aware of the fact that he was the 100th son of King Subala. He was the cleverest among all his brothers and therefore chosen to survive when the entire family starved to death.
2. Shakuni had two sons namely, Uluka and Vrikasura. Once his son Uluka requested Shakuni to return to Gandhara and live in peace and harmony but Shakuni refused because he had promised his father to destroy Bheeshma and the Kuru dynasty at any cost.
3. Shakuni had no hard feelings for the Pandavas but his biggest enemy was Bheeshma Pitamah. The reason behind the enmity was the anger caused by a Bheeshma’s act. Bheeshma had made his sister Gandhari marry Dhritarashtra, who was visually challenged from birth.
4. Shakuni was a master dice player and there are many tales about the content of his dice. According to some, the dice were made of bones from his father’s ankle while others believe that the dice contained his father’s Asthi.
5. Shakuni was a master illusionist. He had the talent to fetch any number at any moment in the dice game. This was one of the greatest talents of Shakuni due to which the eldest of the Pandavas, Yudhishthira lost everything to Duryodhana in the dice game.
6. On the 18th day of the Great War of Mahabharata, Shakuni was killed by Sahadeva, the youngest of the Pandava brothers. As per Sahadeva, Shakuni was the root cause behind the insult of Draupadi. Shakuni was the root cause for attempting to malign the honor and self-respect of Draupadi. Therefore Sahadeva had taken an oath to kill Shakuni.

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