~ 149. Duryodhana Seeks Gandhari's Blessing ~


The war continued day after day after day.
Each morning, Duryodhana would go to his mother and ask for her blessing. Gandhari's pious devotion gave her enormous power, so what she said always came true.
"Mother, please say 'May my sons win,'" Duryodhana would ask her.
Gandhari, however, would only say, "May the right side win."
Dhritarashtra protested. "Whether he's right or not, Duryodhana is our son."
But Gandhari repeated, "May the right side win," and all the while she grieved for her hundred sons as Bhima killed them, one by one by one.
Soon, there would be none left.


Inspired by: Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata by Devdutt Pattanaik.
Notes: This story is on p. 281. When Duryodhana is her last living son, Gandhari attempts to protect him by taking off her blindfold and gazing at his body; I have included that story elsewhere: The Elders Go into the Forest.

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