Revenges in Mahabharata

Revenge has been indeed a common occurence in Mahabharata. We find that all pandavas have some scores to settle. Interestingly, we do not find any incidents of revenge involving Yudhishthira.

Revenge of Draupadi

The incident of Draupadi cheer haran made lot of people opting for revengeful vows. The first and most important is of Draupadi’s, who decided to keep her hairs open until they are washed with blood of Dushashana’s heart. This way, she ensured that this insult is not forgotten with time. Acoordingly, when Bhima kills Dushasana he brings a handful of Dushasana’s blood and colours Draupadi’s hair with it. Bhima killed Dushashana during the battle of Mahabharat and drank his blood. He also brought some of the blood for Draupadi, who finally ties her hair.

Bhima took couple of vows to take revenge from the people who berated Draupadi. His first vow was to drink Dushashana’s blood.

His second vow was to break Duryodhana thighs. Because during the cheer haran, Duryodhana asked to her to sit on his thighs, and Bhima vowed that he would take this revenge by breaking those thighs. This is a fascinating aspect of Mahabharata as this fits perfectly with Duryodhana’s only vulnerability.

Bhima also killed Kichak as he was tormenting Draupadi (Sairandhri).

Duryodhana also made Pandavas to act as his servant. Pandavas took off their upper garments as they have lost their freedom to Duryodhana and became his servant.

Revenge of Sahdev

Sahdev, the youngest of Pandavas, vowed to kill Shakuni after the episode of cheerharan when he cheated them in the game of dice.

He held Shakuni responsible and took his revenge on seventeenth day of Mahabharata war by killing Shakuni.

Revenge of Arjuna

Following the death of Abhimanyu, Arjuna vowed to kill Jayadratha as he was responsible for holding pandavas back. Kauravas did an excellent job as they protected Jayadrath. This was the sure shot way to victory, as in absence of Arjuna, panadava will be rendered weak. Shri Krishna used his skills to hide the sun and rest is history.

Revenge of Shakuni

This may not be a well written fact, but it was true that Shakuni left his kingdom and came to live with his sister for a purpose. Since his sister Gandhari was married to a blind, and she also chose to remain blindfolded, a brother was sure to exact revenge. This was debatable what he wanted, but he surely was instrumental for causing the war of mahabharata.