In one evening, all princes returned to the
palace except two senior Kaurava brothers. Duryodhan and Dushashan were seen in
a desolate place under a banyan tree discussing something serious. It looked
the matter was also secret one. They were hatching a plot to get rid of Bhim,
if necessary, forever. They reckoned they would not be able to match up to the
might of the middle Pandava in an open fight, even if all one hundred of them
joined hands. As such they planned to host a feast and serve sweet poison to
him. They knew Bhim had a soft corner for food and they wanted to silence him
forever through his stomach. As they were discussing the finer points Jujutsu
Raj, Dushaha, Dushal and Jalasandha – four other brothers – was seen heading
towards the spot followed by a group of palace guards. Seeing Duryodhan so late
in returning to palace, the anxious parents had sent the other princes to
search him out. Duryodhan sent back the guards. Then he called his brothers in,
narrated the plot, assigned specific responsibility to each one and cautioned
them against disclosing it to others. By the time they set their foot on the
path to the palace, evening was already subsumed by night. It was dark half of
the lunar month. A badly truncated moon scarcely provided light. Few distant
teeming stars hardly improved the matter. Walking more with the help of
familiarity with the road than sight, they reached the palace. The princes
tiptoed into their rooms to avoid giving any clue to their parents to the
dangerous plan they had just hatched.
This is an attempt to retell the story of the great Indian epic, Mahabharat - in a different manner and style adapted to modern times to the extent possible. The posts are sequential. Readers are advised to start from Episode no 1 and then gradually move upwards.
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