Interesting personalities..

[Viraja]

I have 2 instances of interesting personalities, maybe you would have more?

* Kaikeyi (of Ramayana) - She, being the step-mother of Rama, is the reason for the banishment of Rama to forest for 14 yrs. But how many know that this same Kaikeyi, is the one who gifted the newly wed Rama and Sita, with a palace made purely of Gold - the 'Kanaka Bhavan'? She is supposed to be a very good natured woman, just spoilt by the wicked 'Kooni' which made her get the boon from Dasharatha to send Rama on exile.

* Ravana - He, too, the 10-headed demon king of Ramayana, who abducted Sita , is supposed to be such a devout and austere bhakta of Lord Shiva - it is said he offered his own 9 heads in self-sacrifice to Lord Shiva during his penance and just when he was about to cut off his 10th head, Lord Shiva appeared before him and gave him immense boons. It is strange such a devout personality should stoop down so low as to abduct another man's wife and treat her so badly.

Do you know of interesting personalities as these?

[Believer]

Namaste,

About interesting personalities, I was going to talk about myself, but I don't quite fit the bill. So, we will save that for another day.

Pranam.

[Viraja]

Hey Believerji!

We all know you to be good fellow, within the confines of HDF. What mischief have you unknown to us?!

[Viraja]

Whether or not Duryodhana is interesting, your status line that keeps changing to reflect your mood is very interesting, Necromancer!

Please do tell why you find Duryodhana interesting! :-)

[Necromancer]

Please do tell why you find Duryodhana interesting! :-)

Namaste.

When I was a child, growing up in Bali, many pleasurable hours were spent watching the Wayang Kulit (shadow puppet plays).

Out of all the shadow puppets, I had 2 favourites...Bhima and Duryodhana.

The circumstances surrounding the birth of the Pandavas and Kauravas were very interesting and none moreso than Duryodhana.

I find him interesting because he was a very complex character.

On one hand, he was a good king and a loyal friend to Karna. He was also a very faithful and loving husband to Bhanumati, giving her all she desired.

He followed Dharma to the letter, in keeping with his Kshatriya class. He was a strong and noble warrior.

On the other hand, he was very arrogant and ruthless...often reckless at times. He was a formidable enemy.

The circumstances surrounding his death were very curious....being hit on the thigh with a mace, which under normal circumstances (if it were not for prophecy that he would die that way) wouldn't have caused his death.

Do you know that in southern India, a shrine was built for him?

Duryodhana eventually went to heaven to be with Lord Krishna and even the Pandavas were ashamed he had to die and grieved his loss:

http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/10...ttained-heaven.

This is why I find him to be such an interesting personality.

Aum Namah Shivaya

[Believer]

Namaste,

Dhritrashter, like any other parent, loved his son Duryodhan immensely. Even after knowing that Duryodhan had done many things to harm the Pandavs, Duryodhan's death at the battlefield at the hands of Bhim did not sit well with him. So much so, that when after the war he decided to take sanyas and the Pandavs came to the palace to bid him good bye, he planned to embrace Bhim and crush him to death. Lord Krishan knew about Dhritrashter's design and at the right moment He pulled Bhim away and slid a concrete statue into Dhritrashter's open arms, who squeezed it hard enough to shatter it. Love of a parent for his child knows no bounds, but when the offspring was proven to be evil, even a person of Dhritrashter's caliber could not let go of that parental love for Duryodhan.

Pranam.

[Viraja]

Thank you, Necromancer and Believer ji!

Necromancer, I did not know there is a temple for Duryodhana. Yes, he is an interesting personality - a great warrior and a faithful friend of Karna. However it is said he was outright wicked and jealous of the pandavas right from childhood. It is said once when the pandavas (and Duryodhana) were little children, he tried to drown Bhima - that is how Bhima was met with by one of his long-last forefathers who had become a king of serpents, who pulled Bhima to the underworld and gave him lots of boons and a drink that made Bhima as mighty as 10 elephants put together! But as you said, Duryodhana's faithfulness to his one and only wife is immense indeed. Besides scheming for pandava's land out of the game of dice, Duryodhana attempts to disrobe Draupadi using Dushashana in front of the entire world - this is unacceptable. If he attaiined heaven, I do not like it!

Believer ji, it is very interesting to come to know about how Dritarashtra tried to squeeze Bheema to death! (However is it even possible to squeeze out Bhima like that?). One thing I wonder now is why Sri Ranganatha then gave darshan to Dritarashtra - I read somewhere, could be my Satyanarayana Katha book - that Sri Vishnu gave darshan to the blind king before Dritarashtra's demise. For all his one-sided love against his own brothers' children, he has earned something not even yogis achieve!

Thanks for your replies, both of you!

[Viraja]

If anybody knows other interesting personalities of sanathan dharma or India, like kings, Tenalirama, politicians, musicians, anyone, please do post!

Thank you!

[Necromancer]

Namaste, Viraja.

I thought there was only one temple, but actually there are three of them.

Here's one:
http://www.malanada.com/

I'm not supporting Duryodhana, because like you said, he was wicked and evil, but I cannot help but feel a slight degree of pity for him.

I heard that Draupadi laughed at him and embarrassed him to anger when he fell in a lake and that Duryodhana swore an oath to embarrass her because of that.

I also heard that the Pandavas always teased him and provoked retaliation, still it was no excuse for him to do what he did. It was understandable, but it was not justified.

Aum Namah Shivaya

[Necromancer]

Namaste.

Okay, back on topic...interesting person = Shikhandi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikhandi

The only 'female' warrior in the Mahabharata war, who changed genders with a Yaksha to become male.

Her/his story is very interesting.

Aum Namah Shivaya