Ādiparva : Sandhi 08 : Part 1 of 5 : Karṇa and Śakuni advise Duryodhana on handling the Pāṇḍava-s

The tussle between Kaurava-s and Pāṇḍava-s no longer remains restricted to the arena, but also enters their homes. The fact that there is a power-struggle between the two sets of cousins becomes widely known. The citizens of Hastinapura begin fearing the outcome of this struggle.

In such times, one day Duryodhana was brooding in the privacy of his palace, accompanied by Karṇa, Śakuni and Jayadratha. Duryodhana expresses his frustration that the Pānḍava-s having bound Drupada had won great fame, while the Kaurava-s had to suffer the humiliation of defeat in that battle. He tells everyone that it is impossible to survive with Bhīma, whose existence is like thorn among flowers. Given this, there was no doubt that eventually they will have to fight with the Pāṇdava-s who were no pushovers.

Listening to this, Karṇa tries to placate Duryodhana assuring him that given a chance, he would destroy the Pāṇḍava-s in the battle, that he is only waiting for Duryodhana’s orders. While Śakuni agrees with Karṇa’s sentiments, he informs Duryodhana that Bhīma and Arjuna were the best among the warriors who can defeat even the Deva-s and the Dānava-s. Thus facing them in an open battle would be foolishness for Duryodhana does not have the capability to do so. However, it was possible to bring down the Pāṇḍava-s through cunning. Thus, Śakuni begins is long advice on the importance of addressing the threat of the Pāṇḍava-s at the earliest before they get a chance to consolidate their strength and become a bigger threat than they currently were.

Audio Link: https://archive.org/download/kumaravyasa-bharata-recitation/Parva-01-Adiparva-008-Sandhi-Part-01-of-05.mp3