Birth
When Dhritarashtra's wife Gandhari's pregnancy continued for an unusually long period of time, she beat her womb in frustration, in envy of Kunti, the queen of Pandu who had given birth to Yudhisthira, the eldest Pandava. This caused a hardened mass of grey-colored flesh to issue from her womb. Gandhari was very shocked and upset. She implored Vyasa, the great sage who had blessed her with one hundred sons, to redeem his words. Vyasa divided the ball of flesh into one hundred and one equal pieces, and put them in pots of ghee, which were sealed and buried into the earth for one year. At the end of the year, the first pot was opened, and Duryodhana emerged.
Duryodhana was actually named Suyodhan which means "Great Warrior", but he changed his name to Duryodhana which means "the unconquerable one" or "difficult to fight with". Many people hold the misconception that he was called Duryodhana because of his misdeeds. Literally, Duryodhana means 'hard to conquer'. His chariot bore a flag depicting a hooded cobra.
Read more about this topic: Duryodhana
Famous quotes containing the word birth:
“For birth was a disease and Christopher and I invented the cure.”
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New birth of our new soil, the first American.”
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