Shakuni

Shakuni (), an avatar of Dvapara, the personification of Dvapara Yuga, was the brother of Gandhari in the Mahābhārata. He was portrayed as an extremely intelligent but devious old man, who was very fond of his nephew Duryodhana. He won the kingdom of the Pandavas' for his nephew, as a wager in a rigged game of dice. The dice that were used were made with Shakuni's father's thigh bones and would always do his bidding.Shakuni had a son whose name was Ulluk.

Birth

Shakuni was born to King Subala of Gandhara. His sister Gandhari was married to king Dhritarashtra. As per legend, on the advice of astrologers, to avert a calamity it was said that Gandhari was married to a goat before getting married to Dhritarashtra. And the goat had been sacrificed promptly thereafter. Technically, this made Gandhari a widow and Dhritarashtra her second husband. Many years later when her husband Dhritarashtra learns about this truth, shocked and enraged, Dhritrashtra puts Gandhari’s entire family,including king Subala in prison. In prison, they were served just one fistful of rice every day. Realizing that this was an elaborate plan to starve them to death, Gandhari’s father declared that none but his youngest son would eat the sparse food being served, so that at least one amongst them would survive to avenge the death of the rest. The youngest son of king Subala was Shakuni. He survived and swore not to rest until all of Kuru kingdom is destroyed . He used the...
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