Shakuni was the prince of the Gandhara Kingdom, later to become the King after his father's death. He is the main antagonist in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was the brother of Gandhari and hence Duryodhana's maternal uncle.
Portrayed as an extremely intelligent, crafty and devious man, Shakuni is often credited as the mastermind behind the Kurukshetra War. The Mahabharata also mentioned him as the personification of the Dvapara Yuga.
Shakuni spent his childhood peacefully as the prince of Gandhara, until his kingdom was invaded by Hastinapur, led by Shantanu, grandfather of the Pandavas, assisted by Bhishma and Vichitravirya. The motive for this invasion differs based on various versions of the tale, yet for the young Shakuni, it was nothing more than power-grab. Shakuni was imprisoned along with his father, brothers, uncles and cousins. Despite their pleas, each of the Gandharans were only given a single grain of rice to eat each day. Sensing no chance for all of them to escape, Shakuni's father persuaded the rest of the family to give their rice to Shakuni, all of them believing him to be the smartest, strongest, and most capable of enacting revenge. Shakuni rejected the offer at first, wishing to escape together with his family. Yet after it was clear that such a scenario was impossible, he tearfully accepted the sacrifice. Weeks later, when all but one of the Gandharans have succumbed to starvation. Shakuni managed to escape, vowing revenge on those who killed his family.
After his escape, Shakuni was reunited with his sister, Gandhari, one of the few survivors of the Hastinapur invasion. Unfortunately, their reunion did not last long, as Gandhari was wed to the blind Kuru prince Dhritarashtra to secure a political alliance. Gandhari genuinely loved Dhritarashtra, and for a time, Shakuni was happy for his sister. That is, until her sister was forced to wear a blindfold for life to "share her husband's burden". Ever since childhood, Gandhari had always been afraid of the dark, and now, she was forced to spend the rest of her life in darkness. Gandhari faced her fears and wore the blindfold willingly, yet Shakuni was unable to comprehend it. To him, Dhritarashtra took away his dear sister and forced her to suffer. For the young prince, that was not love; that was simply the whims of a selfish prince, masquerading under the guise of "tradition". He repeatedly protested this decision, only for them to fall on deaf ears.
In whatever the case, Shakuni swore to avenge this by slowly destroying Hastinapur. He achieved this by poisoning the mind of his volatile nephew Duryodhana into instigating the war with the Pandavas, which destroyed the Kuru line. Thus, he is seen by many as one of the key persons that caused the Kurukshetra War. He was the mastermind in corrupting the relation between sons of Gandhari and Kunti which led to the great war.
Some popular versions of this story focused on Shakuni's anger over Hastinapur. Some versions of the story describe Shakuni using the bones of his dead parents/family members to create dice that will never lose him a game, as Shakuni's father's soul enters the dice to make it roll to whatever number Shakuni wanted.
Shakuni was an expert of Dice Game or Chausar. Shakuni organised a Dice Game in which, he won Yudhishthira's Kingdom, his brothers- Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva and even Yudhishthira himself. Later, he won Draupadi too. Dussasana on Duryodhana's orders tried to undress Draupadi but Krishna saved her. This game indirectly led to the war.
Shakuni mainly worked by inciting hatred between the Kauravas and Pandavas; his plans culminated in the largest war in history. Although he often failed in his tricks against the Pandavas, he never lost faith in his ability to destroy the lineage of Kuru. A far-sighted man, his plan was much bigger than causing plight to the Pandavas; he wanted a full-scaled civil war between the branches of Kuru clan, which would destroy the whole clan, fulfilling his revenge. He feared nobody, except Krishna, whom he considered as an obstacle, since he knew that only Krishna had the power and influence to foil his plan. Krishna was a shrewd diplomat and statesman, the only person who matched Shakuni's cunning and intelligence.
Ways in which Shakuni incited war include:
- Advising an adolescent Duryodhana to mix poison into Bhima's food twice.
- Hiring Purochana to kill the Pandavas in the House of Wax.
- Arranging the game of dice between Kauravas and Pandavas which was responsible for Draupadi's humiliation.
- Before the war, he advised Duryodhana to feed Shalya's army and put Shalya in his debt, making it compulsory for him to fight on the side of Kauravas.
Once the war started, Shakuni served as a strategist to the Kauravas, allowing him to further monitor and manipulate Duryodhana's actions. Throughout the 18 days, he took part in several battles, crossing swords with heroes such as Arjuna, Yudhishtira, Bhima, and Shikhandi. While he managed to hold his own against such fierce warriors, it was clear that his talent shone best in the command room or behind the scenes, rather than the front lines.
Shakuni met his end on the final day of the war. While he was content to sit back and observe, the deaths of his two sons Vrikaasur and Uluka at the hands of Pandava siblings Nakula and Sahadeva enraged him enough to come down to the battlefield once more. Shakuni fought Sahadeva in a vicious duel, but was defeated by the young warrior. Yet by the time Shakuni was killed, the damage had already been done; both the Pandavas and Kauravas have suffered greatly, with innumerable casualties from both sides. Thus, as the grim realization dawned upon them, the Pandavas looked at Shakuni's liveless body, acknowledging that in a way, he had won.
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Originally Posted by RoydGolden
