The halls of Hastinapur echoed once again with laughter and life.
After years of mourning, the palace thrived — filled with the voices of children.
The sons of Dhritarashtra and Pandu played together in the royal gardens, their footsteps scattering petals and dust alike.
But beneath that innocent laughter, destiny stirred — whispering to one heart darker than the rest.
---
The Shadow of Jealousy
Dhritarashtra, the blind king, ruled in name.
By his side stood Queen Gandhari, whose devotion had taken a strange form —
for she had bound her own eyes with cloth, choosing to share her husband's darkness.
Together, they had been blessed with a hundred sons, born from a divine boon.
Their eldest was Duryodhana — born not of calm prayer, but of fire and thunder.
When he was born, the omens were dire.
Jackals howled through the night, and the river surged red with clay.
The court's sages warned the king:
> "This child will bring ruin upon the Kuru line.
Cast him away before his breath becomes your doom."
But Gandhari, her heart trembling with mother's love, cried out:
> "He is my firstborn — the light of my womb.
I will not forsake him, even if destiny demands it."
And thus, the shadow remained.
---
Brothers in Name
In those early years, the young princes — Duryodhana and the sons of Pandu — grew side by side under the eye of Bhishma.
He taught them duty, honor, and the art of kingship.
Kripacharya and Drona trained them in the weapons of war.
The children of Pandu excelled swiftly — especially Arjuna, whose arrows moved like lightning and struck like fate itself.
Duryodhana watched, his jaw tight, his hands clenched.
> "Always Arjuna," he hissed beneath his breath. "Always the son of Pandu, the favorite of masters, the jewel of Hastinapur…"
And beside him, a friend's whisper poured poison into his ear.
> "Why bow to them, O prince?" said Karna, his voice deep and proud.
"You are born a king, while they are sons of the forest.
The throne is yours — by birth, by right, by destiny."
Duryodhana turned toward him — and a bond was forged that day, stronger than steel and darker than night.
---
The Bond of Fire
Duryodhana saw in Karna a mirror — another warrior scorned by fate.
When the world mocked Karna for his lowly birth, Duryodhana rose before the court and said:
> "If nobility lies in the blood, then I am but my father's son.
But if nobility lies in valor — then this man is greater than all kings!"
He lifted Karna's hand high and crowned him ruler of Anga.
The court gasped, but the two men smiled — bound by loyalty deeper than lineage.
From that day, they stood together —
Karna's bow, Duryodhana's crown, and envy's whisper guiding both.
---
The Lessons of Drona
Years passed, and the princes grew into men under the stern gaze of their teacher, Dronacharya.
Drona saw in Arjuna a pupil of unmatched focus.
> "The bow obeys him as the sun obeys dawn," he told Bhishma.
"He will one day shape the fate of nations."
This praise fanned the flames within Duryodhana.
Each word that lifted Arjuna was a wound to his pride.
And so, hatred took root — silent, cold, and patient.
---
The Poisoned Feast
One night, Duryodhana invited Bhima to a feast.
With laughter on his lips and venom in his heart, he offered his cousin wine laced with poison.
Bhima drank, trusting as a brother.
Moments later, he fell unconscious, his mighty frame cast into the river.
But fate was not done with him.
The serpent-folk of the Nagas found Bhima, and their venom battled the poison in his blood —
until his strength grew tenfold, his arms like thunderbolts.
When he returned, alive and stronger than before, Duryodhana's heart trembled — not with guilt, but rage.
> "Even death itself protects them," he snarled.
"Then I must become death."
---
The King's Blindness
In the council chambers, whispers grew.
The courtiers saw what Dhritarashtra refused to see —
that Duryodhana's heart was turning toward darkness.
Vidura spoke gently:
> "My lord, a tree bends the way it is watered. If you feed envy, it shall bear only ruin."
But Dhritarashtra sighed.
> "He is my son, Vidura. How can I deny him?"
Vidura's eyes saddened.
> "Then prepare, my king — for the love you cannot deny may one day destroy the throne you seek to protect."
---
The Seeds of War
And so the brothers — Pandavas and Kauravas — trained, laughed, and dined together,
while destiny sharpened her sword in silence.
From pride was born envy,
from envy came deceit,
and from deceit —
a war that would shake the heavens.
---
Far away, in the quiet plains of Kurukshetra, the wind stirred the dust,
as if awaiting the footsteps of gods and men who would one day meet there —
to decide the fate of the world.
---