Vikarṇa
Vikarṇa was one of the hundred sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Gāndhārī. He was the younger brother of Duryodhana. He is known as the one member of the Kaurava side who spoke up for Draupadī in the dice-game assembly. The whole sabhā (assembly) had fallen silent after Draupadī asked her question about dharma. The elders, from Bhīṣma to Droṇa, would not take a side. Vikarṇa stood up and argued that the staking of Draupadī was not valid, for two reasons.
The defence of Draupadī
Duḥśāsana had dragged Draupadī into the assembly. She asked whether Yudhiṣṭhira had staked her before or after he lost power over himself. The question was carried twice through the hall and was not settled. Then Vikarṇa rose and spoke to the elders and kings. He gave two arguments.
- Yudhiṣṭhira had already lost himself before he staked Draupadī. A man who has lost power over himself has no power over others. So the stake of Draupadī was made without valid right, and she cannot be counted as lost.
- Draupadī is the common wife of all five Pāṇḍava brothers. Yudhiṣṭhira alone had no right to stake what belonged equally to all five. A stake needs sole ownership, and he did not have sole ownership of Draupadī.
Vikarṇa concluded that Draupadī was not lost, and that the claim of the dice game over her was not valid. He asked the elders to say so. None of them did.
Karṇa answers him
Karṇa rose at once to speak against Vikarṇa. He said that a woman with several husbands has a lower standing than an ordinary wife, and the usual protections do not apply to her. He said that the Pāṇḍavas were now dāsas (servants), since they had lost themselves, and that all their goods, including Draupadī, had passed to the Kauravas. He went further and said that the garments of Draupadī and of the five brothers should be taken off. The assembly stayed divided and unable to act.
His stand in the assembly
Vikarṇa was Duryodhana’s younger brother and sat in the Kaurava camp. The elders Bhīṣma, Droṇa and Kṛpa took the position that dharma is too subtle to decide in this matter. Vikarṇa gave no such excuse. He gave his reasons clearly, spoke openly, and opposed the plan of his own brother before the whole assembly. He was the one Kaurava who named the wrong that was being done, and his words were not heeded.
Named as a Kaurava warrior in the Udyoga Parva
In the Udyoga Parva, Chapter 32, Arjuna gives his reply to Sañjaya. He states his resolve and lists the strong Kaurava warriors he expects to face. Vikarṇa is named among them.
Gāndhārī’s lament in the Strī Parva
In Chapter 19 of the Strī Parva (the Strī Vilāpa Parva), Gāndhārī turns to the body of her son Vikarṇa and mourns him. She says:
“Mādhava! Here is my son Vikarṇa, a man approved of by the wise. Bhīma cut him into a hundred pieces and he has fallen to the ground. Between the bodies of fallen elephants he lies, like the moon hidden behind dark clouds.”
The palm of his bow-hand had thick calluses from years of hard practice. Vultures gather around it and peck at it hungrily. His wife stands near him and tries hard to drive off the crows and vultures that come for his flesh, but she cannot. Gāndhārī says:
“Young, heroic, equal to the devas in valour, this Vikarṇa lived in ease and comfort. Now he lies in the dust on the bare ground.”
All the vital points of his body were pierced by karṇī, nāḷīka and nārāca arrows, yet the light of his face has not faded. Gāndhārī’s words are about the body of the son she has lost on the field of Kurukṣetra.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Dyūta Parva, Chapter 68
- Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Chapter 32
- Mahābhārata, Strī Parva, Chapters 16–25 (Strī Vilāpa Parva, Chapter 19)