Duryudana - (Wayang Kulit)

Duryudana - eldest son of Prabu Dretarasta

Title	Duryudana - (Prabu) - Mahabharata
Other names	Jaka Pitana, Suyudana, Destarastra Putra, Gendari Suta, Jaya Pitana
Size	55 cm
Personal data	Duryudana is the eldest of 99 sons of Prabu Dretarasta and Dewi Gandari. Although he was greedy and always wanted to win alone, he loved his wife, Dewi Banowati, very much. He was always gentle and gave in to the third daughter of Prabu Salya from the kingdom of Mandaraka. But unfortunately his wife was unfaithful. Throughout her entire life, she had an affair with Arjuna. From that marriage, they were blessed with two children named Lesmana and Lesmanawati.
Appearance	This puppet usually appears during the Bharatayuda War or stories surrounding this time period.
Collection	Private collection

Duryudana – (Prabu) – Mahabharata

Prabu Duryudana was the king of the Kingdom Astinapura. He was also the eldest of 99 brothers and one sister. When they were little, Suyudana and his brothers lived together peacefully with their cousins the five Pandhawa brothers in the Kingdom of Astina.

This was however only until Prabu Pandhu Dewanata (the father of five Pandhawa brothers), the king of Astinapura kingdom died. His Uncle, Sengkuni wanted to keep Astinapura Kingdom for his 99 nephews, who happened to be the Korawa brothers. This tension between all of these nephews was the reason why the Korawa brothers were constantly trying to kill the five Pandhawa brothers. Finally, Sengkuni successfully tricked the Pandhawa brothers into losing a dice game where the stakes were living in exile for thirteen years in the jungle.

Duryudana and the Kurawas once tried to kill Bima by poisoning the second son of Pandu and then throwing him into the Jatalunda well which was full of poisonous snakes, but the attempt failed. Bima managed to save himself.
In addition, Duryudana and the Kurawas also planned to kill all the Pandavas and their mother Kunti by inviting them to enjoy the comfort of resting on the top of the mountain called Bale Sigala-gala. The beautiful building had indeed been specially designed with the building pillars filled with saltpeter and gandaruken, which are materials similar to gunpowder and flammable oil. After the Pandavas were lulled, they burned the building. However, their efforts failed again, because the Pandavas and Dewi Kunti managed to survive the flames. (See Bale Sigala-Gala).

When the Pandavas succeeded in building the Indrapastha palace, Duryudana was also invited to attend the ceremony of King Suya held by Prabu Yudhistira. At this event, Duryudana was humiliated by Yudhistira's wife, Draupadi. He accidentally fell into a pool in one of the rooms in the palace. He thought it was a very slippery floor. Draupadi who saw the incident laughed out loud and insulted Duryudana because her father was blind.

At Sengkuni's instigation, Duryudana invited Yudhistira and the Pandavas to play dice. Duryudana and the Kurawa had intended to seize what the Pandavas owned and also humiliate them. Their intentions finally came true. With Sengkuni's cunning, Yudhistira lost the dice game, until he lost his wealth, palace, kingdom and had to undergo a 12-year exile in the forest.

Once, when the Pandavas were in exile, Duryudana held a big party near the hut where the Pandavas lived. The goal was to make the Pandavas sad because they heard the excitement of the party and the smell of delicious food. However, what happened was not as expected. The giants of the Gandarwa who inhabited the Kamiyaka Forest were disturbed by the excitement and commotion caused by the party. The Gandarawa attacked the Kurawa and captured Duryudana and several of his younger brothers. Jaydarata finally took the initiative to ask for help from the Pandawas. Bima and Arjuna finally managed to defeat the Gandarwa and free Duryudana and his younger brothers. This incident was very embarrassing for Duryudana, and further hurt his feelings for the Pandawas.

In addition to being skilled at playing the mace, Duryudana was also immune to all kinds of weapons, except for his left thigh. The supernatural powers he possessed were told in two versions. The first was because Duryudana had bathed with Lenga Tala, so that the body parts that were exposed to the magical oil were immune to all kinds of weapons.

While another version tells, the night before the battle between Duryudana and Bima, Dewi Gendari called her eldest son. She ordered that when facing his mother, Duryudana must be completely naked, not wearing a single piece of clothing. Although he did not understand what his mother meant, Duryudana carried out the order. However, on the way, he met Prabu Kresna. At that time, Kresna said that it was very inappropriate for a descendant of Barata who was highly dignified to face his mother completely naked. Because he was embarrassed, Duryudana then covered his lower body with a leaf. In front of his mother, because he was embarrassed, Duryudana first stood with his back to his mother. Dewi Gendari opened his blindfold. From those eyes suddenly radiated the sacred Tejawijaya light covering Duryudana's back. After the entire back of his son's body was exposed to her gaze, Dewi Gendari told her son to turn his body to face her. How surprised Dewi Gendari was after finding out that Duryudana was not completely naked as she had ordered. After venting her frustration because Duryudana ignored her message, Dewi Gendari told her eldest son that except for the part of his body covered by leaves, Duryudana was immune to all kinds of weapons. The incident made Duryudana regret and upset. He regretted not following his mother's orders, so now not his entire body was immune.

During the Bharatayuda war, Dewi Banuwati was working for five Pandhawa brothers as a spy. She knew all the weaknesses of the Korawas’ army. Duryudana's defeat was due to the curse of Begawan Maetreya. A few days before Baratayuda, Begawan Maetreya came to see Duryudana and suggested that the king of Astina avoid the outbreak of war. The Begawan suggested that the Kurawa comply with the Pandawa's request and rights. However, Begawan Maetreya's advice was not only ignored but also underestimated. While patting his left thigh, Duryudana looked away and said: "A brahmana should only give advice and suggestions if he is asked by the king. If not, he should just keep quiet and not interfere in the king's affairs". Begawan Maetreya became angry with Duryudana's words, he also issued his curse, "My advice and suggestions are entirely based on good intentions. But Your Majesty is not only closing your ears, but also your heart. Your Majesty is patting your left thigh. know that the left thigh is what will bring bad luck to you in Baratayuda later". The curse of the Begawan turned out to come true, when Duryodhana died after being hit on the left thigh by Bima with a mace.

On the 18th day of Baratayuda War, Duryudana faced Bima and they fought for many days because both he and Bima were similar in size and power. Duryudana’s ability to play the mace weapon made the fight between the two fierce. King Kresna, as an incarnation of god Wisnu (the god of law) had told Bima before that Duryudana’s weakness was on his left thigh. Bima smashed his big weapon Lukitasari onto Duryudana’s left thigh, and paralyzed him. Bima could not control himself, because he remembered what Duryudana did to his brothers in the past. He was so angry, that he destroyed Duryudana. This episode was called Brubuhan (the death of Duryudana). The body of Duryudana became an alligator that swallowed and ate Sengkuni’s body. Duryudana’s soul becomes one of the spirits (Bathari Durga’s followers), and was never allowed to enter heaven.
Prabu Duryudana was the last person who died in the Bharatayuda war, because he was a very powerful king.

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Blog: Hadisukirno – Yogyakarta - 2012