Duryodhana is the chief antagonist in the Mahabharata. He was a great warrior but filled with ego, arrogance and wickedness. The reason for his evil character is perhaps due to the mysterious circumstances in which he was born. The birth of Duryodhana was from a lump of cold flesh that was delivered by Gandhari.
Dhritarashtra’s wife Gandhari had conceived but the delivery did not happen for two years. One day she got the news that Kunti, wife of Pandu (younger brother of Dhritarashtra), had delivered a son.
Gandhari grew jealous. Filled with jealousy and anger, she pressed her womb so forcefully that a large lump of flesh came out.
Sage Vyasa who was present in Hastinapura got to know about the unfortunate incident. He advised the lump to be cut into one hundred pieces and deposited in jars of ghee. The remnant piece was put into another jar.
In due course of time, the jars burst and a hundred boys and a girl came out.
The first one to come out of the pot was named Duryodhana. He is the eldest of the Kauravas.
Duryodhana means 'he who is hard to combat with. He was the leader of the Kauravas. He hatched a number of schemes and plots against the Pandavas. He could never come to terms with the fact that the throne of his father will go to Yudhishtira the eldest of the Pandavas. His hatred, fear and insecurity grew with him and it finally culminated in the great Mahabharata war. He lost everything in the war. He was finally killed by Bhima.
Duryodhana means 'he who is hard to combat with. He was the leader of the Kauravas. He hatched a number of schemes and plots against the Pandavas. He could never come to terms with the fact that the throne of his father will go to Yudhishtira the eldest of the Pandavas. His hatred, fear and insecurity grew with him and it finally culminated in the great Mahabharata war. He lost everything in the war. He was finally killed by Bhima.