Chapter 23 : First participant
"There was turmoil raging in her heart."
She never expected to see again the son she had abandoned.
She had abandoned her son for fear of bringing shame on her father's honor. She knew even God would not forgive her for this mistake.
She could never forgive herself for this, somewhere in her heart she still yearned to see her child.
She also knew that when her son found out about this secret, he would never want to see her again. She knew that her son would never forgive her for what she had done.
But she wants to pamper his son like his other five sons.
Whenever she thought about her elder son, she remembered what she had done. She kept asking herself again and again, "Kunti, was what you did the right decision?".
Now when she was looking at her son in front of her, only one thought came to her mind, she should run straight and hug her son and tell the world that this is her son.
She really wanted to do this, but she couldn't because she was afraid of talking about society.
"What happened, Maharani, is something bothering you?" A maid standing nearby asked.
" There's nothing wrong with you,After my husband's death, my complexion has become so bad that anyone who sees me will think I'm sad. You don't need to worry".
Mother Kunti flatly dismissed the maid's question. The maid didn't ask any further questions and stood quietly in her place.
She was a mother, she recognized me as her son after seeing me once, son, no matter how many years a mother stays away from her, she will recognize him after seeing him once.
I didn't even know my mother had recognized me.
I was thinking my mother would never recognize me.
By this time the entire stadium was filled with people, the king's speech was also over, only the arrival of all the princes and princesses was left.
Now it is time for the competition to begin, so all the viewers are not made to wait any longer and the process of calling those who have participated in it begins.
As soon as the drummer announced this while beating the drum, the entire audience shouted with excitement, due to which the stadium was filled with noise for a few minutes.
Slowly a large, steal door opened with a mechanical noise. As it opened, there was a sound of four horses and a wheel being driven.
A chariot emerged from the door, drawn by four black horses tied with thick ropes. A soldier served as the charioteer, tasked with leading the chariot inside.
A boy stood inside the chariot, his black hair reaching both arms, blowing in the wind. He wore a black armor. Looking at him, it was clear that he was around 7 years old. He had a proud smile on his face.
I already had an idea of what his name was. All the goo inside this proud boy is contained within a single being called Duryodhana.
"Welcome the first participant of the competition, Prince Duryodhana, the eldest son of Maharaja Dhritarashtra and the future crown prince of this kingdom".
"Let's clap for our future prince Duryodhana."
Clap! Clap! Clap!
As soon as the drummer introduced and greeted Prince Duryodhan, the entire stadium resounded with applause from the entire public.
When Duryodhana heard his praise, he stood up proudly, puffing out his shirt, and began to enjoy the sound of the crowd clapping.
King Dhritarashtra, seated on his throne, heard his son's praises and was told by the drummer that his son would become the future crown prince. A smile appeared on his face.
He knew that it had not yet been decided whether his son would become the crown prince or not, but which king would not make his son the crown prince.
But here he is the king in name only, all the power of the king is with his grandfather Bhishma.
If his grandfather Bhishma had never taken the oath of not becoming a king, he would have been the king of this state.
He did not become the king but there would be no warrior more powerful than him in this kingdom.
That is why the ownership of Hastinapur has been in the hands of the Kuru race for so many years.
This power comes with a heavy price. Since his arrival, the Kuru race has ruled over the kings unable to command Bhishma to fulfill their desires.
If any command is given in favor of Hastinapur, then Bhishma accepts the command of his king and completes whatever order is given.
Therefore, King Dhritarastra did not have complete control over his kingdom. Whenever important decisions were to be made, he had to first seek the advice of Grandfather Bhisma.
Due to which he was feeling like a puppet and he did not like this feeling at all.
"Maharaj Dhritarashtra, it has not yet been decided who will become the crown prince of Hastinapur in the future, so you should not spread such rumours in the state, are you understanding what I am saying Maharaj?"
There was a man sitting on a seat next to him who had said this. That man was wearing a silver colored crown and a silver outfit.
This was none other than Gangaputra Bhishma, his voice was like that of a serious person.
He was certainly not in the position of becoming the king of Dhritashtra. But Dhritashtra would never have become the king it was when Prince Pandu renounced his royal position.
That is why he never expressed any disagreement when he was forced to make Dhritrashra the king.
This did not mean that he accepted defeat, he made Dhritrashtra the king in name only and kept more than half the power with himself.
In the course of time, he accepted Dhritarashtra as his king. However, when he saw Dhritarashtra's hundred sons and their growing wicked nature, his mind changed and he rejected them.
When he saw the future of Hastinapur becoming dark, he wanted a solution for Hastinapur which could change this dark future.
...
To be continued...