Duhshasana

In the Mahabharata, the later of the
two great Hindu epics, Duhshasana
is one of the hundred sons of
Dhrtarashtra, who are collectively
known as the Kauravas. The heart of the
Mahabharata is the struggle for power
between the Kauravas and their cousins
the Pandavas, and the latter are the
epic’s protagonists. Duhshasana is most
infamous for his misbehavior toward
the Pandavas’ common wife Draupadi
after the eldest Pandava, Yudhishthira,
loses everything—including Draupadi—
in a game of dice. Duhshasana drags
Draupadi into the gambling hall by her
hair and with her garments stained by
her menstrual blood; he also attempts
to disrobe Draupadi by pulling off her
sari, but is frustrated here by the god
Krishna, who miraculously makes
Draupadi’s sari infinitely long.
Duhshasana’s behavior in this incident only fans the enmity between the
two families. Draupadi’s husband
Bhima, the Pandava brother renowned
for his physical strength, vows to avenge
this insult by ripping open Duhshasana’s
chest and drinking his blood, whereas
Draupadi vows that she will leave her
hair unbound until she can wash it in
Duhshasana’s blood. During the
Mahabharata war Duhshasana fights
with his brother Duryodhana and is
eventually killed by Bhima, after which
both Bhima and Draupadi fulfill their
dreadful vows. As an extra measure of
revenge before killing Duhshasana,
Bhima tears off the hand that had held
Draupadi’s hair and beats Duhshasana
with his own severed limb.