Why Duryodhana Felt Insulted 151
the heavenly kingdoms. Because a portion of their breasts was sprinkled
with saffron powder, the pearl necklaces on their breast appeared to be
reddish. With their full earrings and flowing hair, the queens appeared very
beautiful. After looking at such beauties in the palace of King Yudhisthira,
Duryodhana became envious. He became especially envious and lustful
upon seeing the beauty of Draupadi because he had cherished a special
attraction for her from the very beginning of her marriage with the Pan-
davas. In the marriage selection assembly of Draupadi, Duryodhana had
also been present, and with other princes he had been very much captivated
by the beauty of Draupadi, but had failed to achieve her.

Once upon a time, King Yudhisthira was sitting on the golden throne in
the palace constructed by the demon Maya. His four brothers and other
relatives, as well as his great well-wisher, the Supreme Personality of God-
head, Krsna, were present and the material opulence of King Yudhisthira
seemed no less than that of Lord Brahma. When he was sitting on the
throne surrounded by his friends, and the reciters were offering prayers to
him in the form of nice songs, Duryodhana, with his younger brother, came
to the palace. Duryodhana was decorated with a helmet, and he carried.a
sword in his hand. He was always in an envious and angry mood, and
therefore, on a slight provocation, he spoke sharply with the doorkeepers
and became angry. He was irritated because he failed to distinguish be-
tween water and land. By the craftmanship of the demon Maya, the palace
was so decorated in different places that one who did not know the tricks
would consider water to be land and land to be water. Duryodhana was
also illusioned by this craftmanship, and when he was crossing water
thinking it to be land, he fell down. When Duryodhana, out of his fool-
lishness, had thus fallen, the queens enjoyed the incident by laughing.
King Yudhisthira, could understand the feelings of Duryodhana, and he
tried to restrain the queens from laughing, but Lord Krsna indicated that
King Yudhisthira should not restrain them from enjoying the incident,
Krsna desired that Duryodhana might be fooled in that way and that all of
them might enjoy his foolish behavior. When everyone laughed, Duryo-
dhana felt very insulted, and his hair stood up in anger. Being thus insulted,
he immediately left the palace, bowing his head. He was silent and did not
protest. When Duryodhana left in such an angry mood, everyone regretted
the incident, and King Yudhisthira also became very sorry. But despite all
occurrences, Krsna was silent. He did not say anything against or in favor
of the incident. It appeared that Duryodhana had been put into illusion by
the supreme will of Lord Krsna, and this was the beginning of the enmity
between the two sects of the Kuru dynasty. It appeared that it was a part
