Vikarna

Quick Facts

About Vikarna

Third of the hundred sons of Dhritarashtra and the only voice in the dice hall raised in Draupadi's defense. He questioned whether a man who had staked himself could stake his wife at all - and years later died at Bhima's hands on the fourteenth day, mourned by the brother who killed him.

In Their Words

Answer her question - or every silence in this hall is a judgment on us.

Vikarna

Traits

• just
• courageous
• loyal to a fault

Story Appearances

• Vikarna, the Kaurava Who SpokeThe lone dissenting Kaurava

Stories Featuring Vikarna

46 further tales on this site name Vikarna, in canonical reading order.

• Vidura's Embassy to PanchalaThe envoy sent to bring the Pandavas home from Drupada's courtAdi Parva ‧ 12 min
• The King Who Only BreathedKarna answers Drona with the tale of a minister who took everything but the throneAdi Parva ‧ 13 min
• The Infinite SariIn our darkest hour, when all worldly help fails, surrender to the Divine is our last and most powerful refuge...Sabha Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Second ThrowOne cast of the dice for thirteen yearsSabha Parva ‧ 20 min
• The Kingdom Given BackDhritarashtra releases the Pandavas and returns everything they lostSabha Parva ‧ 12 min
• The Council at PrabhasaThe Yadavas find the exiles on the shore and argue about ending the exile by forceVana Parva ‧ 19 min
• The Quarrel Before the CattleAshwatthama tells Duryodhana what his kingdom is made ofVirata Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Day Karna RanThe boast in the dice hall, answered at lastVirata Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Grandsire Under the Golden PalmCelestial weapons, and Indra dropping flowersVirata Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Sleep Weapon and the Robes for the DollsSix great warriors disarmed, and a promise kept to some girlsVirata Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Net and the Mountain HoneyTwo birds who quarrelled in flight, and a cliff nobody came down fromUdyoga Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Sacrifice of BattleDuryodhana makes the coming war his own rite, and his father disowns him for itUdyoga Parva ‧ 23 min
• Shveta Against the GrandsireThe Matsya prince who broke Bhishma's bow again and againBhishma Parva ‧ 19 min
• The Grandsire Names the GodDuryodhana asks why he keeps losing and gets a theology insteadBhishma Parva ‧ 18 min
• Kurukshetra Day 8: The Rakshasa's HourIravan falls and Ghatotkacha answers for himBhishma Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Herb in the Grandsire's HandA wounded Duryodhana asks Bhishma for reassurance and is given honesty, a pledge, and medicineBhishma Parva ‧ 16 min
• Omens and the Ten Kings Around BhimaDrona reads the signs of Bhishma's last day and sends his son to fightBhishma Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Grandsire Chooses His HourBhishma remembers Santanu's boon and refuses to die in the wrong seasonBhishma Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Ten Kinsmen Against the Ten SonsDay six: Dhrishtadyumna kills two princes, ten Pandavas duel ten Kauravas, and Bhima goes into the elephants on footBhishma Parva ‧ 14 min
• The Seventh Day After NoonBhima and Duryodhana wound each other twice, Sanjaya tells the blind king whose fault the war is, and Satanika kills DushkarnaBhishma Parva ‧ 23 min
• Six Duels on the Eighth DayShikhandi with a broken sword, Duryodhana on foot, and a mace that missedBhishma Parva ‧ 19 min
• The Three ColumnsAt midday on the eighth day the Pandava army splits into three attacking bodies, Arjuna's son Iravan is killed, and Bhishma sends twelve warriors to pull Duryodhana out of the fire.Bhishma Parva ‧ 21 min
• Ghatotkacha and the Javelin of BhagadattaDuryodhana asks to kill a Rakshasa, and a Rakshasa breaks a javelin on his kneeBhishma Parva ‧ 24 min
• The Wall Before BhishmaEvery Kaurava champion is given one Pandava to stop on the tenth dayBhishma Parva ‧ 15 min
• The Last Push on the Tenth DayTenth day: Bhishma asks Yudhishthira to kill him, and the champions of both armies pair off across the field while Dushasana alone stands between him and ArjunaBhishma Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Pairings of the Second DayArjuna goes at the grandsire, and the field breaks into nine duelsBhishma Parva ‧ 11 min
• The Banners and the BowsSanjaya names every standard on the fieldDrona Parva ‧ 18 min
• The Night the Sindhu King Asked to LeaveJayadratha wants his horses saddled, and Drona tells him the truthDrona Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Cart, the Lotus and the NeedleDrona builds an array forty-eight miles deep to hide one manDrona Parva ‧ 16 min
• Kurukshetra Day 14: The Longest DaySunset Vow, False Dusk, and a Battle That Would Not Stop at NightfallDrona Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Bow Tip and the BoastKarna keeps his word to Kunti and pays for it in insultsDrona Parva ‧ 20 min
• Three Men and a Drawn SwordKarna boasts, Kripa answers, and Ashwatthama draws on his own sideDrona Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Night They Lit the FieldDuryodhana's order that turned a battlefield into a lamp-lit hallDrona Parva ‧ 16 min
• The King on FootDrona breaks Yudhishthira's bow, dart, mace and car, and the king escapes on Sahadeva's chariotDrona Parva ‧ 12 min
• The Consecration of DronaKarna names the Preceptor commander, and Drona names the man he cannot killDrona Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Boon Somadatta Asked ForA wrestling match at Devaki's self-choice, and the son born a generation later to answer itDrona Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Blind King Is AnsweredDhritarashtra laments the night after Abhimanyu's death, and his own messenger tells him whose fault it isDrona Parva ‧ 15 min
• Four Duels on the Fourteenth DayKshemadhurti, Viradhanwan, Niramitra and Vyaghradatta go down before Drona's divisionDrona Parva ‧ 11 min
• The Guard at Drona's Right WheelYudhishthira orders his whole army against Drona, and never gets past KritavarmaDrona Parva ‧ 15 min
• The Fall of VikarnaThe good man on the wrong sideDrona Parva
• The Word Brought to HastinapuraSanjaya rides through the night with the news of KarnaKarna Parva ‧ 21 min
• Where the Carnage Did Not CeaseArjuna counts every point at which the war should have stoppedShalya Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Last of the HundredBhima closes an eighteen-year account in a single afternoonShalya Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Queens Who Came a Long WayWhat the Kuru quarrel cost the kingdoms that were only alliesStri Parva ‧ 17 min
• Gandhari Shows Krishna the FieldWith the sight Vyasa gave her, the blindfolded queen walks Krishna through the dead of KurukshetraStri Parva ‧ 21 min
• What Gandhari SawThe blind queen, given sight for one afternoon, walks Kurukshetra naming the dead of both armiesStri Parva ‧ 21 min

Places in Vikarna's Story

Drawn from the stories Vikarna appears in.

• Hastinapurहस्तिनापुर
• Kurukshetraकुरुक्षेत्र
• Virataविराट
• Gandhamadanaगन्धमादन
• Pragjyotishaप्राग्ज्योतिष
• Nagalokaनागलोक
• Dwarakaद्वारका
• Sindhu Kingdomसिंधु
• Kambojaकम्बोज
• Madraमद्र
• Magadhaमगध
• Kosalaकोसल

Related Characters

Others counted among the Kauravas.

• ⚔︎Duryodhana
• ☠︎Dushasana
• ⚄Shakuni
• ☀︎Karna
• ☮︎Yuyutsu
• ⛨︎Shalya