Duryodhana Instructs Purochana to Build a Fire Trap
With the Pandavas sent away to Varanavata, Duryodhana sees his chance. He summons his most trusted adviser, Purochana, and gives him a secret, detailed plan: build a house of flammable materials, get the Pandavas to live in it, and then burn them alive in their sleep.
When Dhritarashtra announced that the Pandavas would go to Varanavata for the festival, Duryodhana was overjoyed. The opportunity he had been waiting for had arrived.
He called for his adviser Purochana in private. Taking the man by the right hand, Duryodhana spoke to him as one would to a partner in a conspiracy. “Purochana,” he said, “this world and all its riches are mine. And with me, they are yours as well. You must protect what is ours. I have no other ally as trustworthy as you. What I must discuss with you now, you must keep secret. Use your cleverness to destroy my enemies. Skillfully accomplish what I ask.”
He laid out the plan, step by meticulous step. Dhritarashtra had sent the Pandavas to Varanavata; they would go there to enjoy the festivities. Purochana was to leave that very day, traveling in a cart drawn by swift asses. Upon arrival, his first task was construction.
On the outskirts of the city, near the weapons store, Purochana was to build a large, excellent house with four halls. It was to appear grand and full of riches. But its materials were to be chosen with a single, hidden purpose. The walls were to be made using hemp, resin, and every other inflammable substance that could be found. The clay plaster was to be mixed with ghee, seed oil, and a large quantity of lac. Inside the house, he was to carefully place hemp, cane, more ghee, lac, wood, and wooden tools — but arranged in such a way that no one, not the Pandavas nor any other inspecting the place, would grow suspicious or deduce the house was a trap.
Once the house was ready, Purochana was to reverently pay homage to the Pandavas and convince them to live there with Kunti and their attendants. He was to furnish it with beautiful conveyances, seats, and beds — enough to satisfy even Dhritarashtra, should word get back. The entire operation was to be conducted in secrecy; no one in Varanavata was to know the truth until the right moment.
That moment would come when the Pandavas were asleep. “Knowing that they are asleep in their beds, completely assured and without suspecting danger from anywhere,” Duryodhana instructed, “set fire to it, beginning at the gate.” When the Pandavas burned to death inside that house, people would blame a tragic accident. They would not, Duryodhana concluded, blame the Kauravas.
Purochana promised his prince that he would do exactly as asked. Without delay, he left for Varanavata in the cart drawn by asses. He was always obedient to Duryodhana, and he moved quickly to set the plot in motion.