Draupadi- the Tale of an Empress

by Saiswaroopa Iyer

A roar was heard behind them—a battle cry that froze the blood in everyone’s veins. Bhima! Draupadi laughed, unaffected by the bruises on her body and the blood trickling across her face. Something about her laughter terrified Jayadrata more than the arrows and the roar. He let go of Draupadi and jumped out of the chariot. In a bid to escape undetected, Jayadrata mounted one of the horses and tried to gallop away.

  Only after his exit, Draupadi felt her bruises burn and ache. The dust that rose around her because of the confused horses galloping hither and thither did not allow her much visibility of what happened next. She held on to the flag post till she saw the Pandavas rush to her, each wearing an expression of worry and anger. Draupadi pointed in the direction she had seen Jayadrata escape. Nakula and Sahadeva helped her out of the chariot when she discovered that she had sprained her leg in the tussle with Jayadrata. As she clutched her leg, she heard Bhima curse aloud and set out in Jayadrata’s pursuit. Arjuna and the twins followed him, leaving Yudhishtira and Rishi Dhaumya to take her back to the ashram.

  Yudhishtira did not speak until they had reached the porch, where he seated her. Lifting her face, he saw welts of Jayadrata’s fingers, and fetched water to clean the blood on her face. ‘They will bring him back and throw him at your feet, Draupadi!’

  Draupadi nodded, saying nothing. Every encounter like this reminded her of the fateful game. Her eyes lashed out though she kept her tongue in check. She knew Yudhishtira could hear the unspoken. She could feel it when he began to pace across the path, sighing.

  ‘We have less than a year before the term of Agnatavasa starts,’ he spoke after applying another round of medication. Agnatavasa was the year of living incognito, which they were to spend in disguise. ‘To avoid the risk of our plans being overheard, we might have to move away from here, Draupadi. At least then we would be free of unwanted visitors, though newer intrigues might await us.’ He reached out to massage her sprained leg, but Draupadi withdrew. He knew he deserved the silent chastisement, though at times it broke his heart.

  ‘Let us prepare to leave soon, Samrat,’ she spoke at last. ‘We need to appropriately honour the rishis, other forest-dwellers, Gandharvas, and whoever shared these troubled times with us and helped us in our stay at Dvaitavana. How about a yajna in their honour?’

  Aware of her attempts to distract herself from the assault, Yudhishtira nodded. A thought entered his mind, pushing him into another bout of silence, until Draupadi patted his knee. He looked up, asking if she needed anything.

  Draupadi shook her head, ‘Something troubles you, Samrat.’

  Yudhishtira sighed, ‘I have heard the rishis mention time and again that our buddhi, or intellect, is driven by our own karma, our past actions.’ Brushing his hair along his temples, he added, ‘Was the game of dice a result of the burning of the Khandava forest?’

  It was Draupadi’s turn to fall into deep thought. It was not as if this thought had not troubled her in the past. She had battled the dilemma with varied arguments, turning her own mind into a philosophical battlefield. ‘Yudhishtira, the burning of the Khandava forest was necessary to protect those whose safety was our responsibility. The forest was sheltering those who threatened not only our rightful sovereignty, but also killed the villagers and nagas, their own brethren, for being friendly with us. Burning of the forest rendered those criminals homeless. Wasn’t that crucial to control the heinous crimes?’

  Yudhishtira remained unmoved. ‘There were animals, birds and a whole ecology that was destroyed. Today, we find ourselves dependent on the ecological balance of Dvaitavana. We are indebted to all the animate and inanimate beings of this forest, who have made way for us to live here all these years. Can we then deny that we are facing the consequences of the same?’

  Draupadi frowned. ‘I have faced this troubling thought many times before, Samrat. But even if what you say is true, would it be right to pursue action while being personally responsible or live doing nothing against the crimes?’ The force of her statement drew a spark of admiration in Yudhishtira’s eyes. Draupadi backed away, realizing something. ‘Was this discussion a ploy to make me forget my pain?’

  ‘Did it work?’ Yudhishtira beamed, trying to escape her annoyed nudge. ‘Draupadi, inaction is the first step towards meek surrender to the forces of adharma. In our fight for dharma, we might falter, take wrong decisions, and pay for it, but we shall emerge stronger. The forces that threaten dharma should always know that we will continue to fight. And we will fight to prevail.’

  Draupadi looked at him and reflected on how the same statement, said about fourteen years ago, would have made her fall in love with him all over again. But the past decade had been full of too many tough lessons. She had learnt to guard herself before trusting even her own husbands who, she knew, would die or kill for her.

  ‘Allow me to tend to it,’ he pleaded when she nursed her swollen cheek. Draupadi relented.

  Not long after, they were informed by Rishi Dhaumya that Jayadrata had been caught by Bhima, Arjuna and the twins. Rising to their feet, Draupadi and Yudhishtira saw Jayadrata’s state and realized that Bhima had indeed unleashed himself upon him. With his face disfigured, and body covered with mud and blood, Jayadrata found himself cast at Draupadi’s feet.

  When he tried to lift his head, Bhima’s foot landed on his neck, forcing Jayadrata down again. Jayadrata almost lost consciousness, but Arjuna managed to pull Bhima away.

  ‘It is Dusshala’s husband!’ Draupadi heard Arjuna hiss.

  ‘Draupadi! He is your slave today! You can seal his fate,’ Bhima bellowed.

  Jayadrata murmured something before he fainted. Moving away from Jayadrata’s prostrate form, Draupadi saw Yudhishtira nod at her, leaving the decision to her. In his attempt to abduct her, the king of Sindhu had wronged not only her, but also his own wife, Dusshala. She saw Bhima silently urging her to pronounce death upon Jayadrata. Such men deserved to die before they repeated the same crime with another woman. But death, Draupadi mulled, was irreversible. Killing Jayadrata, and leaving Dusshala bereaved, would also hurt her mother, Gandhari. Draupadi could not forget how the queen of Hastinapura had influenced the blind King Dhritarashtra to annul the first game of dice. Somewhere, she felt grateful for Gandhari, and could not bring herself to pronounce widowhood upon the old queen’s daughter.

  It was indeed a great clash of priorities.

  Why did women like Gandhari and Dusshala stick by men like this one?

  Grace won over anger. ‘Let Dusshala not be widowed.’ The words came out of her lips, though she was aware of her own disappointment at letting Jayadrata go.

  Bhima whirled around and left.

  Like he spoke that part of her mind which dearly wanted Jayadrata dead.

  As she expected, she saw Yudhishtira’s facial muscles relax at her decision. The brothers loved their sister Dusshala too much. She saw Arjuna drag Jayadrata away from the ashram.

  ‘Through the rishis, we should let Dusshala as well as Mother Gandhari know what Jayadrata was up to here. They have a right to know,’ Draupadi declared to the other three. The twins nodded and left to find a rishi travelling northward.

  There was still something that bothered her.

  Like it had been a mistake to let Jayadrata go.

  ‘What if there comes a day I regret letting him go?’ she thought aloud.

  Yudhishtira looked in the direction in which Bhima had left. ‘Fate can play dreadful games, Draupadi. But rest assured, if there comes such a day, the regret will not be yours alone.’

  Nodding with an understanding glance, Draupadi let him tend to her other bruises. They had a lot to plan for the next eighteen months. They could not afford to let anything go wrong.

  Twenty-nine

  Yaksha Prashna

  The Brahmin looked distraught when he reached out to the five brothers. Draupadi heard him share his woes.

  ‘There aren’t a lot of sources of Arani sticks in this part of the forest, Maharathi!’ His voice broke twice
as he spoke. ‘Years of my sadhana are at stake now. A deer ran off with the only sticks I had to produce the ceremonial fire.’

  Life at Kamyaka had been an eventful one, each encounter throwing up its own unique lesson. Staying in the wilderness did not deter the Brahmin from performing his duties. Draupadi smiled at him kindly, offering him the refreshment she could manage. Yudhishtira watched him drink the buttermilk and assured him that his lost Arani sticks would be retrieved. Draupadi sensed the remaining four Pandavas look at him in disbelief.

  ‘The deer must not have gone far from water sources,’ she remarked. ‘If we can plot the route it took and follow the same, we might track it.’ She saw Bhima shrug and Arjuna take up his weapon. Work of any kind kept them from brooding and she readily co-operated with Yudhishtira in keeping them busy. ‘We would all like some deer meat too!’ she heard Bhima, and noticed him looking at her, as if searching for a smile. But her lips remained non-committal.

  The four brothers left in search of the miscreant deer, a task that seemed unrealistic. But from the multitude of experiences they had been through during their exile, Draupadi could sense that it would be an eventful day. Every intrigue they had overcome in the past had added something to their lives. But contrary to her expectations, the first half of the day passed without any of the brothers returning.

  The Brahmin returned a couple of times to enquire, only to return disappointed. Draupadi saw Yudhishtira’s restlessness mount. With only an hour left for sunset, he picked up his spear to join the search.

  ‘Let me come with you, Samrat.’

  Yudhishtira shook his head. ‘I doubt it is just the elusive deer, Draupadi. I fear some mishap.’

  ‘All the more reason for me to accompany you, Arya,’ she insisted and followed him, picking up her own dagger.

  He tried to dissuade her. But when he finally agreed, Draupadi thought she saw relief flicker in his eyes. He also picked up the sack of medicines and rags that served for any emergency. After a gruelling hour of search, Draupadi felt a sense of foreboding. This part of the forest was unexplored and the darkness only added to their worry. Yudhishtira stopped to light a flame when her foot hit something soft and cold. Draupadi almost shrieked. The touch felt familiar.

  ‘Arjuna!’

  Arjuna’s hands felt colder than usual, his radiant form almost blue.

  He had been poisoned!

  ‘He is conscious! Arjuna, open your eyes. It is us!’

  Yudhishtira rushed to where she had collapsed, holding Arjuna.

  Where were the others?

  Draupadi could hardly move, and stared at Yudhishtira as he disappeared into the darkness. Moments later, she heard him shout, taking Bhima’s name.

  ‘Twins too!’

  A faint chirping of birds greeted Draupadi’s ears.

  Water!

  She followed the sound and reached the banks of a desolate lake. A lake of its size should have attracted a variety of birds and other creatures to its water. But the surrounding seemed unnaturally deserted.

  ‘The lake is poisoned!’ a husky voice came from nowhere. Draupadi did not show alarm and took out her dagger.

  ‘They did not pay heed to my words of wisdom!’ This time the voice seemed much closer.

  And much more menacing.

  ‘Show yourself, you coward!’ she thundered. It was hard to believe that the four valiant brothers had fallen for the tricks of this elusive being. If it was true, she knew that she and Yudhishtira did not stand much of a chance. Still, the enemy, whoever it was, would not have them without a fight.

  A hand suddenly clutched her arm.

  ‘Stay behind, Draupadi!’ Yudhishtira had heard the voice too.

  She shook her head.

  ‘We are together in this!’

  ‘For the sake of any sense left in this world, this is not the time for those ideals!’ he cried. The voice responded this time with spine-chilling laughter.

  ‘Not a day to exhibit wisdom, I guess!’

  Then, they saw him.

  Perched on one of the low-lying branches of an enormous dead tree, he looked like a starved creature.

  Skin covering bones. Like an apparition had possessed a semi-decomposed corpse.

  Anyone in that state would have been long dead.

  ‘The world has lost itself in pursuit of meaningless objects. Nobody cares for the wisdom of what lies beyond this life!’ His words were almost melancholic. Had it not been for his poisoned brothers, Yudhishtira would have stepped forward to comfort the being.

  ‘I told them that the water of this lake was only meant to be drunk by those with great wisdom. They did not listen to me!’

  ‘You poisoned them!’ Yudhishtira hissed. Draupadi held his arm before he could advance further.

  ‘I have the antidote!’ the creature smiled.

  ‘Who are you?’ Yudhishtira’s question was a little louder than a whisper.

  ‘I am a yaksha, human! You have no power over me!’ he sang rhythmically. ‘And your brothers will be dead in no time if they are not given the antidote!’

  ‘Yudhishtira, let us carry them away. The rishis we know will give us the medication they need,’ Draupadi whispered.

  ‘They will be long dead by then. I told them that the water was meant only for knowledgeable ones, and not arrogant fools like them!’

  Draupadi felt Yudhishtira’s hand over her cheek. ‘Beloved, if something untoward happens to me, escape and live to fight another day.’

  ‘Samrat!’

  Yudhishtira approached the creature. ‘You seem to value knowledge and wisdom, Yaksha. What kind of wisdom drives you to let innocents die? If my brothers succumb to the poison, your claim of valuing knowledge will be proved a farce! You will be reduced to a murderer who violated the rule of nature in the frenzy of pursuit.’

  The yaksha laughed again. Draupadi hurried to check on Bhima. The twins showed signs of succumbing to the poison. Bhima was nearly unconscious. Only Arjuna’s limbs showed life as he fought the poison with his best efforts. Draupadi shook each of them in a bid to keep them conscious. ‘It is either all of us or none, sons of Kunti!’

  She frantically looked in the direction of Yudhishtira.

  ‘Test my knowledge, Yaksha. But on the condition that you will hand me over the antidote if I pass your “test”!’ Yudhishtira calmly negotiated.

  ‘But if you fail, you will lose your life too!’ the Yaksha croaked gleefully.

  To Draupadi’s horror, Yudhishtira nodded.

  A gamble again?

  She saw Yudhishtira glance at her and mouth his frantic instruction. ‘Leave!’

  With four of her husbands fighting death, Draupadi could not but defy. Caught in a hostile patch of the forest, she knew that being together was their best bet.

  Even when facing death.

  Checking on each of the prostrate figures, she almost screamed when she felt Nakula’s pulse. Sahadeva was in no better condition. Bhima was still breathing, though close to fainting. Arjuna was the only one who alternated between consciousness and fainting. He uttered words of warning but the sheer lack of coherence in his speech was terrifying. The creature, whatever it was, seemed to be a dangerous combination of supernatural elements and frenzied anger. Who else would poison an entire lake in this jungle if not a cold-blooded apparition? Looking up, Draupadi saw Yudhishtira negotiate with it, answering questions with a clarity that astounded her.

  Alternating between listening to the conversations between them, which she would have greatly appreciated had it taken place in an ashram amongst learned rishis, and hustling to keep Arjuna and Bhima conscious, Draupadi could only pray for the twins. She had always felt fiercely protective of them. Even the thought of losing them filled her with despair.

  Suddenly, Yudhishtira rushed back and knelt by Nakula’s side.

  ‘Has the yaksha given you the antidote?’ she called out. But caught up in his own distress, he did not respond.

  ‘Yudhishtira!’
<
br />   ‘I have the antidote to save just one person!’ he replied without turning.

  Why Nakula when Arjuna had better chances of surviving?

  The question remained within the confines of her mind, realizing how agonizing it was to make this choice. That very moment, Draupadi felt her own limbs fail her. As if the poison had affected her too. It was only when Yudhishtira clasped her shoulder that she felt conscious again. Her gaze immediately shifted to the other four.

  ‘Samrat?’

  ‘They will live!’ he replied, reading the unspoken question in her eyes. But before she could ask him what had happened, he hurried to support Arjuna who was trying to rise up.

  Choosing not to press him for the moment, she helped Sahadeva to his feet. Bhima was alert enough to help Nakula. None of the four spoke much and went to sleep early.

  Draupadi was fatigued but fought to stay awake and ask Yudhishtira about what had happened. When the latter returned after a brief conversation with Rishi Dhaumya, she could not contain herself.

  ‘What happened at the lake, Samrat?’

  Yudhishtira looked hesitant.

  Holding his hand tenderly, she smiled, ‘Mahadeva knows what you did there, but you did well, Samrat.’

  Perhaps it was the first time after the game of dice that he had felt her admiration for him return. He eagerly held her hand close to his, but decided to not push further.

  ‘You will not believe me if I told you what happened, Draupadi. I am still having a hard time believing it myself!’

  The pride and joy that showed on his face was something she had not seen even during the final moments of the Rajasuya. ‘Tell me, Yudhishtira.’

  ‘Would you believe me if I said I met the God of Dharma himself?’ Yudhishtira clutched her arms, his response startling her.

  Draupadi smiled at the sudden rush of enthusiasm in his voice. ‘If we can believe Arjuna about his encounters with gods like Shiva and Indra, why won’t we believe you, Yudhi?’

  ‘You know that we, the five brothers, are not the biological progeny of King Pandu. You might have also heard who our fathers are, Samragni.’ After a brief pause, he added, ‘I thought the ability to meet the celestial beings was limited to my mother. Turns out…turns out we are fortunate too.’