All of us were preparing ourselves to spend the year of living incognito in some unknown, dense forest. We had thought that at the most my husbands would have to disperse in the forest and live separately. We had prepared ourselves for such a situation. But this friend of mine was telling us something totally different and completely bewildering for us, ‘live openly during the period of living incognito – that too in a royal city –among hundreds and thousands of people.
He kept talking and we kept listening to each and every word cautiously and attentively.
“During this year of living incognito you are going to live in the western region of Aaryavarta; in the royal city of King Virata in the Matsya kingdom as the attendants of the royal family of King Virata! It is most necessary that under any circumstances all five of you stay in touch with each other with caution. Even Draupadi should not stay away from you. You have already experienced that any calamity can befall especially her any time. One gets matured by experiencing hard knocks in life.”
Now he fixed his clear gaze on my eldest husband, the first Pandava, Yudhishthira and said, “Oh Jyeshtha, you have the biggest responsibility during this period of living incognito. You will have to play your own role to perfection and also keep a keen eye on the other five. First of all, you will enter Viratanagar of the Matsyas from the eastern gate two months before the period of living incognito begins, as a Brahmin named Kanka who possesses expertise in Vedashastras, Puranas, Upanishadas, Aranyakas, Brahmanas and all religious rituals. You will have a code name ‘Jaya’, for the convenience of keeping in touch with your brothers. All you brothers will have to give your best to achieve ‘Jaya’ i.e. victory in this mission. You will have to astutely pretend that you have thorough knowledge of astrology. First, you will have to win over the Matsya King Virata’s heart. So, let me tell you about the members of the royal family of King Virata. Listen carefully. Sudeshna is the Maharani of Virata – she is a very loving, religious and virtuous lady who keenly observes religious rituals. The royal couple has two sons and a daughter. The eldest son is named Bhuminjaya alias Uttara. In spite of being born in the Kshatriya clan he is extremely timid. The second son is Shweta who is still young. Their sister is Uttaraa. She is exceptionally beautiful, loving, intelligent and a virtuous lady who possesses rare qualities and is very sociable. The commander of the Viratas is Kichaka, giant in size and very powerful. As Maharaja Virata is old and his son Uttara is incompetent, commander Kichaka holds the reins of the people of Virata.
“Once you win over Maharaja Virata with your knowledge of astrology, you will have to skilfully make him aware of the inadequacies in his kingdom, one at a time. The first shortcoming you will bring to his notice will be the lack of a master chef with skills of preparing delicious food suitable for each season.”
Now the Lord of Dwaraka fixed his eyes on Bhimsena’s round, plump face and said to him, “Bhimsena, you will be master chef of the Viratas! Your name will be ‘Ballava’. You, who usually carry a huge mace on your shoulders, will have to enter Viratanagar from the western gate carrying a perforated ladle instead. Looking at your bare and weird appearance the children on the streets may ridicule you occasionally. If it continues for the rest of the year it will be safer for your stay here. You should look comical and not gallant due to your huge physique. As you will be the royal chef on Yudhishthira’s recommendation, your voracious appetite will be automatically taken care of. Your physical strength, which is the only major support for your family will not diminish during this time. In fact, it may increase further. You should take only one precaution. Unless there is an emergency never show yourself in front of commander Kichaka even by mistake! That expert commander of the Viratas will instantly recognize you for sure. Your code name will be ‘Jayesha’.”
Now we got extremely curious. Each and every word of his left us spellbound. It was taking our minds into a completely new territory. The genius commander of the Yadavas, my best friend Krishna, moved his gaze from Bhimsena to Arjuna’s sharp nose and then fixing it on his eyes he said, “Dear Arjuna, you have to play the most difficult role during this period. You will enter Viratanagar from the main gate and that too, disguised as a woman. The entire Aaryavarta knows you as an indomitable, master archer, and regards you as the best among men. You will have to completely transform your manly handsome appearance that immediately stands out, only then can you remain anonymous. You will have to play the role of ‘Brihannadaa’ – the dance and music teacher of Virata’s daughter Uttaraa. Your code name will be ‘Jayendra’. Instead of bearing the Gandiva bow you will have to dress up like a woman. You will have to put a vermillion dot on your forehead in the name of your husband who is in a faraway country. You will have to adapt a feminine gait and speak like a woman. This is going to be very difficult for you. For that you will have to make Panchali your guru. So far you have been her husband – now you will have to be her disciple. You are already the best of a man, now to be a cultured lady, properly learn what womanhood is, from Panchali!”
He was not just surprising us, but also leaving us shocked. How was my husband Arjuna ever going to agree to disguise himself in a woman’s attire? Instead of that he would prefer to come out of hiding and appear in front of Duryodhana. Krishna surmised the hesitation in his mind unmistakably and said to him, “You are not going to do this only for your own sake. You will have to do it for the sake of all your brothers along with your wife and for the men and women of Indraprastha as your duty towards the kingdom.” Krishna did not give him a chance to waver even a bit and reminded him about the Kshatriya quality in him.
He arose from the grass mat and approached Arjuna. Putting his hand on Arjuna’s shoulder he said very affectionately, “Dhananjaya, this disguise of yours as a woman will be remembered forever. The chapter of your manly achievements is going to begin from this chapter of feminine disguise. Play your role with such perfection that even your wife Draupadi won’t be able to recognize you.”
Arjuna felt blessed hearing his words; and touching his feet he said, “Achyuta, everything will be done exactly as you say!”
By this time, Krishna had completely mesmerized our meeting. He went back and took his seat on the grass mat. Fixing his keen, visionary glance on Nakula he said, “Nakula, you will enter Viratanagar from the southern gate as ‘Granthika’. Your code name will be ‘Jayatsena’. As you are an expert in horses, you will skilfully bring the stable of Viratas under your command within a month. Remember, bringing the horse troops of a kingdom under your control is almost like bringing half the kingdom itself under your control!”
“As you wish Madhusudana. I will successfully complete the task assigned to me.” Handsome Nakula replied with a smile that suited him.
Fixing his bright eyes on the last brother Sahadeva, Krishna said, “Sahadevaa, you will enter Viratanagar from the northern gate as ‘Tantipala’. Your code name will be ‘Jayadbala’. You have acquired deep knowledge of Tanta – the tethers for cows. As an expert cowherd, you will bring the cattle of Viratas under your control. You will have to teach them minute details of how to nurture and protect the cattle. Remember that your knowledge is going to prove significantly beneficial to the Viratas in the near future.”
“As you wish Gopalaa. Everything will happen as per your wish.” Sahadeva also responded in the affirmative.
Uddhavadeva who was silently listening so far, smiled and expressed a doubt, “Dada your plan is to disguise Arjuna as a woman. Now only Draupadi is left. Are you going to tell her to dress up like a man? Even I don’t understand anything that you are saying now, hence the question.”
“Brother Udho, wait a bit. Listen to what I am saying completely. The role that I have chosen for Draupadi is an appropriate one. She will stay in the chamber of Maharani Sudeshna and Princess Uttaraa as ‘Sairandhri’. Sairandhri is a maid especially assigned for helping the royal ladies in adorning themselves. For the convenience of all her code name will be ‘Malini’.” My prudent friend moved his gl
ance from his dear brothers towards me and gave me instructions, “Draupadi, as Sairandhri you will be the maid to Sudeshnadevi and Uttaraa. You will always stay in the inner chambers of the royal ladies.
“Dear Pandava brothers, you all can meet twice a day in the kitchen of the Viratas at the time of lunch and dinner. Draupadi can go to the kitchen any time under any pretext. Sakhi Draupadi can always keep the five of you united by skilfully using your code names.
“Draupadi…, sorry, Sairandhri, no Malini – remember one thing always. You too should particularly avoid going in front of commander Kichaka. If that happens any kind of disaster may befall you. In that case, only Bhimsena will be able to protect you! I won’t be there!”
While talking to me he had intentionally pretended to make a mistake. By making that mistake he wanted to warn me about Kichaka. He wanted to inscribe the name Malini on my mind. Malini means a flower girl. He had given me this name suggestively. Any woman’s chastity is like a flower. I was to protect it and not let it wither. His intention was that I should thoroughly remember my name Malini during this period of living incognito.
He did not ask anybody else but me, “Any doubts Draupadi?” Realizing the intention behind his question I asked, “What should I do about the fragrance emitting from my body?” My five husbands along with Uddhavadeva kept staring with their eyes wide.
My best friend Krishna was different from anybody else. He imagined himself in my place living as Sairandhri for an entire year and said, “The fragrance of your body can be taken care of by using a new Ketaka leaf in your thick, curly hair, daily. But during this period of living incognito you will have to tie your thick, long hair that you have left open so far. For that you will have to use a strip of cloth. There will be no one to serve you as you yourself will be a maid, you will have to do it by yourself.”
Thus, the entire mission of our living incognito was planned with minute details under Krishna’s guidance. Entering the Matsya kingdom along with our weapons wouldn’t be proper. Everybody handed over their weapons to Bhimsena. He was going to keep them in a safe secret place on the border of the Matsya kingdom and only then was going to enter Viratanagar. The forest meeting concluded by remembering Goddess Ida and chanting her prayer.
Krishna bade farewell to us and left for Dwaraka along with Bhamavahini and Uddhavadeva. Within a few days our period of staying in the forest was over. As per Krishna’s plan we began our journey to go into living incognito. Before leaving a meeting was held under Yudhishthira’s guidance to revise how each one should behave during that period. Now all six of us had no doubts left in our mind.
As decided, from the Dvaitavana first Yudhishthira entered alone into Viratanagar and presented himself in the service of King Virata. Following him Bhimsena, Arjuna and all of us entered the city one after the other. All of us assumed our roles and began our work cautiously. Yudhishthira barely managed to send a messenger to Dwaraka to let Krishna know that we had safely reached Viratanagar. It was the last contact with Krishna and Dwaraka. Now, not even by mistake was any messenger or message from Dwaraka going to come to Viratanagar. We were going to hear any news of Dwaraka only from the Chief Minister of the Viratas, that also very rarely. Thus, our struggle in life which one may call incognito or one may not, began.
While I was serving as a maid even if just for adornment of the royal ladies, initially I made some prominent mistakes that anyone could have noticed. Somehow, I managed to cover them up by giving some lame excuses at that time. But I realized afterwards that before giving convincing excuses for my mistakes and correcting them, every single time I would remember Krishna unwittingly. Sometimes when I thought about it at leisure I strongly felt that it was only by his wish that all this – our living in the forest and then incognito was happening. He was so unified with our Pandava family that he was making us experience everything that he had experienced in his life. He had chosen an incognito life for himself since his birth. Later he had gone to the forest of Avanti in the aashrama of Acharya Sandipani to obtain all-round knowledge of life by submitting himself at the feet of his guru. Though that was not actually living in the forest he had experienced it thoroughly by living in that aashrama and by grazing the cattle in the meadows on Mount Govardhana. Nowadays such thoughts would strongly take hold of my mind and take me closer to Krishna. I don’t know if any of my five husbands experienced it or not, but what I felt was that Krishna himself was living with us as one of the servants of Viratas! That is why I felt fearless while spending the days of living incognito in Viratanagar.
Six months of our incognito life passed by uneventfully. Then the first news of Dwaraka which arrived in Viratanagar was that of the wedding of Samba – the son of our Jambavativahini – to Lakshmanaa, the daughter of Duryodhana who was the reason of our misery! Word was that Balaramadada had taken all the initiative in this marriage alliance. We all got the news in the kitchen of the Viratas by word of mouth. I was completely shocked by that news. Various thoughts crossed my mind. Samba was the son of my friend Krishna and Jambavativahini, meaning my bhacha. How come Krishna who had been the best friend to us Pandavas accepted Lakshmanaa, the daughter of Duryodhana who humiliated me, as his own daughter-in-law? And due to this marriage has Krishna befriended Duryodhana just like he befriended us? If he has indeed become Duryodhana’s friend, then what was going to happen to us? Then who is going to be our patron in this incognito life that was planned by him?
Not only me but my five husbands also became restless by the news; completely shocked. We couldn’t meet each other openly. We couldn’t even talk in detail about this major news during the short meeting that we could have in the kitchen. We were going through a big emotional turmoil.
Krishna himself released us soon from this tension. For the first time his messenger came to Viratanagar and met with Kanka the expert astrologer of the Viratas. The message he delivered instantly released our mental tension. Indeed, it was Krishna’s specialty that he would think of an event from all angles, took into consideration its effect everywhere, and found a perfect solution for it.
In short, the story of the Samba-Lakshmanaa marriage went like this – Samba had abducted Duryodhana’s daughter Lakshmanaa from Hastinapura. The only reason for that was he had liked her with all his heart. Actually, Duryodhana should have prudently accepted the relation with Krishna through this bond; like Rukminivahini’s brother Rukmi had tried to patch up by giving his daughter Rukmavati’s hand in marriage to Pradyumna. But, in spite of everything that had happened Duryodhana still considered Krishna as a lowlife cowherd. Was he a good diplomat? Not at all. If he were then he would have accepted Samba as his son-in-law. But the exact opposite thing happened. Duryodhana chased Samba and Lakshmanaa and put Samba in the prison of Hastinapura, and sent Lakshmanaa back to the royal palace. Due to all these happenings, there was agitation in Dwaraka. Balaramadada brandished the Samvartaka plough on his shoulders and attacked Hastinapura with the army. He ferociously fought with Duryodhana’s army and left Hastinapura shaken. Defeating his disciple, he freed his putanya Samba from the prison. He brought Samba to Dwaraka along with Lakshmanaa and got them married with grandeur. Krishna watched everything silently. Why? I was wondering about that. But after giving it thorough thought I realized that the reason he kept quiet throughout this episode was only because of us Pandavas. He probably did not find it right to hurt his big brother while we were living incognito. He had sent a special message only for me with his messenger. It said, “Krishney, I have no relation with Duryodhana whatsoever. You should harbour no doubt in your heart. Once the incognito life ends and your five husbands come out in the open I have plans to get much bigger things done by them. It’s up to you to convince them to remain calm.”
While listening to this message a very different quality of his that I had not realized so far touched my heart. He was a true diplomat; something much more than that. He always had a vision to look at any big event happening around him in a prudent manner. Nowadays I
was clearly becoming aware that my love for him as a friend was transforming into a devotion that could not be defined. It was his doing after all. He was a true king of the Chandravansha. His legacy was that of the moon which stays far away in the sky and makes the lotus flowers bloom in a lake. It was indeed a blessing to feel Krishna’s closeness with such intensity while he was far away, than to experience him closely in his person.
I had unmistakably noticed a subtle thing about Krishna right from our very first meeting in Kampilyanagar. He always forewarned me of future happenings in a subtle way while talking to me. It was he who had convinced the rajmata prudently that it would be better that I accept five husbands in marriage. That too, in front of me, while looking at me. During this period of living incognito, while making the long black hair of Virata princess Uttaraa I would automatically go into a trance. At such times, occasionally the princess would reprimand me saying, “Sairandhri, you are being so careless – where are you looking and what are you doing? Do you even know how to make hair? If you cannot handle my thick, black hair I will choose another maid. You can just leave!” I would have to take her upbraiding in my stride.
Then to alleviate her anger I would tell her stories of Krishna of Dwaraka, Arjuna-Draupadi of Indraprastha and Subhadra and her son Abhimanyu as if I was a third person and had just heard all those from someone else. She would listen to those tales attentively. As I had a watchful disposition, I had already noted a subtle thing about her. She paid extra attention to the tales of Arjuna more than anybody else. Sometimes she would also ask questions about Arjuna.
Srikrishna- the Lord of the Universe Page 63
