KRISHNA’S RESCUE OF DRAUPADI

This piece is reproduced from Chapter 44, ‘DISROBEMENT’, of the bestselling book Krishna Yogeshvara, Part 2 of the Lord Krishna Trilogy, written by me and available for purchase here: https://www.amazon.in/Krishna-Yogeshvara-Kutil-Dharma-Trilogy/dp/9388414667/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Krishna urged Daruka again, ‘Daruka, I see the end of Dwāpara Yuga approaching if you are not able to take me to Hastinapura in time.’ ‘Just three hours more, Achyuta,’ said Daruka. Both he and his horses were sweating profusely. He did not want the horses to collapse. They had hardly had any rest, except for watering and some food.

In the Dyuta Bhavan, Shakuni dealt his third throw and Duryodhana won again; this time a village of the Pandava territory had been placed as a bet.

After winning a few more villages, Duryodhana bet the whole kingdom of Hastinapura, forcing Yudhishthira to bet his own kingdom of Indraprastha.

A gasp went up in the hall as Yudhishthira lost his entire kingdom.

With his eyes downcast and head held low, Yudhishthira got up to leave. The referee interjected, ‘You can reclaim your kingdom if you put your brothers on the bet.’

Yudhishthira demurred, ‘I have no authority over my brothers.’

Referee Kanika once again rationalised the property doctrine taught to him by Kutil Dharma, ‘All your brothers are your property, Yudhishthira.’

Yudhishthira thought again. His mind was completely clouded and he did not remember anything. The classic ‘loss of intellect’ had taken place.

Yudhishthira placed Sahadeva on the bet, while Duryodhana tempted him with the return of all his gains. Sahadeva was lost to the Kauravas. He became their slave. Even this was unnatural because there was no concept of slavery in that society, but the referee allowed it because his own Kutil Dharma allowed slaves.

Yudhishthira lost Nakula, Arjuna and Bhima in the same way.

When Arjuna was lost as a slave to the Kauravas, Karna roared with laughter. ‘Give this slave to me,’ guffawed Karna. Duryodhana shouted, ‘Given. Get him to massage you every day.’

When Bhima was lost, Duryodhana went mad. He started dancing and held Bhima by his locks, ‘My dear slave, you will gratify me every day.’ Bhima snorted and wanted to take Duryodhana’s head off, but Yudhishthira gave him a forbidding look and stopped the carnage.

All this while, Bhishma and Dronacharya kept quiet. Vidura kept looking at his own feet, as all his wise counsels had found no takers. Dhritarashtra was enquiring from his youngest son, Vikarna, as to what was going on. Vikarna kept murmuring his disapproval of the reprobate actions of Duryodhana, Shakuni and Kanika, but met with no response at all. Dhritarashtra kept nodding his head in disapproval from time to time, but every time Kanika sought his authority to proceed with the filth he was throwing over all the Kuru traditions, Dhritarashtra just nodded. It was a huge conspiracy of silence.

Meanwhile, Yudhishthira placed himself on the bet against all the losses he had made till now. Shakuni made a big show of throwing the dice, Duryodhana called twelve and the dice dutifully turned to twelve. A huge cheer went up from the Kaurava brothers and their core supporters. The public of Hastinapura and all the right-minded elites were choking with emotions as they watched the murder of Sanatana Dharma taking place. Once again, an obstreperous minority had triumphed against a peaceful majority.

‘You have won everything, Duryodhana. My addiction and my ego have reduced me to penury. Now I have nothing to place a bet upon. I am your slave. Do as you please now.’

Duryodhana was not done yet. He could never forget the humiliation that he was subjected to in the Sabha Bhavan at Indraprastha. He laughed sardonically, ‘Yudhishthira, you still have the most precious jewel left. You can still bet Draupadi against everything you have lost. Maybe her luck will bring everything back to you.’

A collective sigh went up in the assembled crowd. Jatil Muni was smiling. His best prescriptions of Kutil Dharma were coming true. He was going to be the person who would convert this whole land into his beloved Kutil Dharma.

Vidura protested again, but Duryodhana shouted at him and Dhritarashtra did not intervene.

Yudhishthira, devoid of all Dharma by now, sheepishly placed Draupadi on the bet. All the other Pandavas kept looking down.

Shakuni stood up, brought the dice up to his ears with a flourish, threw the dice down and won the bet for Duryodhana.

‘Bring Panchali here,’ shouted Duryodhana. Nobody reacted.

Duryodhana looked at Dushasana and shouted again, ‘Dushasana, do the pious deed. Bring that woman here. She is now our slave.’

Dushasana dutifully departed. He went to the palace of Kunti where the Pandavas were staying. Kunti was away to Vidura’s palace. Draupadi was alone. Dushasana went in the shameless manner that the Kauravas had been learning from Kanika and his followers over the past few years.

‘Come, Draupadi, you are now our slave.’

Draupadi was resting and was in a single piece of cloth that women would wear during their periods. Dushasana barged into the room and asked Draupadi to accompany him to the Dyuta Bhavan as Yudhishthira had lost her to Duryodhana now.

‘Come, you five-husband woman, enjoy one hundred of us now.’

Draupadi, the haughty princess of Panchala, got up from the bed where she had been resting and faced Dushasana full in the eye, ‘You earthworm, you know what will happen to you if the Pandavas learn about your behaviour?’

‘Ha ha ha,’ Dushasana laughed deliriously. ‘They are already our slaves.’

Draupadi was astounded, but she tried to enquire about what was going on by trying to intimidate Dushasana, but Dushasana was in a state of frenzied mind where he did not brook any resistance, so he caught Draupadi by her long hair and dragged her to the Dyuta Bhavan.

The scene in the Dyuta Bhavan was traumatic. The public stood crying and cursing. The Pandavas stood in a corner with their heads bowed down and in the garb of slaves, their royal attire having been taken away from them, and a proud Draupadi, her dignity intact, being dragged onto the central platform.

Draupadi broke herself free from the grasp of Dushasana and asked Dhritarashtra point-blank, ‘Pitashri, is this how the daughters and daughters-in-law of the Kuru dynasty treated these days?’

Dhritarashtra did what he always did best. He kept quiet.

Draupadi turned to Bhishma, ‘Was Yudhishthira a free man when he placed me on the bet? By what rule of Dharma does a wife become his property? I am living with Nakula for this year. I am not even Yudhishthira’s consort right now. By what authority has he traded me?’

Bhishma looked at Draupadi and mumbled, ‘The ways of Karma are very subtle and inscrutable, my child!’

Dronacharya simply averted her eyes. His selfish character could never allow him to think beyond serving the man-in-charge, which in today’s situation was Duryodhana.

Vikarna got up and protested, ‘This is pure adharma, Pitashri. I request my elders to intervene. This will spell the end of the Kuru dynasty. Where women are humiliated, that Rājya cannot last long. I appeal to everyone present to come to their senses.’

Vidura got up again and told Dhritarashtra, ‘Maharaja, I once advised against your coronation because you were physically blind but it appears to me that you have turned completely blind in every sense.’

Duryodhana shouted at Vikarna and Vidura to shut them up. Karna jeered at Draupadi, ‘A woman with five husbands is nothing but a prostitute’

Duryodhana shouted at Dushasana, ‘What the hell are you waiting for? Disrobe the slut now. I will have her sit on my thighs.’ He slapped his thighs.

Bhima roared from the corner, ‘I will break that thigh of yours and kill you Duryodhana, and I will drink the blood of Dushasana after killing him.’

Duryodhana shouted a hundred insults at Bhima and the other Pandavas, called Draupadi every dirty epithet he could throw at her and then shouted at Dushasana, ‘You coward, what are you scared of? Strip that slut and bring her to my thigh.’

Dushasana started pulling Draupadi’s robe. Draupadi started chanting the name of Gopāla loudly. Dushasana hesitated at the name of Shri Krishna. He suddenly remembered that she was the sister of Krishna. Draupadi noticed the hesitation and shouted at the top of her voice, ‘Krishnam vande jagadgurum.’

Exactly at that point, Daruka brought the chariot to a halt outside the Dyuta Bhavan and Krishna entered the hall with a flourish, Sudarshana Chakra in hand. Everyone stood still.

Dushasana let go of Draupadi’s robe. The eloquent silence could be heard from hundreds of miles.

Even Draupadi was stunned for a minute. Then, she ran and hid behind her brother. Krishna and Draupadi made a wonderful sight in the magnificent hall of gambling, the Dyuta Bhavan.

Dhritarashtra’s heart skipped a beat as he realised that the hall had fallen silent. He felt for Vikarna to ask him what had happened.

‘Madhusudana, Pitashri,’ whispered Vikarna.

Dhritarashtra did not understand, ‘What about Madhusudana?’

‘Keshava is here, Maharaja. He has the Sudarshana Chakra in his hand.’

Dhritarashtra felt like collapsing from the throne. Was fate going to cheat him again of his great prize!

‘Who wants to test me,’ asked Krishna in an imposing voice. All present in the royal court had already witnessed Shishupala Vadha. They knew the potency and power of the Sudarshana Chakra. Except for two persons — Kanika and his guru, Jatil Muni.

Kanika had heard a lot of descriptions of Krishna, but it was for the first time that he was watching him. He felt overawed.

Krishna thundered, ‘Is this the Sabha of a Rājya based on Dharma or is it a conglomeration of demons?’

Duryodhana wanted to speak, but he was not sure how Krishna would react. If there was one person that he feared was this man Krishna whom everyone else loved.

Yet he made bold to speak, ‘Manmohan, we are not doing anything without the consent of the Pandavas. You can ask them.’

Krishna bellowed at Duryodhana in a rather uncharacteristic manner, ‘Do you know what Dharma is?’

Duryodhana folded his hands in supplication to Shri Krishna, ‘I know Dharma, but it is not in my nature to follow it, I also know adharma, but it is not in my nature to abstain from it. O Hrishikesha, you are the one who lives in my heart and I only follow the impulses of my heart, so you are the one responsible.’

‘What deceit have you played with these unsuspecting Pandavas?’ Krishna was unrelenting.

‘Why don’t you ask the Pandavas themselves,’ countered Duryodhana.

Vikarna informed Gandhari of the terrible fate that had befallen the kulavadhu of the Kuru dynasty. She came into the hall in all her royal regalia, took Draupadi under her wings, admonished everybody including her husband for making a spectacle of themselves, gave a dress to Draupadi to wear and took her away to her own quarters. Dhritarashtra declared the event closed without any clarity as to what would be the status of the bets won and lost in the great gamble.

According to the rules set out by Rishi Parashurama, once the Sudarshana Chakra had been brought out, it could not be retracted without taking off a head. Krishna went into a bit of discussion. He was already aware of the conspiracy cooking in Kutil Dharma circles. The spectators had emptied out, but the main actors were all there seated on the main platform. There was only one person that Krishna did not know up there. He enquired about Kanika.

‘He is Rishi Kanika, He is Maharaja’s advisor,’ said Duryodhana.

‘Rishi,’ sneered Krishna.

The Sudarshan Chakra moved and went back to Krishna after taking Kanika’s head off.

Duryodhana protested loudly. Krishna asked him, ‘Do you want me to tell you what he was doing and what Shakuni was doing? I call upon Maharaja Dhritarashtra to declare whatever has happened here as null and void; otherwise, I may have to bring out my Sudarshana Chakra again.

Yudhishthira admitted that he had agreed to the terms dictated by Maharaja Dhritarashtra.

‘Let this be clear,’ said Krishna. ‘Even if they had agreed to be enslaved voluntarily, there is no Dharmic precepts that allow it. This was a device used by Kanika, who fooled our Maharaja as a rishi, whereas he was a regular member of an adharmic cult and was deliberately made to infiltrate by Shakuni and Duryodhana.’

Discussions went on and a trade-off was agreed by Yudhishthira because he felt very embarrassed about the fact that he had gone under the spell of adharma under the mistaken notion that order of the elders formed the highest Dharma. Krishna mocked him, ‘Dharmarāja, we have been guided by you in all matters regarding Dharma. How could you fall into the same error as Bhishma and Drona? Safety of your kula is not the ultimate in Dharma. Your Rājya and your Rashtra come far higher in the pecking order. How could you be so naïve?’

Even Krishna had to agree that although Duryodhana was vile, Yudhishthira also made a grievous error of judgment, and another terrible error of vanity, in agreeing to bets that were not his own. As a person of the highest character, his punishment would have to be higher than the lesser people. A trade-off was established. The terrible bets were withdrawn. They were made free men, but they would have to suffer twelve years of exile in forests1 and would have to spend another one year incognito. During the incognito period, if the Kauravas discover them, the cycle would repeat. This time, Yudhishthira agreed to these terms only after consulting Krishna. Krishna did admonish him, though, ‘If only you had appointed me as your proxy, brother Yudhishthira…’

Dixit, Sanjay. Krishna Yogeshvara . Bloomsbury Publishing. Chapter 44. Disrobement.