Draupadi - The Impregnable Queen

6

A year had passed since Draupadi had acquired the throne, and now the whole of Aryavarta knew about the Queen. Panchal had come into the notice of all the major kingdoms. Concords were formed with powers like Magadh, Kashi and Matsya. The military power was increased tenfolds and in terms of administration, corruption had considerably reduced. The poor did not suffer anymore. Within 6 months, Draupadi had made sustainable dwellings for the poor and homeless, providing them at least their property as security. The culprits reduced in number and contentment increased.

Draupadi liked to clear her head before her chores, by strolling through the royal garden of Panchal basking in the early morning sun. She was about to leave when a rath came to a stop in front of the gates of the garden. Draupadi went out to see who had arrived, this was not a rath of Panchal. It was pearly white with gold works all over it. One horse was pure black, while the other white. There was no place for a saarthi to be seated. The ropes attached to the animals went back to the hands of the person standing in the rath. The man was more than 6 feet tall, his yellow dhoti shone on his skin the colour of the wet earth. His torso was hidden from the abundance of jewels hanging from his neck. His angavastram red and heavily embroidered swooped down from the left shoulder, hanging from his right forearm, rolled twice around his wrist. His crown all gold, contained a single morpankh, his black curls reaching his shoulders would make any girl jealous. His face emanated content and bliss, his small smile was unnerving to Draupadi, but in a good way.  He stepped down from the rath, Draupadi was now standing just before him. 

"Pranipat Queen Draupadi, I Vasudev Krishna of Dwarka am pleasured to make your acquaintance!" said the man, bowing. The name rang a bell, Vasudev was acclaimed by others to be the most intelligent and clever man alive. He was also worshipped by some. Draupadi had always wanted to meet the man herself! 

"The pleasure is all mine Vasudev! Welcome to Panchal!" Draupadi returned the bow, "How did I get this opportunity?" asked Draupadi.

"I heard that the beauty of Panchal was mesmerising, so here I am." he smiled.

"Well, I have heard that Dwarka has no competition for its beauty. So, with all due respect Vasudev, I would love to hear your actual reason to come to Panchal." Draupadi said joining her hands.

To this, the dark-skinned man laughed, "You are smarter than what I have heard!", he suppressed his laughter, putting on that blissful smile again, "I hope to find a friend in you, Panchali!" he said sincerely.

Draupadi was taken aback. She could have settled for some sinister plans maybe, intellectuals can be evil also, but this revelation was too upstart for her. But, after giving it a thought, she may benefit from the friendship of Vasudev.

In reply, she just nodded with a faint smile.

Draupadi had handed today's court to Drishtdyumna, the cases were absurd and he could handle them well, she had an important task at hand.

The sun was retiring for the day, but the conversation between Govind and his sakhi was not even close to it. Draupadi had played along with the hope of gaining benefits from this relationship, but she found a friend in Govind. He was undoubtedly the most intelligible being in the Aryavarta. He was as mischievous as he was sincere. Draupadi had heard all sorts of tales about the Ranchod Murlimanohar. But today she had the opportunity to meet the man herself. She knew now that she was not entering this relationship for benefits, she wanted to be his sakhi.

Author's note: I am providing a vocabulary for words you may be unfamiliar with:

Magadh - A kingdom of ancient India, current-day Bihar, India

Kashi - A kingdom of ancient India, current-day Uttar Pradesh, India

Matsya - A kingdom of ancient India, current-day Rajasthan, India

Rath - Hindi for chariot

Saarthi - Hindi for charioteer

Morpankh - Hindi for the feather of a peacock

Vasudev - The first name of Krisna, named after his birth father

Krishna - (literally - dark-skinned) The advisor of the king of Dwarka and the friend of Draupadi

Dwarka - A kingdom of ancient India, current-day Gujrat, India

Govind - Another name of Krishna, meaning the cowherd

Sakhi - Hindi for a female friend

Ranchod - Another name for Krishna, meaning the one who fled from a fight

Murlimanohar - Another name for Krishna, meaning the one who mesmerized by playing the flute