Draupadi - The Impregnable Queen

9

Arjuna crouched low as he bent his tall, lean and muscular frame. He rested his weight on his left knee as he held the bow steady. The arrow was fixed in place, any inexperienced archer would have stretched the bowstring as of now, but he knew that it should not be pulled too early; he did not want his muscles to tire out. He had to wait for the perfect moment.

Arjuna had gone a little far from the temporary camp he and his brothers had set up. He was taking his watch when he heard the grunt of an animal, it was filled with hurt. The animal was wounded. It was unmistaken ably the tiger. There was nothing more dangerous than a wounded tiger. Arjuna always carried his bow, wherever he went, it was almost as if he loved his bow. Their mother Kunti had drawn the line when she saw him cuddling in sleep with his bow. Arjuna was mocked by his brothers for his talent of sleeping anywhere. He could sleep on the back of a moving horse, atop a sleeping Bhima, but the latter didn't turn out to be so great as Bhima startled, pushed his brother away and Arjuna had bruised his elbow. But the brothers did not complain as any sign of threat was sensed Arjuna was always the first one to wake up. The weapon he was holding was just a composite bow, made of a long and thin but sturdy branch of a tree. It was covered with dried vines to smoothen the surface. Arjuna's royal bow had burnt down in the fire that had broken out in the palace of Varnavat. The brothers accompanied by their mother had gone to attend a ceremony dedicated to their deceased father Pandu, the king of Hastinapur. His elder brother, born blind was not given the throne but when Pandu had abdicated the throne to do penance, Dhritrashtra was made the king in absentia. His sons shared his greed of the throne. He was the father of a hundred sons and a daughter. The Kauravas as they were called, hated the Pandavas as Yudhishtira, the eldest was supposed to be the heir to the throne. And he rightfully was also appointed as the crown prince, which made Duryodhana, the eldest of the Kauravas furious. The fire that had broken out in the palace was not unintentional. The whole palace had been constructed out of ghee and oil with earth and a large quantity of laakh. The Kauravas had planned to burn the Pandavas but making it look like an accident. The Pandavas came to know of the malice just in time. They got out with the help of an underground tunnel. They were considered dead by all of Hastinapur. Six of them decided to let it stay that way. They did not want to rule the kingdom if it was causing a drift in the Kuruvansh. They decided to live as hermits and live away from royal leisure.

The animal had not even seen him yet, but the archer decided to stay alert. He had cast his cotton angavastram aside so that it didn't interfere with the release of the arrow, revealing his battle-worn skin. He was born with the colour of wheat, but the oppressive heat had caused him to tan. A few strands of hair had escaped from the practical bun atop his head put in place by Rudraksha beads. His otherwise clean visage was covered with a shaggy unkempt beard. The animal's instincts kicked in, it looked around and spotted the archer, not a second had passed and Arjuna stretched the bowstring so that it almost touched his lips. His back was arched, his elbow held high, parallel to the ground. There was no time to savour the excellent skill manship, as the beast had traced his steps back, an attack was imminent. Arjuna pulled the string a notch further and released the arrow. The arrow whizzed right into the left eye of the magnificent predator, lodging right into his brain. The animal struggled for a few seconds but then went immobile. As he walked towards the beast to retrieve his arrow, he heard a sound. The release of a long-held breath. Within a blink of an eye, Arjuna had turned around, an arrow knocked in place, the bowstring stretched, ready to attack. But in the sight before him, he was not the one to attack, he had to defend himself.

He gulped in hard. All that practice of self-control was seeming to be worthless for the archer for the past few moments. His heart always confined by his control now was liberated, and was beating so fast that Arjuna could hear the thumping. He silently hoped with all his being that the blood rushing to his skin would go unnoticed due to his newly tanned skin. But he was not just another man, he was Arjuna. He took in a deep breath. Kept the arrow back in the quiver and joined his hands in greeting.

"Pranipat." he said evenly.

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

Kunti - The first wife of Pandu, the deceased king of Hastinapur and mother of the three elder Pandavas

Varnavat - A village of ancient India, current-day Barnawa, Uttar Pradesh, India

Dhritrashtra - The interim king of Hastinapur, the father of the Kauravas

Kuruvansh - Hindi for the clan of Kurus