Draupadi - The Impregnable Queen

14

The court was silent. Not a word was uttered. The only voices being heard were the hard angry breaths of Arjuna, Bhima and the twins. The eldest was having trouble maintaining his calm demeanour. The brothers though enraged stood silent, still keeping in mind that those before them were family.

-

"Panchali, with all due respect-" started Shakuni, feigning respect.

Duryodhana cut in with an audible snort, "Mamashree, this woman does not care about respect if she had she would not have wedded five men. Moreover, she does not deserve respect, she is a vaishya." Duryodhana started laughing, no one except his brothers and his maternal uncle joined in. After the laughter subsided, the court was met with a long silence. The raged brothers silent, Yudhishtira was pleading Arjuna to stay silent with his eyes. But, how could Draupadi stay silent? She was fire, and the fire did not care for limits, it spread everywhere.

"Duryodhana, weren't you paying attention when I told you I am Yagyaseni the warrior of fire?" she said smiling sympathetically, then her expression changed to that of a realisation, "I see what must have puzzled you! When I say I am the warrior of fire, doesn't only mean I have the fire of a warrior within me, it means that my weapon itself is fire.", every mashal present in the court burned with such vigour that it looked as if fresh ghee was poured onto them. In a few seconds, the court had turned into a massive fire pit. She felt a hand on her shoulder, she turned back, it was Arjuna. His eyes said it all, though he wanted to teach Duryodhana a lesson, he was still family.

Draupadi was enraged, but she did not let her anger have better of her. Draupadi turned back towards the court, Arjuna's hand jerked from the motion. In a matter of seconds, the heat subsided. 

"Forgive me, courtiers of the great Kuru court, I did not know your job was to remain silent. Oh, great Bhishma, answer me, if polygyny is ethical why not polyandry? Women are as capable as men in mental abilities. Yes, we do not have a natural advantage in corporeal matters, but that is not an excuse to reduce us to the status of that of vermins." Draupadi said through gritted teeth. The courtiers did their job. They were good at it. Draupadi continued.

"I will remember your words, Duryodhana." she said looking at the sneering Crown Prince, she turned towards the king, addressing the court in general, "I will remember your silence. Meanwhile, you remember me, I do not think it will be that hard."

She stormed off. She could have stayed, but she chose against it. This was a matter to be handled by her husbands.

-

A day had passed since Draupadi had departed from the royal court of Hastinapur. The all-knowing Bhishma had come up with the only solution which did not include bloodshed, hopefully. Division of kingdoms. Today was the day when Yudhishtira had to announce which kingdom he wanted to rule. Draupadi and her husbands minus Arjuna were mulling over the topic. He had immediately gone to Vidur's palace when he was called upon.

"Jeshtha, I suggest Badrinath, it is a peace-loving kingdom, and you will be a king fit for them." said Sahdev.

"Apologies for disagreeing with you little brother, but if we are under attack who will fight? The namby-pamby citizens of Badrinath? I say why not Kalsi? They are fierce warriors. They know how to swing a sword." suggested Bhima.

"There is a thin line between fierce and foolhardiness Jeshtha! Those people are reckless and ruthless. I say Angdesh, it is situated on the banks of the river Brahmaputra! What luckier could Jeshtha get?" said Nakul.

"It is back of the beyond, Nakul!" said Bhima flabbergasted.

Draupadi was observing her husbands. Sahdev was philosophical and peace-loving, to balance him his twin was extremely practical. Bhima had a military mind, he had this tendency to keep his family safe. Yudhishtira was devout, he listened to everyone, took into point every suggestion. Him hearing made the person taking feel important. She decided to speak.

"A king does not choose what people he wants to lead. He moulds the people into what they should be. That is the rule of a leader, of a king. I suggest Arya Yudhishtira asks the king for the kingdom of Khandavprastha."

Bhima was flabbergasted yet again, "Panchali, Khandhav is even worse than Anga. It is uninhabitable. It is nothing but an expanse of snake-infested woods."

Yudhishtira chose to reply, "Bhima, I see why Panchali suggested Khandavprastha. If we ask for it the doubts of any bloodshed if it was to arise will be cleared. There would be no reason for Duryodhana to attack then, and we will not cause any pain to Tatshree. This is the perfect solution!" said Yudhishtira smiling. 

Draupadi had a different reason but she kept her quiet. She wanted the cousins of her husbands to know what six of them were made of. They would convert the barren land to a place known as heaven on earth.  She wanted to instil fear in the Kauravas. People believed that fear was a bad emotion. Draupadi thought otherwise. A society is made up of both good and bad, one cannot exist without the other. Good and bad are like two sides of a coin, what a leader strives to do is achieve the perfect balance. Too much bad is chaos, but too much good can also lead to chaos. 

That is why the holy trinity has different tasks. The task of Brahma, the creator is to invent things. Vishnu, the propagator disseminates the good. And Mahesh, the destroyer obliterated the evil. 

If the people are fervid a leader leads them to peace. If the people are passive and submissive a leader had to instil excitement, sometimes even anger in them. A leader had to strive to achieve the perfect balance. Then and only then an ideal society could emerge. And Draupadi was ready to do what had to be done. It was her duty to her motherland.

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

Mamashree - Hindi for maternal uncle

Vaishya - A derogatory term for women

Mashal - Hindi for flambeau

Ghee - Hindi for clarified butter

Badrinath -  A city of ancient India, current-day Uttarakhand, India

Kalsi - A city of ancient India, current-day Haryana, India

Angdesh - A city of ancient India, current-day Assam, India

Brahmaputra - The name of a river in Eastern India

Arya - Hindi for husband

Khandavprastha - A large expanse of uninhabitable land 

Brahma - The creator god in Hinduism

Mahesh - Another name for Lord Shiva