Draupadi has five husbands - but she has none - She had five sons - and was never a mother … The pandavas have given Draupadi … No joy, no sense of victory No honour as wife No respect as mother - Only the status of a Queen … But they all have gone And Im left with a lifeless jewel And an empty crown … My baffled motherhood Wrings its hands and strives to weep. A long poem Kurukshetra, written by Amreeta Syam, conveys this angst of Panchali (Draupadi), born unasked for by her father, bereft of brothers and sons and her beloved sakha (friend) Krishna. In the end too she did not get much support from her five husbands when not even Sahadeva of whom she took care with maternal solicitude, nor her favourite Arjuna - tarries by her side when she falls and lies dying husbanded yet unprotected, on the Himalayan slopes during their journey to heaven - the Mahaprasthana. Only Bheema, at such a juncture tried to save her from her fall from the cliffs by extending an unsuccessful hand to catch her. He failed and Draupadi fell to the ground below and was dying a painful death when Bheema came to her side, consoled her and remained by her side till she eventually died. During these last moments, it is said, Draupadi realized the futility of her undying love for Arjuna and felt the selfless and unconditional love and support that Bheema had provided her at each moment in her life and repented the fact that she could never reciprocate the love of Bheema in equal terms. Her beauty was looked upon by lusty men. But she forever performed her duties which were destined for her. If the Mahabharata is an intricately woven saga of hatred and love, bloodshed and noble thoughts, courage and cowardice, beauty and gentleness, victory and defeat, then Draupadi is its shining jewel, casting the shadow of her towering personality over the epic poem and the all-destroying war it describes.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 07:02:16 +0000
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