A few thoughts on Smt. Subha Narayan's "Question on Draupadi" - Part 3

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Dear members,

 

We are continuing from Part-2 posted earlier.

 

What happened next in the Mahabharata is the tale of

Draupadi's moment of supreme glory. It is the tale of

how one who has performed 'saraNAgati' eventually

attains such an extraordinary strength of will -- an

aspect, one may even venture to say, of divine will

--that one is ready to effectively deal with

"prArabdha" rather than fatalistically succumb to it.

It is a beautiful tale of how Draupadi dealt with her

destiny.

 

Draupadi's loss of her sons was an unmitigated tragedy

indeed. Her pain was insufferable. It was the sort of

pain in life that no mother ever wishes upon her worst

enemy even. Her anger at Aswatthama too was unbounded

and the way it seethed inside her she was tempted

indeed to command Arjuna to lop off Aswhatthama's head

without much ado... exactly as Krishna Himself had

suggested before. None would or could have faulted

Draupadi that day if she had taken that course of

action just as none could ever say a word against her

earlier vow -- the vow, taken after the shame heaped

upon her in the royal court, to wash her hair in

Kaurava blood before she ever groomed it again.

 

And yet, at the very last moment, as the Mahabharatha

records, when Draupadi spoke on that last day of the

Kurukshetra war, when Aswatthama's, the cold-blooded

killer of her sons, fate lay in her hands, she spoke

words that simply stunned everyone by its human

nobility and divine compassion. She said:

 

"Ärjuna, please release Aswatthama forthwith.

Dronacharya was your guru. He taught you everything

you have known in archery. He loved you as a father

might love a son. Aswatthama thus is like a brother to

you. When Drona died, his wife Kripi, did not join her

lord in the funeral fire because her son, this

Aswatthama who stands now before us, was still alive.

If you kill him now in this moment, Kripi will suffer

the pain too of losing her only child. I do not wish

upon Kripi the pain I as a mother have myself suffered

in the loss of my children... Let this pain remain

with me and let Aswatthama go.. let him go his way,

for he has suffered both retribution and humiliation

enough. Please release him!".

 

**************

 

The above scene, one of the last ones in the

Mahabharatha, is a gripping one indeed full of

emotional charge and ethical nuance. It is also a

scene in which the true character of Draupadi shines

forth brightly. In a sort of spiritual way far deeper

than one might come across in other "pUrANAs" or

"itihAsas" of India even, it is a scene that affirms

and celebrates the spirit of 'saraNagati'.

 

Let us discuss and enjoy it further in the next

posting.

 

Regards,

 

dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

 

 

 

 

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