12(B). DRAUPADI BURSTS OUT TO SRI KRISHNA

SRIMAD MAHABHARATA > AARANYA PARVA > ARJUNAABHIGAMANA PARVA > CHAPTER 12(B) - DRAUPADI BURSTS OUT TO SRI KRISHNA

“Vaishampaayana continued, ‘Having addressed (Sri) Krishna thus, the Paandavaa (Arjuna) who was the soul of (Sri) Krishna, became silent, when Janaardana (in reply addressed Arjuna) saying, ‘You are mine and I am yours, while all that is mine is yours also! He that hates you hates me as well, and he that follows you follows me! O you irrepressible one (Arjuna), you are Naraa and I am Naaraayana or Hari! We are the Rishis Naraa and Naaraayana born in the world of men for a special purpose. O Paarthaa (Arjuna), you are from me and I am from you! O bull of the Bharata race, no one can understand the difference that is between us!’

“Vaishampaayana continued, ‘When Keshava (Sri Krishna) had said so in the middle of that assembly of brave kings, all excited with anger, Paanchaali surrounded by Dhrishtadyumna and her other heroic (Veera in Sanskrit) brothers, approached Him of eyes like lotus leaves (Sri Krishna) seated with Yaadavaas, and, desirous of protection, addressed in angry accents that refuge of all (Sri Krishna), saying, ‘Asita and Devala have said that in the matter of the creation of all things, You have been indicated (by the sages) as the only Prajaapati and the Creator of all the worlds! O indestructable one, (Rishi) Jamadagnya says that You are (Lord) Vishnu, and, O Madhusoodana (Sri Krishna), that You are (embodiment of) yagna, the person who conducts the yagna and for whom the yagna is performed! O best of beings (Purushottama), the Rishis indicate You as Forgiveness and Truth! (Rishi) Kashyapa has said that You are yagna sprung from Truth! O noble one, (Rishi) Naarada calls You the Deva of Saadhyaas, of the Shivaas, as alone the Creator and the Lord of all things.

“O tiger among men (Sri Krishna), You repeatedly sport with Devas including (Lord) Brahma, Shankara (Lord Shiva) and Shakra (Lord Indra) as children sporting with their toys! O noble one, the sky is covered by Your head, and the earth by Your feet; these worlds are as Your womb and You are the Eternal one! With Rishis purified by knowledge and Tapas, whose souls have been purified by penance, and who are contented with soul-vision (Aatma Darshanam in Sanskrit), You are the best of all objects! O chief of all beings, You are the refuge of all Rajarishis devoted to virtuous acts (Punya Krutaa in Sanskrit), never turning their backs on the battlefield, and possessed of every accomplishment! You are the Lord of all, You are Omnipresent, You are the Soul of all things, and You are the active power pervading everything!

“The rulers of the several worlds (Lokapaala in Sanskrit), those worlds themselves, the stellar conjunctions (Nakshatra in Sanskrit), the ten points of the horizon, the sky, the moon, and the Sun, are all established in You! O mighty-armed one, the morality of (earthly) creatures, the immortality of the universe, are established in You! You are the Supreme lord of all creatures, Devas or human! Therefore it is, O Madhusoodana, that driven by the affection You bear me that I will narrate to You my griefs!

“O (Sri) Krishna, how could one like me, the wife of Paarthaas (Paandavaas), the sister of Dhrishtadyumna, and the friend of You, be dragged to the sabha! Alas, during my (menstrual) season, stained with blood, with but a single cloth on, trembling all over, and weeping, I was dragged to the sabha of the Kurus! Seeing me, stained with blood in the presence of those kings in the sabha, the wicked sons of Dhritarashtra laughed at me! O Madhusoodana, while the sons of Paandu, the Paanchaalaas and the Vrishnis lived, they dared express the desire of using me as their slave (Daasi in Sanskrit)! O (Sri) Krishna, I am according to Dharma, the daughter in-law of both Dhritarashtra and Bhishma! Yet, O Madhusoodana (Sri Krishna), they wished to make of me a slave by force! I blame the Paandavaas who are mighty and foremost in battle, for they saw (without stirring) their own wedded wife known over all the world, treated with such cruelty! Oh, fie (Dhig in Sanskrit) on the strength of Bhimasena, fie on the Gaandiva of Arjuna, for they, O Janaardana, both suffered me to be thus disgraced by little men! This eternal course of Dharma is ever followed by the virtuous – that the husband, however weak, protects his wedded wife! By protecting the wife one protects his offspring and by protecting the offspring one protects his own self! One’s own self is created on one’s wife, and therefore it is that the wife is called Jaya. A wife also should protect her lord, remembering that he is to take his birth in her womb! The Paandavaas never leave the person that requests their protection, and yet they abandoned me who requested it! By my five husbands, five sons of exceeding energy have been born of me: Prativindhya by Yudhishthira, Sutasoma by Vrikodara, Srutakeerti by Arjuna, Shataaneeka by Nakula and Srutakarma by the youngest (Sahadeva), all of them of energy that cannot be baffled. For their sake, O Janaardana, it was necessary to protect me!

“As (Your son) Pradyumna, they are, O (Sri) Krishna, mighty warriors all! They are foremost of bowmen, and invincible in battle by any enemy! Why do they bear the wrongs inflicted (on me) by the sons of Dhritarashtra of such hateful strength (Durbala in Sanskrit)? Deprived of their kingdom by deception, the Paandavaas were made bondsmen (Daasaa in Sanskrit) and I myself was dragged to the sabha while in my (menstrual) season and having only a single cloth on! Fie on that Gaandiva which none else can string except Arjuna, Bhima and Yourself, O Madhusoodana! Fie on the strength of Bhima, and fie on the prowess (Paraakrama in Sanskrit) of Arjuna, since, O (Sri) Krishna, Duryodhana (after what he had done) has drawn breath even for a moment! He it is, O Madhusoodana, who formerly drove the innocent Paandavaas with their mother from the kingdom, while they were children still engaged in study and the observance of their vows (Vrata in Sanskrit). It is that sinful wretch (Paapa in Sanskrit), who, horrible to say, mixed in Bhima’s food fresh and deadly poison in full dose. But, O Janaardana, Bhima digested that poison with the food, without sustaining any injury, for, O best of men and mighty-armed one, Bhima’s days had not been ended! O (Sri) Krishna, it is Duryodhana who at the house standing by the banyan (tree) called Pramaana bound Bhima sleeping unsuspectingly and throwing him into Ganga returned to the city. But the powerful Bhimasena the son of Kunti, possessed of mighty arms, on waking from sleep, tore his bonds and rose from the water. It is Duryodhana, who caused venomous black-cobras to bite all over the body of Bhimasena, but that slayer of enemies (Bhimasena) did not die. Awaking, the son of Kunti (Bhimasena) smashed all the snakes and with his left hand killed the favourite agent (Saarathi in Sanskrit) of Duryodhana.