DRAUPADI - 58

 

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty's 

DRAUPADI - 58

The Exile Begins

 

Is everything predetermined

man is a pawn moved removed

by fingers that write our destiny?

Who writes this with what indelible ink?

Yesterday, today, tomorrow all

roll out as per the prewritten script?

Then why am I here kicked by fate

tied to another's folly suffering

consequences I never deserved?

If Yudhistira lost his mind and did

what a noble king ought not to do

why should Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva

and I Drupad's daughter face

the quirk of fate why should

Indraprastha lose her king in a trice

people lose freedom, family its fulcrum.

Sudden calamity like a blizzard

blows apart time laden minds.

If the king's fate is people's destiny

family's doom single life is fateless?

Do I or Bhima Arjuna not have lives

with our destinies prewritten?

 

Wordless Draupadi walked

behind the Pandavas from the city

to the forest's shady expanse

of trees animals birds and men.

Draupadi relived the scene when

all her husbands stood guilty

with hung heads crownless and dark.

We will have to go to the forest

for thirteen years said Yudhistira.

Am I still in your We; are these

four braves in your We, whom

you wagered as your own property -

I am sorry Panchali I regret

my shameless act, pardon me!

Ask yourself you wise Yudhistira

people call you Dharmaraj, expect

justice from you in their hour of need.

Have you been just to yourself

your family, your responsibilities?

I don't know where I stand

in the scheme of things, am I still

the Pandava wife after you diced

me away to perpetual ignominy?

And you Kunti Madri sons -  Is loyalty

to king brother parents so absolute

you will sacrifice your dharma morals

the balancing logic of your minds

at the altar of irrational passion?

We have no answer to your queries,

all of us were betrayed by our

values when ritual became life.

Trust became a trap and - Stop it Arjuna

Was your Gandiv in sedation?

Your right senses were in chains?

 

You have every right to chide me

said Yudhistira but I cannot undo

what I have done, if you want to live

in the comforts of your Father's Palace -

What? Why should I go to Kampilya

while my husbands undergo expiation

for self inflicted misfortune,

transgressing the arc of their souls?

I have done no wrong said Bhima:

Yes I know I am the guilty one

you are all free to leave me

alone I will atone for my deeds -

Again you are wrong Yudhistira,

Bhima, Arjuna or I have no cause

to desert you, the bond of family,

love of brothers, respect for elders

all are in shape said Draupadi:

let's together face the new reality.