The Enchantress

Chapter thirty nine

"They indeed can't find a suitable wife for him, sister. Nobody is ready to marry him indeed. Our plan of paving the way for humanity till the Kaliyuga is working fine," Sri Krishna said to Draupadi. Sri Krishna was not born as a human like his earlier incarnations but rather as Sri Vishnu himself. He was a purnaavatara (full incarnation) and not amshavatara (part incarnation). His father Vasudev had requested him to take a human form instead so that Sri Krishna could be safe from his evil uncle who wanted to kill him. 

Draupadi, who Sri Krishna used to adorably call as sister was Goddess Adi Shakti herself. She had taken birth so that humanity had a lesson to learn before they would give in to their animalistic urges in the era of darkness, also known as Kaliyuga. The Mahabharata happened at the end of Dwaparayuga. She was married to the five Pandavas who had part of Shiva inside them and had agreed to be humiliated so that she could be held as an example as an ideal woman and what would happen if a woman was disrespected. Likewise, Sri Krishna had incarnated as an example of an ideal man. The goal of all this was to wipe out all the evil people, mostly people in power like the Princes, Kings and so on and establish a better King at the very start of the Kaliyuga, the age of darkness. The war of Mahabharata, the biggest war in history would successfully wipe out dynasties of tyrant rulers like Jayadratha, Duryodhana, Kichaka, Shishupala, Kamsa and many such Kings were killed in the lifetime of Sri Krishna and this deep cleansing was necessary too. 

"Time to fuse into one then, brother," Draupadi said, having a charming smile on her face as they both fused together to become Goddess Mohini, because Mohini was the combination of both Sri Vishnu and his sister Shakti into one form. Mohini walked outside, her hips swaying as everyone was shocked to find a woman as enchanting as her. She walked to Iravan, joined her hands and declared, "I want to be your wife, Arya (Respectable personality, Sir). You are a Yogi and it is a Yogi's duty to accept any woman who wants him."

Iravan kept looking at her, shocked. How did she know that he was Yogi to begin with? He, like her, joined his hands in respect too and said, "I would gladly marry you, O you fair woman with lotus eyes. However, if I do marry you, I would be sacrificed to Goddess Kali the very next day. Would you be okay to become a widow on the next day of marriage itself?"

Mohini knew all this, so she smiled and nodded, as she replied, "Yes, I accept all this, O great warrior. I just want to be known as the wife of a man as great as you."

Iravan's face strained as he thought of something and said, "I have another condition. I don't want you looking after a baby after I am dead. I have seen my mother struggle in the absence of my father so tonight, even if it would be our wedding night, I won't touch you. If you wanted a son from a warrior like me, you can choose any of my step brothers or cousins and I am sure they would be happy to help a woman like yourself."

Mohini was left surprised. He had parts of Shiva and Lakshmi inside him because they had expected something else. Before he was even born, this was all planned. However, they felt bad about him all along but the end prize he would get would be worth the struggle of so many lives he was being pushed into. 

Mohini didn't expect anybody to reject her for sex. She was the most enchanting one in the entire world and she felt extremely puzzled at the situation. She had broken celibacy of many celibates but this was something new. However, she felt glad with his self control and his care for her dignity as she nodded, accepting his condition. 

Iravan smiled and said reassuringly, "Okay, the wedding would happen in an hour itself and I will tell my Uncles and Father about this. I am sure they would be happy to know this."

They were married that day itself and the next morning, he was sacrificed and his blood was poured on the idol of Goddess Kali. Mohini meanwhile, like the wife she was, kept begging him to change his decision and after he was killed, she fell down on her knees as her sindoor (vermillion) was wiped away and her glass bangles were broken. She kept crying, banging her chest as she cried for the loss of her husband. 

She didn't realize when she turned into Sri Krishna again and everyone was surprised to see that. Shikhandi, Draupadi's brother who had turned into a man when she had become an adult and was a prominent warrior in the war of Mahabharata claimed that only an intersex person would dress up as a woman even when born as a man. He urged every intersex in the world to share the pain of another fellow intersex.

Following then, every year, it was a festival of sorts. Every intersex would get married to Iravan every year on that day and the next day, they would cry, sob and scream like a widow. It was a big festival among the hijda (intersex) community in the entirety of India.

Next that followed were glimpses of Sri Vishnu telling Yamadeva that Iravan could marry Mohini again if he was a celibate for fifty years and thrived like a lotus even if his foundation was mud. It was painful to watch the things he went through in his every life as Viraj woke up with a start, his face sweaty. 

He reached to his side table to find a jug but was surprised to find nothing. How could he see such kind of dream just the night before his marriage? He got up and went downstairs to get a glass of water. While he was drinking water, he heard the twinkling of anklets. He didn't pay much attention to it, still disturbed by the dream he saw. He looked like Iravan. Was this story really true? He had to google it to confirm and even if he would see no results, he knew he couldn't completely confirm that this didn't happen because not everything was told in a story, especially in a story as long and grand as the Mahabharata.

He choked on the water he was drinking when he saw the face he saw in the dreams, the glowing face of Goddess Mohini. Mahamaya's eyes widened as she saw Viraj in front of her, the face she had seen in the dream and the both were stuck in time, looking in each other's eyes as if they were lovers who were waiting to reunite after many lives and after they both came out of their trance, they strode forward and hugged each other tightly, their union making them feel complete, like their purpose of them getting born would be resolved if they unite...