subarna | ✓

Feast

A grand feast was arranged on the occasion of the arrival of newlyweds. Kury family had a large dining hall, in which a large rectangular dining table was set which was surrounded by plenty of chairs which was more than sufficient for the whole of the kuru family to sit together. Chairs were put only on the larger sides of the table.

Everyone was present there except half of the Kauravas who were drunk and sleeping, after their party. Karna and bhanumati sat on either side of Subhadra, on the other side of Karna sat half of the Kauravas who were present there. next to Bhanumati sat Duryodhana, on the other side of Duryodhana sat remaining Kauravas along with Dhritarashtra and Gandhari. On the opposite side of them sat Pandavas, Kunti and bheesma. Since Vidura was the maid's son he never ate with the kuru family.

Maids were serving food on the Kauravas side while Draupadi was serving Pandavas. Subhadra was looking at Draupadi, wondering why she was not sitting like them.

Those days it was custom for wives to serve their husbands and eat only after them. Though in the kuru family only Pandavas followed them.

Subhadra asked Draupadi to sit saying maids will serve, but Draupadi denied politely saying she will sit after her husbands have finished eating. Subhadra was ignoring pandavas the whole time. Arjuna took this as an opportunity to impress Subhadra and told Draupadi to sit with them. But before Draupadi could say anything Yudhishthira spoke.

Yudhisthira said "Arjuna, it's adharma for a wife to eat with her husband. others may follow adharma, but it doesn't mean we should join them. Draupadi will eat after us as usual ". Arjuna looked frustrated at his brother's statement.

Draupadi was fuming with anger but she didn't show it, for all the sacrifices she did for them, she didn't even get a normal life like others.

Subhadra was feeling pity for draupadi and anger on Pandavas. Everyone on kauravas side looked irritated at Yudhishthira's statement. subhadra couldn't hold her anger any longer. she was going to counter him but just when she opened her mouth karna filled her mouth with food . She heard Bhanumati and Kauravas laughing at this. She turned to her husband with a pleading look which meant, not to embarrass her further by feeding her, in response karna gave her a mischievous smile. She had planned to eat by herself and even told her husband not to feed her while in Hastinapura . She wondered why her husband was doing this to her. In Anga, he had kissed her in front of her friends, which made them tease her for days. She opened her mouth to say that she will eat by herself but again he filled her mouth with food. finally, she gave up. Bhanumati seeing karna feeding subhadra asked Duryodhana to feed her . Everyone on Kauravas side chuckled hearing this. karna gave a mocking smile to his friend. Duryodhana regretted inviting karna to Hastinapur. Soon dhuryodhana was feeding bhanumati having no other choice.

Dhritarashtra and gandhari were listening and enjoying everything, smiling at times. They couldn't see anything, so the sounds coming from their children made up their world.

Arjuna was feeling extremely jealous seeing subhadra and karna , but he convinced himself that karna must be forcing her to act like that in front of others.

Yudhishthira was irritated by all this. already they were committing adharma by letting their wife eat with them. Now they are even feeding them. They are crossing all the limits. If this continues then the destruction of the kuru family is not so far, he thought.

Bheema was so engrossed in food that he didn't mind anything happening around him. He just kept asking draupadi to serve him more whenever his plate was empty.

Nakula understood that his cousin has fallen for that suta's charms. He was wondering why she never showed any interest in him when he tried to flirt with her.

Sahadeva was thinking about why his prediction for subhadra and karna had gone wrong. He thought they would never have love in their relationship. He had also predicted that they would never have children. He was hoping that at least his second prediction would come true.

Seeing how Duryodhana and karna treated their wives, kunti felt guilty for draupadi. Her son's never treated draupadi with love or respect even after everything she did for them . There was no use in arguing with them because it was her fault . She was the one who had taught her other sons to always obey yudhishthira without questioning him. She was the one who had sent yudhishthira to Brahmin guru's to learn dharma when he was only a little child . Unlike other children who grew up playing and enjoying their childhood, Yudhishthira spent his childhood learning dharma. she wanted to prepare him to be a good king, one who always follows dharma. She wondered what they must have taught him that made him like this. Now he never listens to anyone anymore. At times she even thought he must have gone nuts, but she didn't reveal her concern to anyone. If her doubts are true then her sons will lose all their rights of kingship, since Duryodhana will become the next eldest of their family, which was now Yudhishthira. It was the only advantage her sons had over Duryodhana. Now at least they have Indraprastha and she didn't want to lose it.

Bheeshma was watching everything without any emotions. He loved Pandavas more than Kauravas since they were deva putras . He was silently showering them with blessings in hope that they would soon restore dharma in aryavrat.

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Dushala and shakuni are in Ghandhar having a peaceful time  🕊️ .