Draupadi's Mahabharat

Part 15

"Stop Angraj, I would like to ask you that to which kingdom you belong, are you a prince or a king, I will not marry the son of a charioteer" to which I saw Karn look very confused and an expression of disappointment come upon his face. "He is the king of the province of Anga" said a haughty Duryodhan.  

"One does not become a king by charity, a kingdom cannot be donated to anyone, they have to earn it themselves" I said. Till then Angraj had been quiet, but he could be quiet no more,"So, this is the nobility you showed on the first day when we met you?" he shouted. My heart was breaking down but then I regained my composure and listened to all he had to say, I let all his anger come upon me. "Or you forgot everything right on the day of your swayamvar?" he said, I was about to reply to this but I father interrupted and ordered Angraj to sit down, I watched him as he went back to his seat ashamed. I was feeling very guilty now, I should have just said that I did not want to marry him. I turned to look Govind, he was also not very happy but looked at me and nodded his head and asked me to calm down.

I looked at Arjun he was looking at Arjun and smirked, "I give you a challenge, proud princess, if you wish to marry you have to marry in this swayamvar itself, and if you don't choose to remain a maiden all your life" this was said by Duryodhan. Why was Arjun not coming forward? What was he waiting for? "Invite the Brahmans to take part in the swayamvar, Maharaj Drupad" Govind said. "As you say Vasudev, I Drupad the King of Panchal invite all the Brahmans present here, to take part in my daughter's swayamvar".

Then I looked towards Arjun and just the thought of him brought a smile to my face. Finally, Arjun sought Yudhisthir's permission to participate in the contest. With his elder brother's consent, Arjun, still in the guise of a Brahman walked towards the stage.All the people presented in the ceremony had some hesitation about how this Brahman could break that challenge. Arjuna easily lifted the bow and prayed to the God and fixed arrow on to the bow. Arjuna aimed the bow to the top side of the pole where fish was hanged.

People were amazed to see a Brahman trying to achieve a feat in which valiant princes had miserably failed. "He must be crazy" remarked one of the Brahmans. Staying calm and composed, Arjun picked up the bow and an arrow. He looked at the reflection of the fish in the oil pan and drew the bowstring and shot the arrow. The arrow darted with a twang and pierced the eye of the fish. People could not believe that a Brahman had mastered archery better the assembled princes.

He got up and smirked and looked at me, it was clearly visible on his face that he was very pleased at his performance. Shikhandini asked me to go and put a garland around his neck. I remembered then that he had won me and I slowly got up and went down the dais, the maids brought the garland and I took the garland and went near him and garlanded him. He was so tall and handsome, I came upto his neck, he was the perfect man any woman would have wanted. He kept the bow in its place and saluted it again and came back to me, took the garland from the maid and garlanded me. A loud applause was heard after this from my family and his brothers. I was lost in his eyes, they were hazel brown in color, I had noticed them in the temple only.