DRAUPADI
I wanted to get out of the court so I start walking away from the throne. Yudhisthir came after and stops me. "Wait, Panchali." He grabs my arm. All the kings, rishis, citizens who came to attend the ceremony is simply staring at us.
"I am no longer 'Panchali' to you. To any of you." I shout.
"Ask everyone to leave who is not family." Vyas says to Pitamah.
"I am so sorry for the commotion, but please leave the court. Only family members, which include those from Hastinapur, Rishivar Vyas, Maharaj Drupad, Krishna and Balram, please stay back." Pitamah folds his hands and request the crowd.
Everyone starts leaving one by one. "Duryodhaan, you are family. Sit down." Patamah say.
"I am taking my daughter away from here. And don't you dare touch her." my father tells Yudhisthir after everyone leaves. My body is shaking from the anger.
"Please understand, we couldn't do anything because of the ceremony, or else I would have killed him myself for talking like that about Panchali." Arjun says.
My father laughs, "You? You who couldn't object when your wife was making a common wife will do justice for her?" Arjun looks at my father in shock, he always knew my father liked him so it was unexpected to him.
"I understand your anger but Krishna, Vyas, and everyone said the ceremony will e incomplete if we pick up our weapon today." Yudhisthir says.
"That's not true, bhratashree." Krishna says, his voice fills with anger. "We all said 'if you pick up your weapon for unnecessary things. Protecting your wife surely is more important than becoming an emperor."
Before Yudhisthir could respond to Krishna, Vyas speaks up, "Vasudev Krishna is right. Even if you had killed him, it wouldn't be a sin. Your wife comes first, your ceremony would still be completed. Not only you did nothing but none of your brothers also did anything. You should decide what is important and what is not. "
"We couldn't pick up our weapon without the permission of our Jyesth." Bheem says.
There excuses baffles me. "Men don't stay silent when their mistress is insulted, and you guys just stood there and listen when you wife was being called a vyasa. Shame on all your strength. Even if someone drags me from here, you guys will just wait for the ceremony to be over."
"Panchali, it's not like that. Madhav, tell her." Arjun looks at Krishna.
Krishna stares him down, "I am not your friend today. I don't have friend who think keeping other kings under them is more important than protecting his wife's honour, until Draupadi forgives you, I can't forgive you."
"They won't understand, Govind." I say. "Shishupal was right to some extend. I am just here as a decoration. I am everyone's wife, yet I am no one's wife. I am everyone's responsibility, yet no takes responsibility to protect me. They think its fine because they are making me the queen, the empress."
I turn to my husband, unable to stop my anger, and tears, I shout. "Do you know what life for a queen is without any child? I have a big chamber, a chamber filled with many empty rooms, because I thought I should do my duty to all of you equally and have at least one child from you each, so that none of you fill injustice. But all those room are empty. My chamber echoes from emptiness. Queens get dispose for not having a child but I thought it will be fine for me. But after looking at you all today, caring about the damn ceremony more than your wife's reputation, I realise I was wrong."
I turn to matashree Kunti. "You tell your sons, matashree. After the curse your husband got, why did you pray to Gods to have your sons? It was because you knew that without having a child, your life as a queen is over. You might even be killed by the new queen."
"That's not true, matashree stayed in the forest with us, she didn't care about palace." Arjun says.
"Is it? Then why did you guys went back to the palace after your father's death? Let's say it was to be safe. The why ask for your share of kingdom? For your right? Am I wrong Matashree?"
She cries. "You are not wrong, putri. I should have raised my sons better."
Yudhisthir doesn't say anything, he keeps looking down the floor.
I look around the room. Everyone is silent. "Hastinapur accepted my marriage with 5 brothers because its the Pandu's sons. They won't let anyone say they are wrong but today, everyone is silent because the blame was on me and not them. Have I ever had any choice?"
"You all never understand how I felt, from marrying 5 men to having none to call a husband. Being passed around from one to another but no one accepting me. How lonely I felt everyday, when you all have your family. Whenever I come out of the room I feel like such an imposition. When all I have done is pray for 5 of you, so that you won't sin for referring your brother's wife as yours."
"Why did you endure all this? Today also I can make every king in Aryavart to come so that you can choose a man you want." My father tells me.
I cry, "So that they can say I have another husband and stain his image? No, Pitashree." I say "Having a husband whom I love, and who loves me back is a luxury I cannot afford."
Yudhisthir cries. "Panchali, I am so sorry. Forgive me please, Panchali."
"Then come back home, putri. When I go back to Kampiliya, and your brother gets to know about this, he will ask me why I left you here where you are not loved. You have a home where everyone misses you daily. Let's go home." My father says.
My husbands falls at the feet of my father. "Please don't take her away. We have realised our mistake. Please don't separate us from our wife."
"I don't consider you 5 my husbands anymore." I throw away my chudamani. "I tolerated everything these past three years, didn't complain, I hear your wives saying things about me, none of you ever defended me and I still stayed quiet. You all broke your promise you made to me. You 5 couldn't refuse an order your mother said blindly, even when she took it back, you followed. But all of you broke your promise the moment one of you broke the promise and I tried to be understanding."
"Panchali, please give us a chance to correct our mistake. I won't be scared anymore. I will fulfil all my duty as your husband now. And I won't never bring another women here, nor will I get marry again. Please accept me as your husband." Arjun begs me.
Yudhisthir wipes off his tears, "Panchali, all these times, I thought I am giving you freedom to choose which one of us you want to spend the rest of you life with. Only today, I know how wrong it is. I didn't consider your feelings, that you cannot just choose when all us are not even spending time with you alone, rather busy with our other family. Give me a chance, one last chance." He kneels down. Everyone looks at him in shock, even I never expected him to kneel down in front of his wife.
"Now, that she's leaving you are begging her not to leave. I don't care. I won't keep my daughter here. She can live in Kampiliya as long as she wants. And if she wants to marry again. if she finds someone she wants to spend her life with. I will gladly arrange her wedding."
Matashree Kunti, Pitamah, Jyesth pitashree Dhritarasth and husbands starts pleeding my father not to take me back but he won't listen.
"Let's not take decision that fast, maharaj Drupad." Krishna says. "Today, Shishupal has done us a favor by speaking his mind, which obviously was wrong, and I killed him for it. But it also made Pandavs realise when to stand up for their wife, what is more important in life." He turns to Pandavs, "Rajasuya can be conducted latter also but you wife will always remember you not protecting her honour. And Draupadi now know if her husbands feels she is more important, or some rules. If Shishupal has not said all those things, then she would have realise it much later and it would have been too late."
Everyone listens silently.
"Yudhisthir, your Rajasuya is not completed. Not because Shishupal is killed by Vasudev Krishna, but because you failed to recognise what is more important. And your brothers also kept waiting for your order. She is the wife of you 5, protecting her is not just your duty, why wait for order. If you had ordered to kill Shishupal when he starts disrespecting your wife, then you would have been the greatest emperor." Vyas announces.
"It's fine Rishivar." Yudhisthir says. "Now I will only become an emperor when Panchali accept me as her husband."
Krishna calms my father down. "Let's let her think properly. She is born to be an empress."
"Please don't let Hastinapur sink more by taking her away." Pitamah beg my father. "We already failed by not protecting her honour."
I just stare at mu husbands, unbelievable husbands they are.
"Bua, let's correct our mistakes." Krishna turns to matashree Kunti and says. "We can't undo things but we can still prevent a lot."
I feel dizzy. I support myself in a pillar nearby.
"You need to rest, Panchali. Let's go, I will take you." Arjun comes forward.
"Don't you dare touch me." I shout. "I wish you never came to my swayamvar."
Arjun cries, "Don't say that please. I am incomplete without you."
"I will take her to her chamber, let's go maharaj I need to talk to you also." Krishna says to my father, the only one who is always there for me.
KARNA
I sit in the guest chamber with mama Sakunee. Wondering if Draupadi is fine.
"Family war I guess, I wanted to watch so much." Mama Sakunee says.
Duryodhaan and Dusassan comes back. I wanted to know but couldn't ask.
"What is happening there? Tell me. Is Yudhisthir an emperor now? What did Vyas say? Are they getting any punishment?" Mama Sakunee ask.
Duryodhaan got annoyed, "Will you shut up, mamashree? Nothing like that is happening, although he is very angry and wants to take back bhabhishree."
"What do you mean?" I ask.
Duryodhaan tells us whatever has happened in the court.
"Is maharaj Drupad bringing his troops? Shouldn't we go back to Hastinapur fast? Pandavs won't raise their weapons against him so we will all die. You guys already lost to him once." Mama Sakunee says, ready to leave.
"No, mamashree." Dusassan tells him but he won't listen. "I am going back. I need to get ready to go back." Mama Sakunee leaves the room hurriedly.
I could not believe what I heard. All these things happened in such short period of time? But I agree with what Krishna said. It was a good thing it happened now than before it's too late.
Duryodhaan and Dusassan also looks different. Today they feel pity for Draupadi. But me? I don't know how I feel. I just wish I could take her pain away.
"I wish bhabhishree remarries. I know she can do so much better. Even bhratashree Yudhisthir fell at her feet." Dusassan says, sadness in his voice, unlike the Dusassan I know.
"I don't think she will. She suffered all these so that no one would say anything about her family, Kampiliya and Hastinapur. And we all failed her today. I should have killed Shishupal before he said those words." Duryodhaan says with regret. Even if they don't like her for being Pandav's wife, if someone else insult your family, it is natural to get angry.
I too regret, a lot.
"It was so cool when she said Arjun should never have come to her swayamvar. It would have been better is she had married you." Duryodhaan tells me.
I won't ask her to run away with me again. Her father is here, Krishna is here and from what Duryodhaan told us, it seems like Krishna thinks its better it happened now, if it happened in the future, it would have been much worse it seems. But it doesn't lessen the pain I feel for her.