“What a beautiful day,” Draupadi thought to herself as she stared out the window and brushed her long, flowing hair. She watched as the sun set on the hills. She loved the beautiful colors that illuminated the sky as the sun disappeared for the day. The sight never failed to make her smile.
Draupadi had a wonderful life. She was always full of cheer and positive energy. She loved her husband, Yudhishthir, more than any other thing on this earth. She waited impatiently for him to return from his gambling match. She secretly hated when Yudhishthir gambled. She thought that gambling was a dirty sport, but she would never tell him that. If he was happy and stayed out of danger, she was happy. She chuckled to herself as she realized that she would much rather wait for him to return from gambling than wait for him to return from battle. She would have to tell him about that thought when he returned…he would laugh.
Just then, Draupadi heard a knock on her large wooden door. Had Yudhishthir returned already?
With a huge smile on her face, she jumped up from her spot by the window to run for the door. Before she made it to the door, it swung open with great force and slammed against the wall. Stunned, Draupadi slowly stepped backward. Large, burly men entered the room demanding that she come with them. Outraged, she refused.
“You have no choice,” the men stated with a smirk. “Your beloved husband rolled the dice and lost his wife.”
Draupadi’s heart fell and her stomach churned. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Her eyes were wide as she tried to comprehend what she was hearing.
“Do you understand what we’re saying?” the men laughed. “You are Duryodhan’s now!” The men were fighting back laughter at this point. They reached for her wrist.
“No!” Draupadi snapped, pulling her hand away from the men and looking up at them with pure disgust. “I refuse! I will not go to Duryodhan and you certainly won’t be taking me!” Tears streamed down her face, hot with anger.
Unsure of what to do, the guards left the room to deliver the news to Duryodhan. When the doors closed behind them, Draupadi’s tough façade crumbled as she collapsed to the floor, crying harder than she had ever cried in her life. How could Yudhishthir do this to her? Didn’t he love her at all? How could he leave their future together to the chance of the dice? Broken, Draupadi stared at the ceiling, reflecting on her life with Yudhishthir. She thought they were perfect. Where had she gone wrong? Why wasn’t she good enough to keep around? How could he leave it to chance?
Then, she heard someone running toward her room. Scared and defensive, she jumped up and wiped the tears from her face. A man whom she knew to be Duryodhan’s brother came crashing through the doors. Without a word, he charged toward her with a grin. Draupadi turned to run, but he was much faster. He grabbed her by her freshly brushed hair and forcefully dragged her out of her room.
“Please, just let me get up and walk!” she screamed. But he didn’t listen. He continued to drag her by her hair all the way into the courtyard, where crowds of people, drunk off of the excitement of the night, pointed and laughed. Draupadi screamed desperately for help. She looked around the room and saw the Pandavas. Excitement filled her heart as she saw familiar faces. Her anxiety began to subside. Certainly the beloved brothers would come and rescue her! Desperately, she screamed for them to come and help her…but each of them stood as still as stone.
Her clothes were ripping off of her body and strands of her gorgeous hair lay around the room. She felt as if her dignity was completely gone. She had never felt so low or so afraid. Across the room, she locked eyes with the man who had given her the happiest life she could have asked for, and then proceeded to rip it away from her. She could see the look of sadness and remorse in his eyes. She only felt one thing: betrayal.
(Draupadi is dragged from her room and humiliated. Source: Wikimedia)
Author’s Note: This story was inspired by Episode 44 of the Epified version of the Mahabharata. In this episode, Yudhishthir is tricked into gambling his wife, Draupadi, and losing her. Seeing the visual depiction of the scene helped me grasp the whole story better. It also added to the emotional aspect. I already found this scene to be very sad, but watching it unfold was heart-wrenching. I couldn’t help but think what this story would be like from Draupadi’s point of view. Draupadi had no idea what was happening when the guard burst through her door to retrieve her. I tried to use the emotions that a betrayed wife would feel. Obviously, I have no idea how it would feel to have your husband lose you in a gambling match (hopefully no one knows what that feels like). However, I knew that it would be shocking, disgusting, and heartbreaking. Using these emotions, I did the best I could to write this scene from Draupadi’s perspective. This was a sadder story than I usually write, but I enjoyed the opportunity to try something new. I sat down, watched the episode a few more times, and tried to focus on the emotions that I thought Draupadi was feeling. Then, I put some sad music on my Spotify and went to work. It was a challenge, but I enjoyed writing a story with a different feel to it.
Author: Epified TV (India)
This is such a sad story, and honestly is one of the most emotional parts of the Mahabharata for me. It's such a weird thing to think about Yudhishthira who is the most virtuous Pandava having such a terrible gambling vice and going so far as to gamble his own wife. I think you did a wonderful job of capturing Draupadi's feelings of betrayal and fear as well as her love for her husband in this story.
ReplyDeleteI thought that this was such an interesting part of the Mahabharata the first time that I read it. What kind of a husband would gamble not only his wife, but the wife of his four brothers?! I can't imagine what this would feel like, but you did a great job of describing it! I'm sure it took a little thinking to work through the emotions, but it turned out great!
ReplyDeleteSuch an emotionally intense scene--Draupadi violently dragged before the court, her life changed in an instant by no fault of her own. The hardest part of that experience must have been looking to the people you trust for help and watching them sit motionless. I'm glad you included the part about her crying for help in the courtyard and making eye contact with Yudhistira at the end. "Betrayal" is the perfect word for it.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very entertaining story. I had not read the original story so I had no idea what to expect but I really thought that the women would find a way out of her situation. This story was very well written and did a great job of capturing my attention. Overall this was a good story that left me feeling bad for the woman.
ReplyDeleteThis story is awesome! I have really enjoyed reading all of the stories that come from the the view of Drapaudi at different times in the epic. I also wrote a story like this for my portfolio. Except, mine was a letter from Drapaudi to her husbands during these times in the epic. You should check it out when you get the chance!
ReplyDeleteWow! So many powerful stories this week! I absolutely loved this. Both the plot arc and character arc work very well. Every paragraph I felt more and more helpless, sensing that Drapaudi was going to be in danger at any moment. The only thing I would look at would be, "She looked around the room and saw the Pandavas. Excited, she screamed for them to come and help her…but none of them moved." I understand your use of "excited" but I'm not sure if it helps propel what you're communicating in the story. Maybe "desperately" would serve you better? Or perhaps leave it as is. All to say, I really enjoyed your take!
ReplyDeleteWow, this was incredible! I felt all of the emotions that you were trying to portray in this story. I felt the love Draupadi had for her husband, the frightfulness she felt when the men burst through the doors to claim her, the loss of her dignity, and most importantly, the betrayal she felt from her husband. You did an awesome job really having the reader feel these emotions alongside Draupadi. Great job!
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DeleteI love the detail you used to describe Draupadi and her awful situation. There was great transition, and the story was broken up into paragraphs. The length was not too long, and the details kept the story interesting. I like how the author’s note explained every so well. I like that it was recognizable, yet had your own taste to it. Keep up the good work. Reading the story, I could imagine exactly what happened in the story. I love the Epified stories and how this one was spot on to it. The author’s note also showed what details were the same and which weren’t. There was not any grammatical errors that I found which made this a great and easy read. I thought the little explanation on the portfolio was good as well. Keep up the good work, and hopefully get to read more stories from your blog page.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very entertaining and sad story to read! I felt that the length of the story was very fitting and I enjoyed all of the details to keep the readers attention. I think you did a great job of bringing the reader along in the story and keeping them entertained. Overall I really enjoyed the story and great work!
ReplyDeleteThis was a very entertaining and sad story to read! I felt that the length of the story was very fitting and I enjoyed all of the details to keep the readers attention. I think you did a great job of bringing the reader along in the story and keeping them entertained. Overall I really enjoyed the story and great work!
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