Bits of life

S-10 Words-2000

Krishna wasted no more time and went to meet his sister Subhadra in her wing of the palace. He told her that her other brother Balarama brought her a marriage proposal from Duryodhana. Subhadra was horrified to hear about it. So she promptly agreed to his suggestion that she should visit the temple in the early hours of the next day.

On the next day, Subhadra dressed in all her grandeur like a bride about to be married. She was accompanied by two of her maids who had no incling of what was going to happen. Subhadra worshiped the deity and soon after the puja, she came out of the sanctum sanctorum and looked about the path that led to the temple. In a couple of minutes she spotted Arjuna dressed like a warrior and holding his bow and quiver. Subhadra hurried to the chariot and held reins as though she wanted to get away from there as soon as possible. The couple drove away at great speed before the guardsmen realized that the rider in the chariot had taken away their princess.
Balarama was enraged at the guts and daring shown by Arjuna. He immediately went to the king and complained of the impropriety of Arjuna who had crossed the boundaries of decency. He wanted to go to war with him and bring his sister Subhadra back to Dwaraka. Krishna, in the meanwhile questioned as to how Arjuna crossed his limits. He defended the action of Arjuna because he did not do it against wises of Subhadra. It was she who handled the chariot as well.

And then he went on praising the Pandavas with a special emphasis on Arjuna’s skill of archery and the fact that he was the best archer in the world. He said that it would be a great honor to have him as the son-in-law of king Vasudeva. People might not take it well if they go to war on Arjuna and the Pandavas. The yadavas would look like fools if they do that.

Balarama found no words to counter Krishna’s words which made a lot of sense. He agreed with him and prepared to bring back Arjuna and Subhadra to perform their marriage in Dwaraka. As he said Balarama brought back the eloping couple and the marriage of Subhadra and Arjuna was performed with all splendor.
Arjuna however, was thrown into a strange complication. Draupadi was fire born and of an easily angered person. His problem was how to inform her of his sudden marriage with Subhadra and make them live in peace in Indraprastha. Krishna warned him of this problem much earlier. He said, both Subhadra and Draupadi were his sisters and he did not want anyone of them to suffer because of the other. Arjuna consulted his brothers about this situation. But the other Pandava brothers felt that it was Arjuna’s personal issue. Therefore, they could not interfere in it.

However, his eldest brother Yudhishtar felt that it was better if Arjuna went to Draupadi and confessed the whole matter before her personally. Arjuna followed his advice and tried to make peace with Draupadi. She however, was not happy with the way he wanted to handle the situation. She somehow felt that it would not be easy to let Subhadra live in Indraprastha along side of her. When Arjuna wanted to explain further, she stopped him and said,

“Please don’t try to convince of your condition. My heart is full of poisonous thoughts right now. No one can do anything about it. Give it some time and it will surface from the havoc you have created.”

Arjuna went back to his palace where Subhadra lived with him. He told her the way Draupadi reacted to his suggestion regarding Subhadra. He fell into thinking of what to do now. He recalled the way Krishna was talking to him before he eloped with Subhadra. Krishna said,

“Hey Arjuna, let Subhadra handle the reins of the chariot. She is going to be the future of your dynasty. This particular journey is hers. Let her handle her way.”

After remembering these words of Krishna, a new light of guidance dawned on Arjuna. He asked Subhadra to dress like a maid and visit Draupadi in her palace. Subhadra, who wanted to meet Draupadi did not question Arjuna’s suggestion.

When Draupadi heard the maid announcing the arrival of Subhadra at her doorstep, she did not look pleased. But, she told the maid to escort Subhadra to her presence. Subhadra came in with a smile on her charming face. She was much younger than Draupadi. She addressed Draupadi thus:

“Elder sister, I am the younger sister of Vasudeva Krishna. I want to pay my respects to you.”

Draupadi retorted succinctly thus:
“Why do you call yourself the younger sister of Vasudeva Krishna? Why not queen Subhadra?”

Subhadra replied softly,
“No sister. I can never dream of myself as the queen. That place is forever yours. I only wish for a place at your feet. I do not want anything more than that, sister.”

For Draupadi, Subhadra’s quiet and sober manner of talking and sincere feeling reflected on her face were enough to melt heart.

She responded spontaneously to Subhadra’s appealing words,
“No my dear, your place is not at my feet. Your place is in my heart.”

Again Subhadra reacted in a pleasing way thus:
“How can I take a place in your heart dear sister? It is already full of people, like the Pandava brothers. Let them rule your heart, dear elder sister. All I want is a little room at your feet.”
Then she bent tried to touch Draupadi’s feet.

Draupadi lifted her and embraced her with pleasure. Ever since that unifying electrical moment, the two remained friends for life.

With the problem suitably solved thus, the Pandavas and their kingdom enjoyed the prosperity and happiness given to them as a reward for sincere and devoted rule of the land.

Then, Krishna asked Arjuna to go and win the asura world and that of the snake world. Arjuna was helped by the god of fire in this matter. He appealed to the god of fire to honor Arjuna. Pleased by this request, the god of fire honored Arjuna by gifting him flag on which Lord Hanuman’s picture was seen. He also bestowed on him a powerful bow called Gandiva and quiver full of arrows that never got exhausted. Thus with the help of gods of fire and wind, Khandavprasth had become a cleansed land. With the help of Gandiva and unending store o of arrows in a quiver, Arjuna was able to win the asura and the snake worlds. Next, came in Maya or the architect of the Asuras to build them a wonderful palace to live and rule from.

Then the Pandava prince Yudhishtar expressed his wish to Krishna. He said to him this would be the right time for him to perform a yagna called Rajasuya. This yagna was supposed to be the topmost of the projects of the kings of ancient India. Yudhishtar had a doubt whether he could perform this ceremony while his uncle and king of Hastinapur, Dhritarashtra was still alive.

Krishna convinced him that it would be perfectly alright if he intended to perform Rajasuya, because he was now a king by himself. It was not as though Yudhishtar separated himself from Hastinapur. The kingdom of Hastinapur was divided according to the wish of Dhritarashtra. He should feel totally free from any fear or doubt in this regard. Yudhishtar felt assured after the clarification given by Krishna.

Rajasuya yagna could be performed only by a king who conquered the other kings of the world. So before he initiated into the yagna, Krishna said, Dharmaraja should first go ahead and prove his strength against the other kings. In his view there was but one king who would pose a challenge to the Pandavas. That was Jarasandha whom we already met in connection with Krishna’s marriage with Rukmini. It would be impossible to win against Jarasandha in a military war. Jarasandha’s military strength was much much greater than that of the Pandavas, said Krishna.

Krishna revealed to the Pandavas something strange about Jarasandha, the king of Magadha. Jarasandha, a cruel and powerful king had an unusual ambition. He was also devotee of Lord Shiva. A rishi told him that if he could sacrifice a hundred kings in the holy fire of a yaga, he would become the most powerful emperor and no one could conquer him from the three worlds, the underworld, the mortal world of the humans and the divine kingdom of Indra and gods. Right now, said Krishna, Jarasandha had imprisoned eighty four kings and was preparing to bring win the rest of them as soon as possible to complete the magical number of hundred. So, unless he conquered Jarasandha and freed the imprisoned kings, Dharmaraja was not fit to perform Rajasuya yagna.

Krishna told the Pandavas the details of Jarasandha.
“Jarasandha’s ambition is like the ambition of a monster. He is also an expert wrestler. His strength is equal to a thousand elephants and none have it in this world.”
Then Arjuna asked Krishna the secret behind Jarasandha’s strength was. Krishna told him the story of Jarasandha.

“Jarasandha’s father was a king named Brahadutt. He married the two daughters of Kashi and promised them that he would look after them impartially. He had no children. He was getting old. He craved for a child. He wanted fulfill his wish. He visited a rishi named Chand. The rishi listened to his appeal and pitied him for his condition. He gave the king a mango and told him to give it to his queen. The king out of impartiality halved the fruit and gave piece to each of his queens. A few months later the queens delivered. But lo! They gave birth to half the child. Disgusted by this outcome, they ordered the soldiers to throw the pieces of the child. Soon after that, a demoness named Jara passed by in search of food. She found the two halves of a baby and proceeded to join them in order to eat it as whole. The moment she joined them, the baby came alive and started crying. He made one thunderous sound at which Jara got scared and ran away.
That is how he got his name Jarasandha, joined by Jara.
So Jarasandha is not one but two. Even the god of Death is scared of him and can do nothing to harm him. So it is impossible to kill him in an ordinary manner,” said Krishna.

He continued,
“I have a suggestion to make. Bhima, Arjuna and I would go to his palace dresses as poor Brahmins and ask for alms.”

As he told the Pandavas, Krishna, Bhima and Arjuna went to Magadha and met the king Jarasandha. The king honored them by giving them a hundred cows as charity and told them to request more. Krishna said that his two brothers would speak only after midnight. So Jarasandha promised them to meet after midnight and would know their desires in order to fulfill them.

Exactly at the midnight hour Jarasandha came to the abode of the Brahmins and asked them what they wanted from him. A little later, Krishna told him that he was not being righteous or ethical in his behavior as a king. Jarasandha asked him why he was not righteous. Then Krishna replied that a man of culture would never imprison other kings and treat them like animals. A good man would never think of sacrificing kings to attain the highest status. Incensed by these accusations Jarasandha asked him what the really wanted. He also told them that they were not Brahmins and so he wanted to know their wish.

Krishna revealed that they wanted a wrestling match with him. Jarasandha laughed at him. He said he would definitely fulfill their wish. But before he had his match,