THE MAHABHARATA: A Modern Rendering, Vol 1 (79 page)

EIGHT THE BESOTTED KEECHAKA
 

Sudeshna did not send Draupadi to her brother at once. She waited two weeks in the hope that good sense would dawn on him. She thought that, perhaps, he had been so lonely during his long campaign that he had lost control of himself. She prayed that a few nights in his palace with his wives would cool some of his ardor.

Instead, daily, a messenger came from Keechaka asking why she delayed keeping her word. On the seventh day, a servant came and told Sudeshna her brother had taken to his bed. He neither ate nor drank, or saw any of his wives or children. He did not go to the court, but seemed ill for his very life. The queen sent a message back that this very day, at noon, he should wait for the flower girl.

Sudeshna sent for Draupadi. Just a fortnight remained of the Pandavas’ exile. The Matsya queen had even hoped she could see the year through and then Malini would leave Virata. It was not to be and Sudeshna loved Keechaka too much to let him languish as he did.

When Draupadi came into her room, she found Sudeshna in bed. The queen said, “I am feeling unwell, Malini. I hear Keechaka has brought some herbal wine from his campaign. Take this carafe to his palace and fetch me some.” She did not look at her flower girl directly.

Draupadi said, “Just two weeks remain for me to leave your palace. I beg you, don’t send me to your brother for the wine.”

“And why is that?”

“He made advances to me in the garden. I did not tell you because I thought you would be upset. If you send me to his palace, he will take advantage of me. All these months you have looked after me as your own daughter. Just fourteen days remain before I vanish from your life. Don’t send me to Keechaka now.”

Guilty, but determined, Sudeshna said furiously, “How dare you? My brother is a kshatriya, he would never stoop to making advances to a maid. You have become arrogant, Malini and lazy. This is just an excuse to avoid a chore. Go and fetch me the wine at once. Keechaka will hardly notice you, let alone lay a finger on you. It is your vanity that makes you think every man who sees you must desire you.”

Draupadi opened her mouth to speak, but Sudeshna held up an imperious hand and cried, “I don’t want to hear another word. Go and fetch the wine. I am thirsty!”

Tears in her eyes, Draupadi took the silver carafe from the queen. Neither woman looked at the other and the sairandhri walked out without another word. Trembling in every limb Draupadi came out into the day. The Sun was overhead and, in despair, she prayed, “Surya Deva, I beg you by my chastity, protect me from Keechaka.”

The Sun heard her and sent an invisible rakshasa to watch over Panchali.

Keechaka was at his window, waiting. When he saw the flower girl making her way through Sudeshna’s garden toward his palace, he ran down his stairway. He flung open his front door and stood beaming at her.

“Come in! Come in!” cried Keechaka and Draupadi quailed when she saw the look in his eyes.

She said, “My lord, I have come to fetch some wine for your sister, the queen.”

He winked at her. “You have even brought a carafe to fill! I will send the wine with someone else. You come with me, let me show you my bed of swan’s-down. Since the day we met, I have had it made up for you and covered with mallika flowers. Cruel one, how long you have made me wait, how much you have made me pine for you. It has been worth the anguish. Just look at you, how perfect you are! Oh, my love, you are the most beautiful woman on earth. Give me that carafe and let me feast my eyes on you.”

She stood frozen before him and said again, “I have come for wine for the queen and not for your pleasure, my lord Keechaka. I beg you, fill the carafe and let me go back.”

A spasm of darkness twitched on his face. Keechaka’s voice grew hard, “Fill the carafe and let you go? You must be mad to think I would let you go just like that!”

Soft as a hunting cat, he moved between her and the door. He shut it behind his back. He loomed over her for a moment, then seized her wrist and pulled her to him. Draupadi screamed and flailed out at him. At that moment, it was not just she who struck him but the Surya rakshasa who had come in with her, invisibly. Keechaka staggered back and fell. Momentarily, Draupadi stood astonished, then she wrenched the door open and fled.

She knew she could not run back to Sudeshna, she would find no refuge with the queen. Her hair streaming behind her like a black cloud, her clothes slipping off her dark body, Draupadi ran toward king Virata’s palace.

With a roar, Keechaka sprang up and went after her. He caught her again as she flew through his garden and flung his arms around her. He meant to ravish her out in the open, as he had done countless women in far-flung cities he had plundered. Draupadi’s screams rang through the afternoon and again the Surya rakshasa struck Keechaka, knocking him down.

Draupadi’s screams brought Bheema running out of his kitchen. He saw Keechaka flung down and Panchali fleeing from him toward Virata’s court. Bheema rushed to pull up a tree in the king’s yard, to smash Keechaka down. Then Kanka the gambler was at his side, hissing, “Everything will be lost if you do this!”

There were others called out by Draupadi’s screams. Yudhishtira said aloud, “This tree is still green, you can’t use it for firewood.”

Somehow, Bheema controlled himself. But now Keechaka was up and flying after Draupadi and Yudhishtira and Bheema went after him.

Panting, weeping, her clothes awry and her hair disheveled, Draupadi ran into Virata’s sabha with Keechaka hot on her heels. When she was near the throne, he caught up with her. He kicked her down at the Matsya king’s feet and stood raging over her.

Panchali wailed, “Virata, look what happens to one who has sought refuge in your kingdom! I am a married woman and this animal means to ruin me. I have come to you for sanctuary, for though I have five husbands they won’t help me today.”

Yudhishtira was at the king’s side and Bheema was in the court, his eyes on fire. It was a moment when anything could happen. Yudhishtira contained Bheema with a look. But what was he going to do about Draupadi, who was beside herself?

She cried again at Virata, “You saw him kick me, O king. I ask you for justice!”

But Keechaka was the Senapati of the king’s army; he was Sudeshna’s brother and Virata dare not cross him. Mildly, Virata said, “Young woman, I only saw what happened here in the sabha. I did not see what happened outside, or how you provoked Keechaka. Surely, he is not so angry without reason. Moreover, Keechaka is our Senapati and I suggest you leave our sabha, Sairandhri.”

Yudhishtira still had to restrain not only his own anger, but his wild brother with a warning look.

But there were others in that sabha who knew Keechaka well and were less afraid of him than the king was. Some of them spoke up.

“The young woman is noble.”

“We know Keechaka, he must have tried to molest her.”

“Whatever the provocation, he should not kick a woman.”

Yudhishtira saw Draupadi’s eyes fill again; he also saw the rage in them. He was terrified that, just two weeks before their exile ended, she would give everything away and tell Virata who she was.

Kanka said, “Sairandhri, you heard the king. Go back to the queen’s apartment. Your gandharva husbands will know the injustice done to you and see it punished. Perhaps the time is not right and they don’t care to be cursed again, after their long penance. Only fifteen days more and you will be free. Wait until then before you seek justice. Go now, go back to your rooms.”

The sairandhri did not move. Her jaw was set and Yudhishtira saw the stubbornness in her eyes. Malini said, “King of the Matsyas, you have no dharma.”

Kanka the gambler cried, “Sairandhri, Virata is the most righteous of men! And look at you, young woman, with your clothes in disarray, your hair loose, crying immodestly in a court full of men: you look like an actress. Go back to your apartment!”

With a moan, Draupadi straightened her hair. She set her clothes right and wiped her tears. Her eyes flashing, she said to Yudhishtira, “You are right, O wise man, to call me an actress here. But it is only because my first husband is a gambler that my other husbands have to be cowards today!”

With a scowl at the sabha in general, she stalked out. Ballava, the king’s cook, had already left. It seemed twelve years in the forest had taught him a sound lesson in patience. Even he would not risk another exile, when only fourteen days remained for their ajnatavasa to end. With a sigh of relief, Yudhishtira settled down beside the king, to a game of dice. But his heart raged within him.

With a sneer on his lips, Keechaka also walked out of the court, more determined than ever to have the sairandhri.

NINE BALLAVA’S NIGHT VISITOR
 

Back in her apartment in Sudeshna’s palace, Draupadi locked herself in and wept. She felt defiled. Tearing off her clothes, she made a pile of them and set them on fire. She went and bathed, long and sorrowfully. At last, feeling somewhat cleansed, though not in her mind, she came out and dressed. There was a knock at the door and, not bothering to wipe her tears, she went to open it. Sudeshna stood there.

The queen saw her sairandhri red-eyed and still crying. She took Draupadi’s hands and said, “What happened, my child? Why are you crying?”

With a sob, Draupadi pulled free and flashed at her, “How can you pretend to be so innocent? You sent me to your brother and you knew what he wanted. How can you ask me now why I am crying?”

She saw Sudeshna also had tears in her eyes. The queen sat down on the sairandhri’s bed and said in a low voice, “Tell me what happened, Malini. I swear I did not mean to hurt you. Only that my brother was frantic to meet you.”

Sobbing, Draupadi described everything that happened. Sudeshna, who was terrified for Keechaka, tried her best to console her sairandhri. But the young woman ended viciously, “My gandharva husbands have heard what happened and your brother won’t live long.”

Sudeshna rose and ran from the room. The sun set on the world outside. Still, Draupadi sat on her bed, staring glassily out of her window while shame and rage had their way with her. She must see Keechaka dead, nothing short of that would do. He dare lay his filthy hands on her, he dare kick her. He did not know her: she was a flame; she would consume him.

She did not eat. She did not sleep, or even lie down. She sat there like a fierce statue, plotting Keechaka’s death. Slowly, a plan formed in her mind. Near midnight, she rose and walked out of her apartment. Around her the palace slept. Like an avenging spirit on the prowl, she moved through the deserted passages, out into the mooned night and into the king’s palace through a back door. Grimly she headed for the kitchens and the room behind them where Ballava, the king’s cook, slept.

She glided into that room; seductive as moonlight, she went and lay beside him. With petal hands, she aroused him in his sleep. Smiling in his dream, Bheema reached for her. Then he opened his eyes. He gave a cry and sat bolt upright. “Panchali! You must be mad to come here. What if someone saw you?”

She stopped his mouth with a kiss. She stripped away his clothes and made such tender love to him. When it was over and he lay in a fine swoon, she said, “How can you sleep when your Panchali is in torment? Have you also become as hard-hearted as your brother? I cannot believe it of you. Of the others, yes, but not of my Bheema. How can you sleep after seeing how that devil kicked me down in the sabha? After you heard how he tried to violate me?”

Bheema said, “You should never have come here. Suppose we are found together? It will be the end of everything. What would Yudhishtira say?”

“Yudhishtira! How can you say his name after you heard him in the sabha today? ‘You look like an actress, Sairandri. Go back to your apartment. It is immodest to cry in front of so many men.’ And was what Keechaka did modest?”

She was trembling next to him now, naked and wounded and Bheema couldn’t stand it much longer. Sensing victory, she pressed on, “Yudhishtira has no honor left, or would he let Keechaka live after what he did to me? You were also there, Bheema, you did nothing either.”

Poor Bheema cried, “I would have killed him. I would have razed this city! But Yudhishtira stopped me with his eyes.”

“Yudhishtira has no feelings for me, all he wants to do is gamble. He is so happy after he learnt that mantra. Now he thinks he is the greatest dice-player on earth. What does he care that Keechaka tried to rape me? What does he care if his wife was kicked in a king’s sabha? I want Keechaka dead!

I cannot hope for revenge from Yudhishtira. Because they are loyal to him, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva will not help me either. Oh, my Bheema, I can turn only to you. Only you are man enough to stand up to Yudhishtira. You have always loved me the most. You have always done anything I asked you to, even if your brothers would not.

Ah Bheema, look at your Panchali’s hands today!”

She held out her hands to him and there were tears in Bheema’s eyes, when he felt they were callused. Draupadi sighed, “From grinding perfumes for Virata and his queen and they both betrayed me today. Oh, I am a cursed woman, that no one loves me!” She sobbed.

Bheema wiped her tears; he kissed her again and again. “Panchali, ah Panchali, don’t say that. You know how much I love you, more than my life. But Yudhishtira was right to stop me today. If we are discovered now it is another twelve years in the jungle: not you or I, nor any of us could stand that. Keechaka is as good as dead, my love, only wait two weeks.”

She drew away from him and sat up. Her eyes glittered and she said harshly, “I couldn’t have dreamt you would be so heartless. You were my last hope. But if you won’t kill Keechaka, I must drink poison and die. For I know he will ravish me before your two weeks pass.”

She covered her face with her hands and sobbed more than ever. Bheema melted. How could he resist her? He had a child’s heart. For her sake, he would risk anything, even another twelve years of exile, worse than dying.

“Aah, don’t cry, don’t cry!” He put his arms around her. “My queen, don’t cry; his life is not worth a single tear of yours. I will kill him for you tomorrow. But we must do it in secret, so no one knows.”

She wiped her tears at once; her woman’s need satisfied, she smiled. Kissing him feverishly, her eyes shining, she said, “Have you a plan, Bheema?”

He held her close and whispered, “I knew you would come tonight, so I thought of a plan earlier.”

She laughed delightedly. “Tell me your plan, Bheema!”

“Send a message to Keechaka. Tell him you only pretended to spurn him, to inflame him more.”

She gasped. He went on, “Tell him to meet you at midnight in the dance hall. Tell him there is a silk couch there, perfect for making love!”

“And then?”

“Tell him to come to you secretly. When he comes he will find me in the dark and I will kill him.”

“Bheema, my love! I knew I could count on you. And we shall not even be discovered. I am grateful to God that you are my husband. You are the only one who is not a coward, the only one who really loves me”.

With a last lingering kiss, Draupadi floated out of Bheema’s room, leaving him happy in the dark. In a short while, he slept again, snoring softly, drifting into dreams of her.