By Sanjib Mukherjee,
There is a beautiful story in the ancient Mahabharat scriptures about Draupadi, the beautiful and powerful wife of the Pandavas and a whole hearted devotee of her lord Krishna. During her many adventures, there was one particular episode where she had been dragged into an evil King’s castle and thrown into the middle of a packed courtyard.
Here she was ridiculed and tormented by so many of the King’s nobleman and as a final insult, the brutes decided to strip Draupadi of her clothing in front of the entire audience. Draupadi held on to her saree (a long Indian traditional dress) for as long as she could, but the strength of the soldier pulling it away became too overbearing for her.
In shear desperation she remembered her Krishna and called out his name as an absolute last resort for any kind of help. Krishna never came, and her grip on the saree was loosening fast. She carried on calling from the depth of her heart, still holding onto her saree with everything ounce of strength she could muster, yet still her Krishna never came.
Draupadi was almost about to pass out as she could no longer hold on before she finally gave up all her efforts and resigned herself to having her dignity completely stripped with the whole city watching on. At that moment, Krishna appeared and turned her saree into a never ending robe, so no matter how many times her perpetrators pulled away at her saree, the dress kept unfolding further and further with no end in site. Finally the soldiers gave up with exhaustion as they were unable to pull the saree of her, no matter how many times they tried.
A few days after the incident had passed, Draupadi met Krishna and with fury scolded him for not helping her earlier when she first cried out for help. Krishna replied by telling her that when she first called out for the divine, she also kept her hands firmly on her saree. Her ego was not ready to fully submit to the divine and her faith was not strong enough to trust Krishna to come and save her.
It was only when she lost all sense of hope, that her ego had finally loosened its grip on her saree that her heart allowed space for the divine to entire and work its charm. Only then could Krishna make his appearance and fulfill her every need and desire. This story is quite complex, as it demonstrates the power of absolute faith without holding on to any level in doer ship in ones actions. Yoga teaches us to unite with our infinite consciousness and access our unlimited powers, yet to do so; our egos must not block the passages for this great power.
However, yoga also teaches us to always be 100% in the moment and always give our full efforts with every action we undertake. The subtlety lies within working with a strong level of conviction, yet still allowing space for the divine to enter your life. Though Draupadi was giving her 100% in holding onto her saree, she had not surrendered her ego to her actions and thus was not able to draw upon her infinite powers. Only when she had lost her sense of doer ship connected with her actions, did the divine appear and help her in her hour of need. Faith beyond reason is what sees us through any given situation in life.
… stunning Sanjib .. Ta…
Meshwa
Hey Sanjib,
Its a wonderfull explaination! Keep going on with your wonderful work..
Ravi
Every indian (at least) knows but explanation is Too Good….
Raghvendra Dwivedi
The gist of the story is so clear!
Thanks Sanjib, you have the gift from Ma Saraswati.
Regards
Mani
Hey Sanjib,
Your interpretation is commendable!!!
Yasmin
WOW …Simply superb! Im actually speechless , you have captured the essence of this age old story so well . So true – We need to completely surrender to the Divine with full faith – mind blowing
These articles are making so much sense. So much depth in them!!
Sangeeta
wonderfully explained!:)
Hi Sanjib
Wonderfully explained……..We all this truth but its dificult to put it to practice.such explainations constantly remind us to have complete faith in the omnipresent. Thanks for this reminder.Looking forward to many more.
simply wonderfull.always look forward 2 ur articles.
always wait 2 read ur articles. amazing. .
left speechless,excellent explaination. keep writing,u inspires so many. thnx, sanjib. jgd.
for me krishna is the most mysterious, complex yet funny n simple charactor we know… good story n i hope u’d give some more stories of krishna..
A new moral to an age old known story… Beautiful..
Deep faith empowers the belief which brings about the experience that leads to realization.
Great explanation! Wow!
Good one.Heard it from Guruji and many others. But now, it came just at da right time.Itz amazing how god talks to me thru ppl I barely know.
i have never thought of it, one has to give himself wholly to god than god takes care of him as gita also says like that.
It’s so expressive I must say… good work.. Keep up the good job.
hi sanjib …i read this articled n it was so impressive..
u know i was born on same days as Krishna’s birth…i mean it was Janmasthmi wen i was born…so i always have faith in krishna..
but sometimes d same happens that we think that why Krishna is not helping us n make us suffer a lot…but dis is true that wen we surrender our selves fully…then only divine comes for our help…i was just passing through this kind of phase only ..when i realised there is no hopes at all ..so much of frustrations ….n surrendered completely ..then Only it happened that i hear a voice from u …looked like it is a voice of Krishna
who came to help me to b out of d sea of miseries n depression…n see d life from a different angle…Thanks to Krishna …for giving me opportunity to b part of this group….n thanks to You for calling me to join dis….(:(:
Quite an excellent interpretation, very impressive work …
I’m from Mauritius. I liked your interpretation very much. The local TV here runs ‘Mahabharat’ and what you interpret passed on TV recently. You have explained it very well. I make a must that my kids (6 & 3 yrs) understand the values and the meaning. Thank you. Keep it up.
Sanjib,
Though the story was inspiring dropping the doership is most difficult and easier said than done. So at the end of the day, surrender grows but dropping it ALL becomes another CONCEPT.
[...] to singing wonderful kirtan with Prajna, so I decided to stay. Prajna started the class with a story about Krishna and his faithful devotee, Draupadi. It was a beautifully told with lessons in [...]
Dear Sanjib
We have so much spirituality in India, and one of the highest levels of atrocities against women. I was discussing this very same incident with a group of people recently.
My own take on this particular incident: I wish Draupadi had held on to her ego in the palace itself when the messenger came, and refused to leave the palace. When forced by the messenger, had she surrendered, then Krishna should have helped her escape the palace to her father’s kingdom.
From there she should have given a show cause notice to Bhishma, Dronacharya and Dhritarashtra as to why they should not be attacked for failing to uphold the dignity of a queen and a woman. She should have issued notice to her five ‘valiant’ husbands as to why she should remain their wife. On their failure to respond, she – accompanied by Krishna – should have attacked with a full scale army to capture Kurukshetra, to uphold a Dharma that recognises the rights of women….
That would have been a real Mahabharat – and a real change in the status of Indian women. With Krishna completely supporting the right of a woman to defend her dignity — against Kings and Husbands even. She would have been an Ideal Hindu woman.
My intention is not to provoke. The realities of Indian women, who are not so fortunate as to read your post, are what motivate me to write what I have.
Having said this, I do agree your argument has been beautifully put…..