Friday 19 February 2016

Draupadi*



Source

Whoever thought

That a fire born dusky beauty

Would have such grace, dignity, love

Encased in heart

It was natural for her to wield power

But how well she knew

When not to use it

Her pearl teeth, lightning smile,

Blue lotus fragrance

Kindled fire in many a heart

Her father wanted a son

Of sacrificial fire

To avenge his fury

Her father had not asked for her

Yet along with her brother

Draupadi stepped out of the flaming petals

Born in full bloomed youth

Panchali, daughter of the king of Panchal

She became

Her father had locked her

In a strange marriage

With five brothers

By fate, truly, by kismet

Five exiled princes they were

Five valiant youths

Five consorts!

But happiness was at the beck and call

Of her champak petal fingers

She breathed trust and harmony

She was the sky
To her beloveds

Exiled life with the sun, moon, stars and forest ended

With the kingdom, returned, layered evils

She reduced her foes to ashes

But not before she paid the price

Of being violated in court

Being disrobed while her consorts sat

Hanging their heads in shame

Having lost the power to speak up

Having seen her all five sons slain

Through the passage of

A bloody war among kith and kin

Though she was the stormy inspiration

To her husbands in the battlefields

She always kept the flame of forbearance,

Self esteem, forgiveness, compassion

Bright in the dark hours

She still lives in the breath of Nirbhaya**

In all corners of the Earth

 

 

*Draupadi is described as the Tritagonist in the epic The Mahabharata. According to the epic she is the fire born daughter of Drupada the king of Panchal and also became the common wife of the five Pandavas. Wikipedia

 

**meaning fearless girl, also referring to the paramedical student in Delhi who was gang raped and later succumbed to her injuries in spite of her brave fights.

 


Posted for Sanaa’s prompt Myth @ A Dash Of Sunny

&
Sharing it with Poetry Pantry #290 @ Poets United