SrI:
PranAmam,
My humble opinion on this matter for
what it is worth:
Instead of looking at Draupadi as a
literal woman caught in a grave situation, I feel it is more insightful to look
at the symbolism of the situation .
The Kauravas represent the many evils
and dangers of the external world and the Pandavas represent the five senses
with which a person deals with the external world. Draupadi I feel
represents the Jivan, that undergoes trials and tribulations in the external
world.
At the moment of her disrobing the
Jivan "Draupadi" gets Bhagavat Satshatkaram not unlike that of Gajendra Azhwar,
I suppose. She realizes that her husbands (the five senses), her
relatives, her friends etc are no use in any fight against the many dangers of
the evil world (meaning sense desires, greed etc).
When Draupadi (the jeevan) realizes
that the ultimate refuge and only savior is Sriman Narayanan alone, she feels
overwhelmed and promises to "kill Duschachana and the Kauravas and splatter
their blood on her hair", which I think means that the Jeevan vows to kill all
worldly desires and evils and only be an instrument of God and His
Love.
Seeing in this context I feel that
there is no conflict or contradiction in Draupadi's vows to destroy the Kauravas
after her "Saranagathi".
I seek all the learned members's
apologies for any erroneous assumptions on my behalf.
Srimad Azhagiya Singar
Thiruvadi
Muralidharan Desikachari
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, March 07, 2005 2:34
AM
Subject: [SriRangaSri] A few thoughts on
Smt. Subha Narayan's "Question on Draupadi" - Part
Dear
members,
Many of you posted your views on the subject. Many posted
it on other lists like SriRangasri & Oppiliappan too. Many thanks for
insights and inputs. I am sure Smt.Subha Narayan, the
original correspondent in this thread of discussion, would be happy with
the variety of scholarly and interesting responses
received.
*************
My own comment on the subject matter is as
follows. Smt.Subha Narayan can choose to ponder over it too:
To my
mind, Smt.Subha's question cannot be adequately answered with reference to
the doctrine of "saraNagati" alone, as many members have seen it fit to
do. Her question was with specific reference to the portrayal of Draupadi's
CHARACTER -- most notably her seemingly vengeful behaviour which to anyone
reading the Mahabharatha does appear to be terribly at odds with the
personality of one who has undergone "saraNagati", witnessed first-hand the
miracle of God and, as one would rightly expect, emerged from
the experience as a profoundly transformed being. Draupadi's experience,
after all, was no ordinary experience... it was surely a sort of
"punar-janma" (re-birth, resurrection), and hence it is in that light
that we must examine the nature of her severe vow of
vengeance.
*************
It would be, in my opinion, rather too facile if
not uncharitable an explanation to say that the purpose of Draupadi's
"saraNagati" was far more to save her skin (pardon the pun) than to seek
"mOksha". Was Draupadi's self-surrender merely for the sake of endless
yards of silk?
The dramatic setting of the Mahabharatha may seem
to superficially suggest that Draupadi's "saraNAgati" was solely for the
sake of "mAna-sammrakshaNam" (the protection of womanly dignity) but I
don't think we have really any firm grounds on that score on which
to assert conclusively that Draupadi was not a true "mumUkshu". (For
that matter, who in this world can indeed sit in judgment over another and
say with any certainty that he/she is, or is not, a genuine "mumUkshu"?)
Again, who can say what exactly went on inside poor Draupadi's mind
in that terrible moment of her crisis? Can one really disprove it if it
were stated that having lost everything in life -- womanly honour, royal
dignity, husband(s), palace, queenhood -- having lost everything, Draupadi
had no other earthly purpose or meaning left in life, and hence, under
the circumsances, she cried out to the Almighty not so much for divine
intervention to protect her from bodily outrage as, perhaps, actually for
spiritual deliverance from earthly bondage?
*******************
Even from a doctrinal point of view, it is not easy
to believe that life after "saraNAgati" might well remain in the 'back
to business-as-usual' mode. It is difficult to believe that, "saraNAgati"
or no "saraNAgati", we all may actually be compelled to continue
behaving quite as ever before thanks to the operation of our "prArabdha" or
some such residual "karma". It makes us suspect that perhaps, in
the ultimate analysis, the outcome of "saraNagati" is after all only a
moral neuter.
If an experience such as Draupadi's "saraNAgathi"
did not bring about profound personality transformation in her -- making
her, for example, a kinder, more compassionate, more patient, more
forgiving, more forbearing person and hence a much stronger person than
ever before -- if an experience such as hers did not really succeed
in leaving a deep and lasting impact on Draupadi's innermost self,
and failed, in fact, to cleanse out the evil of human
vengeance harboured inside her heart, we may be actually pardoned for
thinking then that the "tattva" of absolute "saraNAgati" at the feet of the
Almighty has little significance for mankind.
If "saraNagati"
merely provided Draupadi a wardrobe just in the nick of time, and did
nothing by way of transforming her inner being, we should ask, was
it true "saraNAgati"? And again, if an act of "saraNAgati" cannot really
overwhelm or overcome the deepest of evil passions residing within us --
i.e. if "prArabdha" does indeed in the end always prevail and triumph
over individual destiny, no matter what -- then of what use or value is
such "saraNAgati" to Man's spiritual aspiration or progress in this
life?
A contemplation of questions as above lands us in a heap of
many such theological issues and moral
doubts.
**************
In my opinion, we should not seek an
overly doctrinaire explanation for Draupadi's conduct. Instead we should
seek our answers elsewhere.
We should seek answers, I would say, in the
storyline of the Mahabharatha itself where a far better explanation and
account of Draupadi's character is readily available.
The great
epic of Sage Vyasa is a vast and complex masterpiece on human psychology.
Vyasa would have done a great injustice to Draupadi's character if he
had truly meant to have the evil passion of Vengeance still ruling
Draupadi's heart even after the momentous experience of her "saraNAgati"
occured. But evidently Vyasa actually meant no such thing. He in fact
meant to celebrate Draupadi's character that actually attained a
towering, saintly dimension after "saraNAgati".
It would be folly
to think Draupadi's "saraNAgati" was about fabric alone. It was about
faith, about spiritual growth and progress too. The events of
the Mahabharatha, as I understand them, certainly seem to suggest so.
They clearly reveal there was no place at all in Draupadi's heart for
Vengeance -- Vengeance as we normally understand
it.
*****************
Let us recollect the story of the Mahabharatha in
the next posting. Hopefully, we will be able to draw some explanations
from it. And the explanations may perhaps then shed some light on the
really interesting and intriguing question Smt.Subha Narayan has
placed before us all.
Thanks and
regards,
dAsan, Sudarshan
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