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Mahābhārata The History of the Great India
<< 80 Drupada Hears the Report >>
 |  | The king of Pancala looked worried and upset, for he did not know the identity of the Pandavas, to whom he had given his beloved daughter. As soon as his son returned, the exalted monarch questioned him: "Where has my daughter Krsna gone, and who led her away? Is the princess now the property of a low-class man? Is she in the hands of an outcaste? Or does she now serve a tax-paying merchant? Is a foot now stuck on my head? Has the royal garland fallen on the polluted ground where bodies are burned? Or has it been placed on a man of distinguished, kingly rank? Or was it one of still higher rank, a brahmana? Or is it, my son, that a lowly left foot has been thrust on my head by the man who carried away Krsna? Or may I yet dream that the sons of Pandu live and that I am now united with the very best of men? Tell me in truth! Who is that man of great power who has now won the right to my daughter?
| | | Oh, Vicitravirya was such a hero for the Kurus! Can it be that sons in his line have prevailed? Can it be that the youngest son of Prtha grabbed that bow today and struck down the target?
| | | Then Prince Dhrstadyumna, the crown jewel of Pancala, enthusiastically related to his father what had happened and who had taken Draupadi.
| | | "It was that youth with large copper-colored eyes and deerskin dress, the one as handsome as the gods, who strung the finest bow and sent the target falling to the earth. And without becoming entangled, he quickly left, all the while being praised on all sides by the finest brahmanas. He strode like thunder-wielding Indra, who is attended by all the gods and seers as he strides through the demon sons of Diti.
| | | "Draupadi held on to his trailing deerskin, and he looked like a mighty elephant followed by his jubilant mate. All the kings were furious with indignation, and they assailed him as he departed. But in the midst of those monarchs another man appeared, uprooted a large tree that stood firmly in the earth, and furiously drove off and chased those rows of kings just as Death pursues all that breathe. And as all the kings watched them, Your Highness, those two extraordinary men, shining like the sun and the moon, took our Krsna and departed.
| | | "They went outside the city to the workshop of a potter. There I saw a woman sitting, and she resembled a fire's flame. I reason that she is their mother. Sitting near her were three powerful men who appeared to be of the same family. They too shone like fire.
| | | "The two men arrived from the stadium, offered their respects at the woman's feet, and had Draupadi do the same. They introduced Draupadi to the others, and then all the men went out to collect alms. As soon as they came back, Draupadi took the alms, made an offering to the Lord, and fed the brahmanas. With the remainder, she waited upon the older woman and the heroic men, serving them their meal, and then she ate. Then the men lay down to sleep, and Draupadi lay at their feet like their foot-pillow. Their bed was made of fine deerskins spread over darbha grass, and somehow it seemed appropriate for the occasion.
| | | "They began to narrate stories with voices as deep and strong as doomsday clouds. And how they told those wonderful stories! These were not the stories that merchants and common laboring men would have to tell, nor would brahmanas speak like those heroes. The way they talked about battle and war, they are undoubtedly prominent warriors, O king.
| | | "Clearly, our great hope will now be fulfilled, for we hear that Prtha's sons were saved from the fire! The forceful way that powerful young man strung the bow and struck the target, and the way they all speak to each other—they are surely the Pandavas moving about in disguise."
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