What happens in the instant before a choice becomes destiny?
The hall was stunned into silence as Dushasana dragged Draupadi into their midst. He stood there, his chest heaving with the effort. He could see Duryodhana’s eyes light up and Karna’s triumphant little smile.He also noticed the censorious looks coming his way from the elders—Bhishma, Drona and Kripa. His father, as usual, had no idea of what was happening and queried an attendant, querulously, to tell him why there was a sudden silence in the hall.
He heard condemnation start pouring in. Heheard Draupadi’simpassionedpleaforjusticeandforbeingtreated right. He heard her question Yudhishthira on how he could wager his wife, if he had already lost himself as a slave to the Kauravas. He heard her berate her other husbands, especially the mighty Bhima and the valiant Arjuna, on their silence and inactivity. He heard her call out their manhood, or lack thereof, in protecting their wife from public humiliation.
All through this, he remained standing next to her, calming his furiously beating heart, regaining his breath. HesawDuryodhanamakeamotiontoDraupaditogo overandsitonhislap.He saw Karna egging his brother on with words and action. He heard remonstrations from his own brother, Yuyutsu, against Draupadi’s predicament. He saw Yuyutsu leave the hall in disgust. And then, just when he had recovered his breath, he heard the order from Duryodhana—to remove her garment.
His mind was in a ferment. Should I do it? I should, shouldn’t I? If she looks so alluring now, imagine what she would look like without that excuse of a covering. He licked his lips again, just thinking about it.But then prudence raised her head and spoke up in the form of that little voice that exists deep within each of us.
How would you feel if it were done to one of yours? Your wife, perhaps? Or your sister, Dushala? Should you do something that is so patently against dharma, leave alone unethical and immoral? Shouldn’t you refuse to listen to such an order, even if it comes from the brother that you idolize? Have you forgotten about Vibhishana, who went against the adharmic orders of his brother, Ravana, purely to uphold dharma? Then again, the other voice, the other voice pushed prudence aside.
Are you crazy? You have the opportunity of a lifetime to destroy your opponents. What can be more humiliating for a man than seeing his woman being disrobed in public? Think of the utter feeling of impotence that would grip that big oaf, Bhima, when he sees it and knows that there is nothing he can do about it. Grasp the feeling of despair that that cocky Arjuna would feel knowing that all his prowess with weapons is not going to help him save the honour of the woman he swore to protect when he married her. They are your slaves now. What CAN they do to you? They are obliged to live out their lives as per your wishes. To be at your beck and call. And since Yudhishthira wagered his wife and lost her, she, too, has the same status. To be used and abused, as you wish.
Dushasana paused, as two conflicting voices raged their own private little battle in his head. Eventually, prudence lost the argument against the voice that echoed what his brother wanted him to do. As it had always done, since his childhood.
More on the book
Devavrata stands on the brink of becoming Bhishma. Amba’s humiliation hardens into vengeance. Dhushasana steels himself for an act that will scar history. Bhima waits for the moment to strike Kichaka. Karna wrestles with the consequences of using the all-powerful Shakti on Ghatothgacha. Abhimanyu contemplates before entering into the Chakravyuha on the Kurukshetra battlefield.
These are not stories of Gods and heroes. They are stories of desire and doubt, rage and love, ambition and guilt—of ordinary human emotions colliding with extraordinary destinies.
In this extraordinary retelling of the Mahabharata, Mahakshana, Arun Krishnan steps inside the minds of the men and women who shaped Bharatavarsha, capturing them at the instant when choice becomes destiny.
About the author:
Dr. Arun Krishnan is a passionate historian and storyteller, he is the author of the Battle of Vathapi Trilogy, published by HarperCollins, and Daughter of Two Rivers, which has been longlisted for the IGF Archer-Amish Award and won the Special Jury Mention for the SL Byrappa Prize for Historical Fiction. A polyglot and history enthusiast, he draws on his diverse experiences to bring India’s past alive through his writing.
An engineer and technologist with experience across IT, high-performance computing, bioinformatics, computational biology and HR analytics. He holds a doctorate from the US and an Executive MBA from ISB, Hyderabad.
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