Chapter 14

“Vaisampayana said, ‘Living in such disguise, those mighty warriors, thesons of Pritha, passed ten months in Matsya’s city. And, O monarch,although herself deserving to be waited upon by others, the daughter ofYajnasena, O Janamejaya, passed her days in extreme misery, waiting uponSudeshna. And residing thus in Sudeshna’s apartments, the princess ofPanchala pleased that lady as also the other females of the innerapartments. And it came to pass that as the year was about to expire, theredoubtable Kichaka, the Commander of Virata’s forces, chanced to beholdthe daughter of Drupada. And beholding that lady endued with thesplendour of a daughter of the celestials, treading the earth like agoddess, Kichaka, afflicted with the shafts of Kama, desired to possessher. And burning with desire’s flame, Virata’s general came to Sudeshna(his sister) and smilingly addressed her in these words, ‘This beauteouslady had never before been seen by me in king Virata’s abode. This damselmaddens me with her beauty, even as a new wine maddens one with itsfragrance. Tell me, who is this graceful and captivating lady possessedof the beauty of a goddess, and whose she is, and whence she hath come.Surely, grinding my heart she hath reduced me to subjection. It seems tome that (save her) there is no other medicine for my illness. O, thisfair hand-maid of thine seemeth to me to be possessed of the beauty of agoddess. Surely, one like her is ill suited to serve thee. Let her ruleover me and whatever is mine. O, let her grace my spacious and beautifulpalace, decked with various ornaments of gold, full of viands and drinksin profusion, with excellent plates, and containing every kind of plenty,besides elephants and horses and cars in myriads. And having consultedwith Sudeshna thus, Kichaka went to princess Draupadi, and like a jackalin the forest accosting a lioness, spoke unto Krishna these words in awinning voice, ‘Who and whose art thou, O beautiful one? And O thou ofbeautiful face, whence hast thou come to the city of Virata? Tell me allthis, O fair lady. Thy beauty and gracefulness are of the very firstorder and the comeliness of thy features is unparalleled. With itsloveliness thy face shineth ever like the resplendent moon. O thou offair eye-brows, thy eyes are beautiful and large like lotus-petals. Thyspeech also, O thou of beautiful limbs, resembles the notes of thecuckoo. O thou of fair hips, never before in this world have I beheld awoman possessed of beauty like thine, O thou of faultless features. Artthou Lakshmi herself having her abode in the midst of lotuses or, artthou, O slender-waisted one, she who is called Bhuti[13]. Or, whichamongst these–Hri, Sri, Kirti and Kanti,–art thou, O thou of beautifulface? Or possessed of beauty like Rati’s, art thou, she who sporteth inthe embraces of the God of love? O thou that possessest the fairest ofeye-brows, thou shinest beautifully even like the lovely light of themoon. Who is there in the whole world that will not succumb to theinfluence of desire beholding thy face? Endued with unrivalled beauty andcelestial grace of the most attractive kind, that face of thine is evenlike the full moon, its celestial effulgence resembling his radiant face,its smile resembling his soft-light, and its eye-lashes looking like thespokes on his disc? Both thy bosoms, so beautiful and well-developed andendued with unrivalled gracefulness and deep and well-rounded and withoutany space between them, are certainly worthy of being decked withgarlands of gold. Resembling in shape the beautiful buds of the lotus,these thy breast, O thou of fair eye-brows, are even as the whips of Kamathat are urging me forward, O thou of sweet smiles, O damsel of slenderwaist, beholding that waist of thine marked with four wrinkles andmeasuring but a span, and slightly stooping forward because of the weightof thy breasts, and also looking on those graceful hips of thine broad asthe banks of a river, the incurable fever of desire, O beauteous lady,afflicteth me sore. The flaming fire of desire, fierce as a forestconflagration, and fanned by the hope my heart cherisheth of a union withthee is consuming me intensely. O thou of exceeding beauty quench thouthat flaming fire kindled by Manmatha. Union with thee is a rain-chargedcloud, and the surrender of thy person is the shower that the cloud maydrop. O thou of face resembling the moon, the fierce and maddening shaftsof Manmatha whetted and sharpened by the desire of a union with thee,piercing this heart of mine in their impetuous course, have penetratedinto its core. O black-eyed lady, those impetuous and cruel shafts aremaddening me beyond endurance. It behoveth thee to relieve me from thisplight by surrendering thyself to me and favouring me with thy embraces.Decked in beautiful garlands and robes and adorned with every ornament,sport thou, O sweet damsel, with me to thy fill. O thou of the gait of anelephant in rut, deserving as thou art of happiness though deprived of itnow, it behoveth thee not to dwell here in misery. Let unrivalled weal bethine. Drinking various kinds of charming and delicious and ambrosialwines, and sporting at thy pleasure in the enjoyment of diverse objectsof delight, do thou, O blessed lady, attain auspicious prosperity. Thisbeauty of thine and this prime of thy youth, O sweet lady, are nowwithout their use. For, O beauteous and chaste damsel, endued with suchloveliness, thou dost not shine, like a graceful garland lying unused andunworn. I will forsake all my old wives. Let them, O thou of sweetsmiles, become thy slaves. And I also, O fair damsel, will stay by theeas thy slave, ever obedient to thee, O thou of the most handsome face.’Hearing these words of his, Draupadi replied, ‘In desiring me, a femaleservant of low extraction, employed in the despicable office of dressinghair, O Suta’s son, thou desirest one that deserves not that honour.Then, again, I am the wife of others. Therefore, good betide thee, thisconduct of thine is not proper. Do thou remember the precept of morality,viz., that persons should take delight only in their wedded wives. Thoushouldst not, therefore, by any means bend thy heart to adultery. Surelyabstaining from improper acts is ever the study of those that are good.Overcome by ignorance sinful men under the influence of desire come byeither extreme infamy or dreadful calamity.’

“Vaisampayana continued, ‘Thus addressed by the Sairindhri, the wickedKichaka losing control over his senses and overcome by lust, althoughaware of the numerous evils of fornication, evils condemned by everybodyand sometimes leading to the destruction of life itself,–then spoke untoDraupadi, ‘It behoveth thee not, O beauteous lady, O thou of gracefulfeatures, thus to disregard me who am, O thou of sweet smiles, under thepower of Manmatha on thy account. If now, O timid one, thou disregardestme who am under thy influence and who speak to thee so fair, thou wilt, Oblack-eyed damsel, have to repent for it afterwards. O thou of gracefuleye-brows, the real lord of this entire kingdom, O slender-waisted lady,is myself. It is me depending upon whom the people of this realm live. Inenergy and prowess I am unrivalled on earth. There is no other man onearth who rivals me in beauty of person, in youth, in prosperity, and inthe possession of excellent objects of enjoyment. Why it is, O auspiciouslady, that having it in thy power to enjoy here every object of desireand every luxury and comfort without its equal, thou preferest servitude.Becoming the mistress of this kingdom which I shall confer on thee, Othou of fair face, accept me, and enjoy, O beauteous one, all excellentobjects of desire.’ Addressed in these accursed words by Kichaka, thatchaste daughter of Drupada answered him thus reprovingly, ‘Do not, O sonof a Suta, act so foolishly and do not throw away thy life. Know that Iam protected by my five husbands. Thou canst not have me. I haveGandharvas for my husbands. Enraged they will slay thee. Therefore, dothou not bring destruction on thyself. Thou intendest to tread along apath that is incapable of being trod by men. Thou, O wicked one, art evenlike a foolish child that standing on one shore of the ocean intends tocross over to the other. Even if thou enterest into the interior of theearth, or soarest into the sky, or rushest to the other shore of theocean, still thou wilt have no escape from the hands of those sky-rangingoffspring of gods, capable of grinding all foes. Why dost thou today, OKichaka, solicit me so persistently even as a sick person wisheth for thenight that will put a stop to his existence? Why dost thou desire me,even like an infant lying on its mother’s lap wishing to catch the moon?For thee that thus solicitest their beloved wife, there is no refugeeither on earth or in sky. O Kichaka, hast thou no sense which leads theeto seek thy good and by which thy life may be saved?'”