Draupadi..a woman of substance!!!

 

The more I read about Draupadi and her journey, the more I am left in awe and my heart fills with huge amount of respect for a woman of substance, the symbol of feminism and the spirit of womanhood.

She was extremely beautiful, intelligent and virtuous woman. In Hindu Mythology, there are very few women were strong headed and who spoke their mind in the world of men. By many, she is regarded as the first feminist of Indian Mythology. When she was born out of fire, a celestial voice had proclaimed: “This feisty, unparalleled beauty has taken birth to uproot Kauravas and thereby establish the rule of religion”.

She never asked anything for herself. She was born unwanted, thrust abruptly into a polyandrous marriage, having profoundly aware of being an integral instrument in bringing about the extinction of an enfeebled eon to welcome the new age. Yet, she offered her entire self as a flaming sacrifice in the cataclysm of which Krishna (her sakha) was the presiding deity.

She is by far the most complex and controversial female character. She has a multi-faceted personality. She could be womanly, compassionate, generous, and sensitive at certain point of time; on the other hand, she could be fearless, upstanding and might wreak havoc on those who did her wrong. She never compromised her rights as a daughter-in-law or even on the rights of the Pandavas and was ever ready to fight back the injustice and meted out to her modesty. She secretly vowed that one day she would definitely seek revenge for the abusive behaviour of the Kauravas, for the injustice offered to her, for the disrespectful behaviour, and she did so by igniting the spark of vendetta in the hearts of Pandavas.

If Mahabharata is an intricately woven saga of hatred and love, conspiracies and noble thoughts, courage and cowardice, victory and defeat then Draupadi is its shining jewel, fearless, uncompromising, and strong. She is the SOUL OF MAHABHARATA!!!!

The extraordinary qualities of Draupadi like devotion to duty, spirit of self-sacrifice, courage, presence of mind, endurance, thirst for knowledge, perseverance, wisdom to discriminate between right and wrong, strength to fight against injustice and many such qualities are seen in Draupadi which is universal and make her a shining example of feminism. She taught us that the only person who you should depend on is yourself; gather your assets, control them, use them wisely when the time comes instead of expecting others to provide for you.

Remember that you are indispensable, irrespective of what you think and others lead you to believe.