“My dear Krishna, Your Lordship has protected us from a poisoned cake, from a great fire, from cannibals, from the vicious assembly, from sufferings during our exile in the forest and from the battle where great generals fought. And now You have saved us from the weapon of Ashvatthama.” (Queen Kunti, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 1.8.24)

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विषान् महाग्नेः पुरुषाद-दर्शनाद्
असत्-सभाया वन-वास-कृच्छ्रतः
मृधे मृधे ऽनेक-महारथास्त्रतो
द्रौण्य्-अस्त्रतश् चास्म हरे ऽभिरक्षिताः

viṣān mahāgneḥ puruṣāda-darśanād
asat-sabhāyā vana-vāsa-kṛcchrataḥ
mṛdhe mṛdhe ‘neka-mahārathāstrato
drauṇy-astrataś cāsma hare ‘bhirakṣitāḥ

1. Adharma has no mercy

“If I had the chance to speak to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, this is what I would probably say. Are you serious, bro? Have you lost your mind? Do you not remember what these people did to you? Did you just forget the recent past? Did you hit your head on something?

“What they did to Draupadi was reprehensible. These people have no mercy. You are so kind upon them, willing to forgive and forget. Did they show any compassion towards your wife? They could have stopped at any time. They did not need to show her naked.

“It was only by a miracle that she was saved. People still have no idea what exactly happened. There is speculation in this direction and that, but you and your brothers really dodged a bullet. Let’s be honest.”

2. One plus God is always a majority

“It is amazing what happened to Draupadi. She should never have been placed in that situation. Who puts up their wife as collateral in a wager? Who ups the stakes to that serious of a level? What kind of person is willing to accept those terms?

“The Kauravas thought they had the upper hand. They had the numbers on their side. No one was going to interfere with their plan to show Draupadi naked. This was in front of the entire assembly. The greatest embarrassment a person can think of.

“The problem is that Draupadi was not alone. She had Krishna on her side. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krishna is like the non-zero numeral and material nature is like a bunch of zeroes. Those zeroes have no value without the other side. Once you place a one or two in front of the zeroes, the value increases exponentially.

“The Kauravas got a taste of that truth, though they were too blind to understand what was going on. Draupadi’s sari became unending. She could not be shown naked. The one Krishna outnumbered the entire assembly.”

3. Gambling is like playing in quicksand

“How nice is His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada? He gave us the four regulative principles. This is really for our benefit. The accompanying behaviors that are restricted are the ones that happen to be the most dangerous.

“Look at gambling, for instance. There is that popular comedy bit, within television and movies, with the scene of people at a party playing strip poker. A person starts out playing in an innocent manner, just for fun. Next thing you know, they are down to wearing just a tie or a hat. They have lost everything so quickly.

“People want to blame Maharaja Yudhishthira for what happened in the game of dice. He is obviously at fault, and the criticism is that he should have known better, being the son of dharma and all. I take away a different lesson from the incident.

“Gambling is so dangerous that it can even bring down someone of Yudhishthira’s stature. No one is really immune. It is a kind of fever. It is like playing in quicksand. You better get out while you can. Otherwise, you might end up losing something important, like the honor of your chaste wife. Thankfully, Krishna was there to save Draupadi.”

4. All signs pointed to Krishna’s protection

“Can you answer me something? What were the Kauravas thinking? Arjuna had Krishna on their side. There was no way that the Pandavas were going to lose that war. I don’t care if Krishna showed a neutral stance, by only acting as the charioteer.

“A second-grader could have figured out that Krishna’s presence would be the determining factor in victory. Did those fools not remember what happened with Draupadi’s sari? Krishna assumed the form of that garment, thus making it ananta. As Krishna is endless, so is the protection He offers to the surrendered souls.”

5. That protection is not limited to single-use

There is a famous set of prayers from Kunti Devi to Shri Krishna. Found in Shrimad Bhagavatam, that queen recounts the many calamities her family faced. These were true hardships. They were lethal blows in any normal situation.

The difference was that Krishna saved them. He protected Kunti and her sons. He protected Kunti’s daughter-in-law, Draupadi. In counting the number of incidents listed, we see that the protection is not limited to a single use. It is not like Krishna took the form of Draupadi’s sari and that was it. It was not like there was an end to that protection.

यो मां पश्यति सर्वत्र
सर्वं च मयि पश्यति
तस्याहं न प्रणश्यामि
स च मे न प्रणश्यति

yo māṁ paśyati sarvatra
sarvaṁ ca mayi paśyati
tasyāhaṁ na praṇaśyāmi
sa ca me na praṇaśyati

“For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 6.30)

It extended to the battlefield of Kurukshetra, where Krishna’s guidance of Arjuna was everything. That same hero of the Yadu dynasty is still there for the surrendered souls. He never abandons. As He is never lost to them, they are never lost to Him.

In Closing:

After another wager losing,
The victors Draupadi choosing.

That into assembly to take,
And naked in humiliation to make.

Just one thing forgetting to consider,
That Krishna set to deliver.

Such that sari forever to extend,
Honor of His people to defend.

Categories: the five

Tags: draupadi, god, hare krishna, hinduism, poem, poems, poetry, religion