Draupadi is one of the most layered and powerful characters in the Mahabharata. She plays a pivotal role in the epic tale of war, love and the human condition.
For Kochi-based Sanskrit teacher Rajani KP, Draupadi has been a constant source of intrigue and inspiration. “The Mahabharata has influenced me like no other text and Draupadi’s character stands out. I had always wanted to explore her character and finally, when I got down to it, it took me only 90 days to write a novel,” says Rajani, whose book was recently released.
Yajnaseni (another name for Draupadi), in Malayalam, is a take on Draupadi’s complex and eventful life and her relevance today. The narrative begins when Draupadi is approaching her final moments. Accompanying her husbands on their final ascent to the Himalayas, she is the first to fall. “As she lies there awaiting death, she recalls events from her birth to death in a monologue. It is addressed to Krishna, her best friend and confidant,” says Rajani.
Rajani looks at Draupadi from a modern-day perspective. “I always saw her as someone who was fearless in voicing her opinion. She was unlike Sita, who was an epitome of endurance. Draupadi was far from submissive,” she says. “For me, it is also impossible not to look at Draupadi through the feminist lens. Her story is still relevant. Draupadi lives on,” Rajani adds.
She could well be the most important character in the classic — one who was the catalyst for the great war. Her beauty and intelligence was unparalleled. She had the fragrance of lotuses in bloom. “Yet,” says Rajani, “Draupadi was also the most vulnerable. She was forced to accept five men as husbands when she married only one. Disgraced and humiliated in the Kaurava Sabha, she faced crises like no other. She did not have real agency, like many women today.”
Approaching a text such as the Mahabharata was intimidating, says Rajani. She banked on her reading of the classic and its numerous retellings and, of course, the Draupadi she had in mind all along. “It is my version of Draupadi, how I see her and the milieu she was in. I just had to write the story that has been with me for so long.” Novelist and poet Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Palace of Illusions, too, regards the epic from the point of view of Draupadi.
Rajani has been teaching Sanskrit for over 21 years at the St. Teresa’s High School. Through the years of teaching, Rajani kept her interest in reading alive. Her Ph.D was on the psychological approach to Duryodhana, Mahabharata’s anti-hero. “The classic still draws people to it. The more you read it, the more intricate the narrative seems to be. They say that there is nothing in life that the epic does not contain,” she says.
The 96-page novel, published by Kairali Books Publishers, can be bought at the publisher’s website.
