Sushmajee
Biographies | Women
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| Draupadee-2-3 |
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Draupadee-2-3
1. Who was Draupadee, Her Birth and Her Marriage to Five Paandav Draupadee's past life story as Ketukaa [by Satya Chaitanya - This story could be found in Sarala Mahabharata, the Oriya telling of the Mahabharata by Sarala Das. Dr B.N. Patnaik, a former IIT Kanpur professor, has been narrating stories from the Sarala Mahabharata and analyzing them online. I found both his narration and his analysis brilliant. His articles can be found at http://saralamahabharat.blogspot.com] There is another fascinating story about Draupadee's past life that is a complete contrast to the Nalayaanee story. According to this story, Draupadee is Ketukaa reborn to punish uncontrolled male – not female – sexuality. Here is the story. The time is the beginning of this round of creation. Vishnu is in Yog Nidraa. He opens his eyes for a second and closes them again. In that split second, when he opens his eyes, fifteen Brahmaa are born. All the Brahmaa look around and see Saraswatee standing behind Vishnu. Violent, stormy lust for her rises up in their hearts. They all rush towards her, intending to take her by force. A furious Saraswatee creates a woman called Ketukaa. Ketukaa eats up fourteen of the fifteen Brahmas. The fifteenth one, Shoodraka Brahmaa, terrified, seeks Vishnu's protection. Vishnu asks Saraswatee to spare him. She says it cannot be done – he is evil. Vishnu then asks her to wait for the right time saying that this Brahmaa will be reborn as Dushaasan in Dwaapar Yug and Ketukaa would be born as Draupadee. Dushaasan would publicly insult Draupadee then and to punish him, Bheem would give him a violent death. He would tear open his chest, tear off his arms and holding those arms above Draupadee'’s head, let Dusshasana’s hot blood flow from those arms to her hair. The blood would flow down from her hair and reach her mouth, and Ketukaa's blood thirst for the fifteenth Brahmaa would then be satisfied. I found the story beautiful. Apart from reversing the position taken about sexuality – in the Nalayanee story, it is a woman who has an insatiable sexual appetite, and in the Ketukaa story it is the men who fail to control their sexuality for a woman – the story does other things. Draupadi's personality has two strong sides – her powerful sexuality and her aggressive disposition that tends to unleash violence. What the MBH highlights through her story as Nalayanee is this sexuality. And what the Ketukaa story focuses is on her blood thirst. Folk traditions across the land highlight both her insatiable sexuality and unquenchable blood thirst. Ketukaa’s story thus is a story of man’s insatiable sexuality and a woman's thirst for blood. Draupadee's Past Life Story-Nalayaanee
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Created by Sushma Gupta On 5/27/04
Contact: sushmajee@yahoo.com
Modified on 03/22/13