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25.DRAUPADI'S GRIEF
Come to the assembly" and in his impatience, he
bade as though to take her thither by
force. Panchali rose trembling, heart-stricken
with sorrow and started to fly for refuge to
the inner apartments of Dhritarashtra's
queen. Duhsasana darted after her, caught
her by the hair and dragged her to the
assembly.
It is with a shudder of repugnance that we
relate how the sons of Dhritarashtra
stooped to commit this vilest of deeds.
As soon as she came to the assembly,
Draupadi controlled her anguish and
appealed to the elders gathered there:
"How could you consent to my being
staked by the king who was himself
trapped into the game and cheated by
wicked persons, expert in the art? Since
he was no longer a free man, how could
he stake anything at all?"
Then, stretching out her arms and raising
her flowing eyes in agonised supplication
she cried in a voice broken with sobs:
"If you have loved and revered the
mothers who bore you and gave you suck,
if the honor of wife or sister or daughter
has been dear to you, if you believe in
God and dharma, forsake me not in this
horror more cruel than death"'
At this heart-broken cry, as of a poor fawn
stricken to death, the elders hung their
heads in grief and shame. Bhima could
hold himself no longer. His swelling heart
found relief in a roar of wrath that shook
the very walls, and turning to
Yudhishthira he said bitterly:
"Even abandoned professional gamblers
would not stake the harlots who live with
them, and you, worse than they, have left
the daughter of Drupada to the mercy of
these ruffians. I cannot bear this injustice.
You are the cause of this great crime.
Brother Sahadeva, bring fire. I am going
to set fire to those hands of his which cast
the dice."
Arjuna however remonstrated gently with
Bhima: "You have never before spoken
thus. The plot devised by our enemies is
entangling us also in its meshes and
inciting us to wicked action. We should
not succumb and play their game.
Beware."
With a superhuman effort, Bhima
controlled his anger.
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