Draupadī Meets the Queens of Kṛṣṇa

Next, Chapter Eighty-three: "Draupadi Meets the Queens of Krsna."

There were a good many visitors who came to see Krsna, and amongst them there were the Panḍavas, headed by King Yudhisthira. So Lord Krsna, after talking with the gopis and bestowing upon them the greatest benediction, He came to welcome King Yudhisthira and other relatives who came to see Him. First of all He inquired from them about their auspicity. But the fact is, whoever sees the lotus feet of Lord Krsna, there is no question of inauspicity. But still, as a matter of etiquette, when Lord Krsna inquired from King Yudhisthira about his welfare, he became very much engladdened by such reception and began to address Lord Krsna as follows.

[within quotation] "My dear Lord Krsna, great personalities and devotees in full Krsna consciousness always think of Your lotus feet, and they remain fully satisfied by drinking such nectarean of transcendental bliss. The nectarean which they constantly drink sometimes comes out of from their mouth to be sprinkled over others in the shape of narration of Your transcendental activities. Such sprinkling of nectarean is so powerful that if somebody is fortunate enough to have the opportunity to drink such nectarean emanating from the mouth of a devotee, immediately one becomes freed from the continuous journey of birth and death. Actually, our material existence is due to our forgetfulness about Your personality, but fortunately, if one is privileged to hear about Your glories, immediately the darkness of forgetfulness is dissipated. Therefore, my dear Lord, anyone who is constantly engaged in hearing about Your glorious activities, where is the possibility of his inauspicity?

"As we are fully surrendered unto You and we have no other shelter than Your lotus feet, we are always confident of our auspicity always. My dear Lord, You are the ocean of unlimited knowledge and transcendental bliss. The resultant action of mental concoction existing in three phases of awakening, sleeping and deep sleep cannot exist in Krsna consciousness. All such reactions are invalidated even from a distant place. You are the ultimate destination of all liberated persons. Out of Your independent will only, You have descended on this earth by the use of Your own internal potency, yogamaya, and in order to reestablish the Vedic principles of life You have assumed just like an ordinary human being. As such, there cannot be any inauspicity for one who has fully surrendered unto You." [quotation close]

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When Lord Krsna was busy meeting various kinds of visitors and they were engaged in offering prayers to the Lord, the female members of the two dynasties, namely the Kuru dynasty and the Yadu dynasty, took the opportunity of meeting with one another and be engaged in talks in the topics of Lord Krsna's transcendental pastimes.

The first inquiry was made by Draupadi to the wives of Lord Krsna. She addressed them as follows: [within quotation] "My dear Rukmini, Bhadra, Jambavati, Satyavati, Satyabhama, Kalindi, Saibya, Laksmana, Rohini and all others, the wives of Lord Krsna, will you please let us know how Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, accepted you as His wives, and how did He marry you just in pursuance of the marriage ceremony of ordinary human being?" [quotation close]

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Upon this, first of all the chief of the queens, Rukminidevi, replied as follows: [within quotation] "My dear Draupadi, it was practically a settled fact that all the princes like Jarasandha and others wanted me to be married with King Sisupala, and as usual, all the princes present during the marriage ceremony were prepared with their armor and weapons to fight with any rival to stop the marriage with Sisupala. But the Supreme Personality of Godhead kidnapped me in such a way as if a lion takes away a lamb from the flocks. This was not, however, very wonderful act for Lord Krsna, because anyone who claims to be very great hero or king within this world, they are all subordinate to the lotus feet of the Lord. All the kings touch their helmet on the lotus feet of Lord Krsna. My dear Draupadi, it is my eternal desire that life after life I may be engaged in the service of Lord Krsna, who is the reservoir of all pleasure and beauty. This is my only desire and ambition of life." [quotation close]

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After this, Satyabhama began to speak as follows: [within quotation] "My dear Draupadi, my father was very much afflicted on the death of his brother, Prasena, and he falsely accused Lord Krsna for killing his brother Prasena. This was in connection with the Syamantaka jewel, which was actually taken by Jambavan after killing Prasena. Lord Krsna, in order to unblemish His pure character, He fought with Jambavan and rescued the Syamantaka jewel, which was later on delivered to my father. My father was very much ashamed and sorry for accusing Lord Krsna in the matter of his brother's death. Now after getting back the Syamantaka jewel, he thought it wise to rectify his mistake. So without waiting any further, although he gave words to others for my marriage, he submitted the jewel and myself under the lotus feet of Krsna, and thus I became His maidservant, accepted as wife."

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After this, Jambavati replied as follows: "My dear Draupadi, when Lord Krsna attacked my father, Jambavan, the king of rksas, My father had no information that Lord Krsna is his former master, Lord Ramacandra, husband of Sita. Without knowing the identification of Lord Krsna, my father remained engaged in fighting with Him continually for twenty-seven days. After this period, when he became too much tired and felt fatigued, he could understand that he could not be defeated by anyone else except Lord Ramacandra. Thus he concluded Lord Krsna was the same Lord Ramacandra. He thus came to his senses, and immediately he returned the Syamantaka jewel, and along with the jewel, in order to satisfy the Lord, he presented me to become His wife. In this way I was married to the Lord, and thus my desire to remain life after life as the servitor of Krsna was fulfilled." [quotation close]

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After this, Kalindi began to say as follows: "My dear Draupadi, I was engaged in great austerity and penances in order to get Lord Krsna as my husband. When Lord Krsna became aware of this fact, He very kindly came to me, along with His friend Arjuna, and accepted me as His wife. Lord Krsna then took me away from the bank of Yamuna, and since then I am engaged in the house of Lord Krsna as the sweeper, and the Lord is treating me as His wife." [quotation close]

After this, Citravinda [Mitravinda] said as follows: [within quotation] "My dear Draupadi, there was a great assembly of princes because of my svayamvara ceremony. Lord Krsna was also present in that meeting, and He accepted me as a maidservant by defeating all the princes present there. He immediately took me away from that place to Dvaraka, exactly like the lion takes away his share from the groups of the dogs. When I was thus taken away by Lord Krsna, my brothers wanted to fight with Him, but later on they were also defeated. Thus my desire to become life after life the maidservant of Krsna became fulfilled." [quotation close]

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After this, Satya began to address Draupadi as follows: "My dear Draupadi, my father arranged for an assembly for my svayamvara, (within brackets) [personally selecting husband], and in order to test the strength and heroism of the bridegrooms, my father kept seven ferocious bulls with sharpened long horns, and the prospective bridegroom was to fight with them. Many heroic prospective bridegrooms tried to defeat the bulls, but unfortunately they were severely struck, and all of them, being almost invalid, returned home frustrated.

"When Lord Sri Krsna came and He fought with the bulls, it was just like a plaything for Him. Very easily He captured the bulls and each one of them roped by their nostrils, thus they came under His control, exactly just like small kiddies of goats comes under the control of the children very easily. My father became very much pleased. Then he pompously married me with Lord Krsna, giving in dowry four divisions of soldiers, horses, chariots and elephants, along with hundreds of maidservants. Thus Lord Krsna brought me in His capital city, Dvaraka. On the way back, He was also checked by many combatant princes, but Lord Krsna defeated all of them. Thus, I have got the privilege of serving His lotus feet as a maidservant." [quotation close]

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After this, Bhadra began to speak as follows: "My dear Draupadi, Lord Krsna is the son of my maternal uncle. Fortunately, I became attracted at His lotus feet. When my father understood these feelings of mine, he personally arranged for my marriage with Lord Krsna, inviting Him and giving Him in dowry one division of aksauhini army, along with many maidservants and other royal paraphernalia. I do not know whether I shall be able to have the shelter of Lord Krsna life after life, but still I pray to the Lord that wherever…"

[break] Bhadra continued to say, "My dear Draupadiji, I always pray that I do not mind wherever I may take my birth. I only wish that I may not forget my relationship with the lotus feet of Lord Krsna." [quotation close]

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Then Laksmana began to say, [within quotation] "My dear Queen, I have heard many times the great sage Narada glorifying the pastimes of Lord Krsna. By hearing him, I became attracted to the lotus feet of Krsna when I heard that the goddess of fortune Laksmi was also attracted to the lotus feet of Krsna. Since then I was always thinking of Him, and thus my attraction for Him increased. My dear Queen, my father was very much affectionate to me. When he understood that I have been attracted to Krsna, then he devised a plan like this: My father devised a plan exactly like your father devised the plan of piercing the eyes of the fish during the time of your svayamvara. The only difference between the fishes to be pierced in your svayamvara and my svayamvara was that in your case the fish was hanging on the ceiling, open to be seen. But in my case, the fish was covered, and it was to be seen only by the reflection of it on the water down. That was the special feature of my svayamvara.

"When the news of this device was spread all over the world and the princes heard of it, at that time all of them from all direction, being fully equipped with armor and guided by their military instructors, all of them arrived in the capital city of my father. Each one of them maintaining the desire to get me as his wife, one after another raised the bow which was left there for piercing the fish, along with the arrow. Out of them, many could not even join the string between the two ends of the bow, and thus without attempting to pierce the fish they simply kept the bow as it is and came back. Some of them with great difficulty drew the string from one end to another but were unable to tie the other end, and being dashed by the spring-like bow, they fell down.

"My dear Queen, you will be surprised to know that in that svayamvara meeting there were many famous kings and heroes present. Some of them were like Jarasandha, Ambastha, Sisupala, Bhimasena, Duryodhana, Karna. These heroes, of course, they were able to string over the bow, but they could not pierce the fish because it was covered, and they could not trace out from the reflection where the fish is situated. After this, the celebrated hero of the Panḍavas, namely Arjuna, could see the shadow reflection of the fish on the water and could trace out where the fish is, and with great caution he threw the arrow also, but still he could not pierce the fish at the right spot. Of course, his arrow touched the fish; in other words, he alone proved himself better than all other princes.

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"When all the princes thus became disappointed and baffled in their attempts, and some of them left the place without any attempt, then at last Lord Krsna took up the bow, and He was able to tie up the string on the bow very easily, just like a child plays with the toys. He took the arrow, and just seeing once only the reflection of the fish on the water threw the arrow, and immediately fish was pierced and it fell down. This victory of Lord Krsna was effected just at Minute 0 Hour 12noon, when the auspicious moment called abhijit was passing on according to astronomical calculation. At that time, all over the world there was vibration of 'Jaya! Jaya!' all over the world, and in the sky there was sounds of drums beaten by the denizens of heaven. Great demigods become overwhelmed with joy, and they began to shower flowers on the earth.

"At that time, I entered the arena of competition, and while I was walking in, the ankle bells on my legs were sounding very melodiously. I was very much nicely dressed with new silken garments and nice flowers were pushed into the bunch of my hair, and because I was in ecstatic joy because of Lord's victory, I was smiling very pleasingly. I was carrying golden necklace bedecked with jewels in my hands. On account of its nice setup, it was glittering like anything at intervals. At that time, because my curling hairs were hanging on my face, and due to the reflection of various rings, my face was representing a specific bright luster.

"When I reached the Lord, first of all I saw with the blinking of my eyes over all the princes present there, and very slowly I placed the golden necklace on the neck of my Lord. And as I have already informed you, that from the very beginning my mind was attracted by Lord Krsna. So at that time, I considered thus garlanding the Lord as my great victory. As soon as I placed my garland on the neck of the Lord, immediately there was tumultuous sound by the combined beating of mrdahgas, patahas, conchshells, drums, kettledrums, etc. And the expert artist in dancing, both male and female, began to dance symmetrically with music, and the singers present there began to sing very sweetly.

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"My dear Draupadi, just after this function, when I accepted Lord Krsna as my worshipable husband and He also accepted me as His maidservant, immediately there was a tumultuous roaring amongst the disappointed princes. All of them became very much agitated because of their lusty desires. But without caring for them, my husband, the four-handed Narayana, immediately boarded me on His chariot, which was being drawn by first-class four horses. And expecting opposition from the princes, He immediately armored Himself properly, took His bow of the name Sarhga. But our celebrated driver of the chariot, namely Daruka, without waiting for a moment, immediately drove the beautiful chariot directly towards Dvaraka City in the presence of all the princes. Thus I was carried very quickly, exactly as the lion carries its share of a deer from the flocks of deers.

"Some of the princes, however, wanted to resist our progress and thus, equipped with proper weapons, they wanted to oppose, exactly like the dogs try to oppose the progressive march of a lion. At that time, arrows released through the Sarhga bow of Lord Krsna cut some of their left hands, some of their legs, and some of them lost their head from the body. Some of them lost their life there for good, and some of them fled away from the battlefield.

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"After this, the Supreme Personality of Godhead entered His most celebrated city Dvaraka, bugling all over the universe, and when the Lord was entering the city He appeared to be like the shining sun. On that occasion, the whole Dvaraka City was profusely decorated. There were so many flags and festoons and gates all over the city, so that the sunshine on that day could not enter Dvaraka. As I have already told you that my father was very much affectionate to me, and when he saw that my desire was fulfilled in getting Lord Krsna as my husband, in great happiness he began to distribute various kinds of gifts to friends and relatives, such as valuable dresses, ornaments, bedsteads, sitting carpets and various similar gifts. Lord Krsna is always self-sufficient; still, my father, out of his own accord, offered my husband various kinds of dowries consisting of riches, soldiers, elephants, chariots, horses, and many valuable and rare weapons. He presented all these to the Lord with great enthusiasm. My dear Queen, at that time I could guess that in my previous life I must have had performed some wonderful pious activities, as a result of which in this life I could be engaged as one of the maidservants in the house of the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

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In this way, when all the principal queens of Lord Krsna finished their statements, then Rohini, as representative of the other sixteen thousand queens, began to narrate the incidence of their becoming wives of Krsna as follows: [within quotation] "My dear Queen, when Bhaumasura was conquering all over the world, he collected wherever possible all the beautiful daughters of the kings and brought them, arrested, to keep within his palace. When this news of imprisoning us was reached to Lord Krsna, He fought with Bhaumasura and released us. Lord Krsna killed all the soldiers of Bhaumasura as well as him. Although He had no necessity to accept even one wife, still, by our request, He married all of us, sixteen thousand in number. My dear Queen, our only qualification was that we are always thinking of the lotus feet of Lord Krsna, which is the cause of releasing one from the bondage of repeated birth and death.

"My dear Queen Draupadi, please take it from us that we are not after any opulence like kingdom, empire or the position of the heavenly king. We do not want to enjoy such material opulences, neither we desire to achieve the yogic perfection or the exalted post of Lord Brahma. Neither do we want any of the five kinds of liberation, like sarūpya, salokya, etc. We are not at all attracted by any of these opulences. Our only ambition is that life after life we can bear the dust particles attached to the lotus feet of Lord Krsna on our head, which was desired by the goddess of fortune to keep on her breast, along with the fragrant saffron. We simply desire this dust of the lotus feet of Krsna, which are accumulated underneath His toes while traveling on the land of Vrndavana as a cowherds boy. Specifically, the gopis, the cowherds men and the aboriginal tribeswomen always desire to become the grass and straws on the street of Vrndavana to be trampled by the lotus feet of Krsna. My dear Queen, we wish to remain as such life after life, without any other desire." [quotation close]

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Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of Eighty-three Chapter Krsna, "Draupadi Meets the Queens of Krsna."