In the previous episode, we had witnessed Draupati being abducted forcefully by King Jayathrada as he falls in love with her. Even as Draupati persists with her stance of not coming with him, Jayathrada is in no mood to listen. He abducts Draupati and places her on the chariot. As he rides fast, Sage Dhoumya spots him and runs behind the chariot in a bid to save Draupati. Sage Dhoumya warns King Jayathrada of inflicting a heavy curse on him if he doesn’t relieve Draupati immediately. As this is going on, Yudishtra and Co. quickly understand the situation and join the chase. As the chase goes on, Bheemasena shouts in a loud voice thus, “Oh Jayathrada! Why are you running away upon seeing all of us? If you have the guts to fight us, stop! Don’t run like a coward! Face me in a war if you really have the strength in you!”
As Bheemasena shouts thus, Jayathrada comes to a grinding stop! He is now shaking with fear for Bheemasena, as he knows how powerful Bheemasena is. Unable to accept defeat straightaway, Jayathrada decides to give a fight with Bheemasena. The war begins and Bheemasena is no match to Jayathrada. Within minutes, Bheemasena has Jayathrada under his complete control with his raw and brutal muscle power! Even as Jayathrada screams for help, Bheemasena is in no mood to let him off! He tears open Jayathrada and inflicts heavy blows on him. As Jayathrada is bruised beyond repairs, he calls truce! With this, Bheemasena also does not want to kill Jayathrada and instead he drags Jayathrada all the way in front of Yudishtra. Now it is upto Yudishtra to take the decision whether to kill Jayathrada or not. Yudishtra says thus, “Oh Bheemasena! Oh Sage Dhoumya! When Jayathrada called for truce and has surrendered himself, it is wrong on our part to kill him. We shall let him off this time!”
As Yudishtra rules thus, Draupati becomes extremely angry. She vents out her anger on Yudishtra thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Don’t you understand the graveness of Jayathrada’s crime? He has surrendered not because he has realized his mistake. He has done so only because he is unable to match Bheemasena’s might in war! It is only because he has been bruised so heavily, he has no other option but to surrender! Hence, I feel that Jayathrada should be brutally killed immediately. Everytime I’m being insulted like this, you never feel for me at all! You did the same thing when I was insulted in the courtroom amidst the public. You remained silent without reacting even for a single minute. Even now, you’re only talking in favor of Jayathrada who did a henious crime of kidnapping me! What do you think you’re doing? Everytime you’re letting me down in front of an enemy. Is this the “Dharma” that you’re practising?”
As Draupati fumes thus, Yudishtra tries to calm her down. He says thus, “Oh Draupati! Please calm down. Why are you bursting out in anger? Jayathrada had already got what he deserved, isn’t it? He has got bruised all over his body! Now what more is left in him? At any cost, patience (“Kshama”) is the highest aspect of “Dharma” and we should always follow it. Moreover, tell me one thing – What benefit are we going to gain by killing this Jayathrada? Who is he? Does he have any relationship with us? Not at all! If such is the case, why should we poke our nose into someone with whom we do not have anything to share? Hence, the best way to deal with this situation is to let Jayathrada off!” Saying thus, Yudishtra requests Bheemasena to let Jayathrada off. Yudishtra tells Jayathrada thus, “Oh Jayathrada! Please accept your defeat and get out of here. I don’t want you to stand in front of any of us even for a single minute. I’m letting you off for a good reason. Hence, do not try to take advantage of it and repeat the same mistake again!”
Accepting his defeat thus, Jayathrada is freed up and he rushes out. However, is Jayathrada happy with the escape that he had got? No! He could not resist the insult that he had obtained from the hands of Yudishtra and Bheemasena! So what does Jayathrada do from here on? Is he going to seek revenge on the Paandava brothers henceforth in the near future! Let us wait and witness the next set of happenings in the next upcoming episode! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 