28 August.
So today, we are celebrating the birth of the original butter-thief, lingerie-pincher, the demon-buster, the ace charioter, the royal flirt, the ultimate political strategist, the divine musician, and the oldest best-selling author. While he didn't care two hoots for conventional morality, and showed his blue middle finger to moralists of his time, (something that appeals to the rebel in me) the part of his career that really touches me is his relationship with the sultry Draupadi.
Looks like high-fiving with the Pandavas had left their lonely wife only lonelier. And always, always it was her "sakha" (male friend) Krishna, who unfailingly came to her rescue. I am not talking about the tale of how he saved her from the wrath of the powerful saint Durvasha. Neither am I referring to the lore of Krishna guarding her modesty, when her useless husbands had gambled her away to the Kauravas.
I am talking of the times when Draupadi must have needed a friend. Lives of ancient queens and princesses must have been pretty difficult. And for someone with five husbands, it was perhaps even more so. I am sure it was a challenge to divide her affection equally between five strappingly handsome husbands, who took turns every couple of years to occupy her marital bed.
Was she torn between allegiances? Did she replace one with the other in her mind's eye, while making love? Did she have to manage jealousies of different proportions in husbands vying for her one true love? If she did, then for someone like Draupadi, a woman with a mind of her own, and with a spine made of stainless steel (not literally!) a confidante, a sakha must have become indispensable. Someone, who wouldn't ridicule her misgivings, wouldn't ignore her groans and tears as feminine hormones gone haywire during that one time every month. Someone like the impish Krishna, who would allay all her doubts with that enigmatic smile and always materialize from thin air, whenever beckoned.
I am not an mythology expert. I am not sure if their relationship was indeed free from any proverbial sexual tension. In the Mahabharata their bond is described with the Bhakti rasa - the typical tie between the God and the devotee. In a worldly context, the relationship can be thought of has a unique a human element (still free from any element of sex).
In Chapter 2 (titled 'Blue') of The Pallace of Illusions, Draupadi begins by telling us that because both Krishna and she were dark skinned - in an era obsessed with milk n almond hues - they got along so well. That is the beginning of her narrative on how her sakha had set her world right for her by setting up a different standard for an accepted complexion. Remember that king Drupad only allowed Krishna to visit his daughter he had kept so carefully segregated from the rest of the world. Speaks of the trust our blue boy commanded in the royal household. Draupadi found her sakha difficult to unravel at times, so their relationship was not free from complications. But even then she admits in the book that to a large extent, Krishna made her who she was - by challenging her traditional beliefs, and sometimes by teasing her to tears. As for me, though Draupadi must have been too intelligent to have missed her sakha's sexual charms, she was too torn between Karna and Arjuna to have fallen for her sakha instead.
And Krishna called Draupadi by a special name - Krishnaa - the female variant of his own. His namesake. If you ask me, they were two peas in a pod. Both very different among equals.
So how many of you have your sakhas? Do you have that special friend, who will hold you, no matter how jittery your journey becomes? Do you have a Krishna in your life, who is always there to break your fall? If yes, today is the day to say a prayer in his/her name. Krishna - to me embodies this spirit of unconditional man-woman friendship. If there was any sexual overtone at all in their camaraderie, it did not define their friendship. Nor did it ever rise above their trust in each other. Nor did it color their non-possessive acceptance of each other. It was a friendship of equals (very rarely found in present day marriages or any man-woman relationships, I hasten to add) - a bond between two people who shared the faith that such a connect was possible.
Jai shri Krishna!
So today, we are celebrating the birth of the original butter-thief, lingerie-pincher, the demon-buster, the ace charioter, the royal flirt, the ultimate political strategist, the divine musician, and the oldest best-selling author. While he didn't care two hoots for conventional morality, and showed his blue middle finger to moralists of his time, (something that appeals to the rebel in me) the part of his career that really touches me is his relationship with the sultry Draupadi.
Looks like high-fiving with the Pandavas had left their lonely wife only lonelier. And always, always it was her "sakha" (male friend) Krishna, who unfailingly came to her rescue. I am not talking about the tale of how he saved her from the wrath of the powerful saint Durvasha. Neither am I referring to the lore of Krishna guarding her modesty, when her useless husbands had gambled her away to the Kauravas.
I am talking of the times when Draupadi must have needed a friend. Lives of ancient queens and princesses must have been pretty difficult. And for someone with five husbands, it was perhaps even more so. I am sure it was a challenge to divide her affection equally between five strappingly handsome husbands, who took turns every couple of years to occupy her marital bed.
Was she torn between allegiances? Did she replace one with the other in her mind's eye, while making love? Did she have to manage jealousies of different proportions in husbands vying for her one true love? If she did, then for someone like Draupadi, a woman with a mind of her own, and with a spine made of stainless steel (not literally!) a confidante, a sakha must have become indispensable. Someone, who wouldn't ridicule her misgivings, wouldn't ignore her groans and tears as feminine hormones gone haywire during that one time every month. Someone like the impish Krishna, who would allay all her doubts with that enigmatic smile and always materialize from thin air, whenever beckoned.
I am not an mythology expert. I am not sure if their relationship was indeed free from any proverbial sexual tension. In the Mahabharata their bond is described with the Bhakti rasa - the typical tie between the God and the devotee. In a worldly context, the relationship can be thought of has a unique a human element (still free from any element of sex).
In Chapter 2 (titled 'Blue') of The Pallace of Illusions, Draupadi begins by telling us that because both Krishna and she were dark skinned - in an era obsessed with milk n almond hues - they got along so well. That is the beginning of her narrative on how her sakha had set her world right for her by setting up a different standard for an accepted complexion. Remember that king Drupad only allowed Krishna to visit his daughter he had kept so carefully segregated from the rest of the world. Speaks of the trust our blue boy commanded in the royal household. Draupadi found her sakha difficult to unravel at times, so their relationship was not free from complications. But even then she admits in the book that to a large extent, Krishna made her who she was - by challenging her traditional beliefs, and sometimes by teasing her to tears. As for me, though Draupadi must have been too intelligent to have missed her sakha's sexual charms, she was too torn between Karna and Arjuna to have fallen for her sakha instead.
And Krishna called Draupadi by a special name - Krishnaa - the female variant of his own. His namesake. If you ask me, they were two peas in a pod. Both very different among equals.
So how many of you have your sakhas? Do you have that special friend, who will hold you, no matter how jittery your journey becomes? Do you have a Krishna in your life, who is always there to break your fall? If yes, today is the day to say a prayer in his/her name. Krishna - to me embodies this spirit of unconditional man-woman friendship. If there was any sexual overtone at all in their camaraderie, it did not define their friendship. Nor did it ever rise above their trust in each other. Nor did it color their non-possessive acceptance of each other. It was a friendship of equals (very rarely found in present day marriages or any man-woman relationships, I hasten to add) - a bond between two people who shared the faith that such a connect was possible.
Jai shri Krishna!
Its absolutely essential to have someone ,preferably of the opposite gender, for every man as well as woman to have a special friend, in whom he /she can totally confide in and depend on,come what may! Obviously such a strong bondage can only be an unconditional.one and is something which doesnt exactly fit into a typecast mould of traditional and age-old companionship. There has got to be someone in everyone's life till the proverbial.last leaf falls. Am an unabashed admirer of Krishna,notwithstanding his misgivings and maybe some sexual profligacy(which am not sure of) but he does fit into the bill of being hailed as "a true friend in adversity and all conditions"
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