For Draupadi’s 6th
birthday, her parents surprised her with a trip to the circus. She had never
been to a circus before and it was a memory she would never forget.
“Mom,” she exclaimed on the car ride home, “did you see
those lions with paws the size of my head??”
She was still shaking in amazement of the acts she had just
seen and was trying to comprehend how everything was possible. Her parents, in
the front seat trying to tune her out, just kept saying, “Yes Sweetie, we saw
them,” and “Uh huh yeah that was cool too.” However, nothing, including their
lack of enthusiasm, could spoil young Draupadi’s excitement.
“Remember the elephants?!” “Wow,” she said as she sat back
in her seat dreaming about them walking in the circle and the tricks they
performed.
By the time the car pulled into the drive way it was past
Draupadi’s bedtime. She ran into the house and up to her room but when she lay
in bed, she was too excited from the day she had had to be able to fall asleep.
She kept replaying each act in her head and dreaming about being apart of the
circus. She could picture herself dressed up in the sparkling outfit and
getting to ride the elephants. The thought of it brought a smile to her face.
She leaped out of bed, got down on her knees and folded her small hand over the
bed.
“God Shankara,” her innocent voice said with a slight quiver
as she had only ever prayed with her parents and didn’t want to mess up. “I
went to the circus today with my mom and dad and while I was there I saw the
most beautiful creatures. So I was wondering if you could give me an elephant
of my own. I promise to take really good care of it and be her best friend!”
She meant every word she said and spoke as if she was
convincing Shankara that she was worthy of receiving this animal. Draupadi
crawled back into bed and feeling as though her voice had been heard she
peacefully drifted to sleep.
When she woke the next morning she ran downstairs and
straight to the backyard hoping to see an elephant. To her disappointment,
there was nothing but trees filling the back yard. Though she was disappointed,
she hoped that if she kept praying each night, Shankara wouldn’t ignore her
forever.
So she did. Night after night she knelt by her bed and with
her hands folded and her voice serious, she prayed for an elephant of her own.
She explained how responsible she would be and how much she would love the
sweet animal.
After 7 nights of praying these prayers, she began to get
discouraged. She had been taught that
the gods would answer her prayer but on her first attempt she was coming up
with nothing to show for it. Just as she began to question the existence of the
god, Shankara appeared in her dream.
“Draupadi,” he spoke tenderly, “You have asked for an
elephant and I shall grant this boon. Because you have asked me seven times,
you will receive seven elephants. You must treat them with respect and care for
them in the ways you have described in your prayers.”
Draupadi was stunned. “Seven?” she thought. She had only
desired just the one but the fact that her prayers were being answered allowed
her to overlook this small detail and maintain her excitement.
When she awoke the next morning she wasn’t sure whether the
dream was truly Shankara speaking to her or if it was simply a dream. For the
seventh day in a row, she jumped out of bed and sprinted to the backyard.
Her eyes widened in amazement and she was left speechless.
It was true. Shankara was real and he had answered her request and had not
exaggerated how he would do so. Her eyes darted back and forth from elephant to
elephant unsure of how to handle the situation of how her parents would react.
She decided that any gift from god should be appreciated so
she eagerly approached each and every elephant and welcomed him or her to their
new home with a kiss on the cheek.
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Draupadi's Seven Elephants
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Authors Note: In a previous life, Draupadi had begged Shankara to give her
a husband. Because she had asked him five times for a husband, Shankara granted
her boons and told her when she was born again she would have five husbands.
The gods declared that she would become the wife to all five of the Pandava
brethren. I used this concept and the character of Draupadi to create a more
modern and fairy tale-like approach.
For this story Draupadi is a young girl who dreams of having
an elephant of her own after seeing them in the circus. She prays to Shankara who
grants her boon and like in the Mahabharata, gives her an elephant for each
time she had prayed. Having prayed for an entire week, she received seven
elephants.
In this story I tried to incorporate more dialogue than I
have in the past. With Draupadi as the center focus of this story, I had dialogue
between her and her parents and Shankara.
Bibliography: PDE Mahabharata, Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore.
