The Yadava Queen

The Kids And The Chaos

I woke to the sounds of giggling. I had dozed off near the door to the garden. Dim rays of sunlight were lighting the garden. It must have been dawn. Now I looked for the source of giggling. There were two little boys of two to three years old who were the source of giggling. They were scared to see me suddenly awake and one of the boys ran away. Well the other was about to run too but I caught him. He was jumping in my grip but I pulled him and made him sit on my lap and tickled him. "Mata let me go. Please." He said. The call sent shivers down my spine. "First tell me who this little prince is?" I said tickling him again. "I am Sambh. And the one who ran away was Bhrata Pradyumn." He replied. "And what are you doing up so early?" "We were sneaking out to play but then we saw there was nobody in your chambers. Why were you sleeping in the garden? And you are so beautiful." He said these in half words. "Am I now?" And I tickled him again.

"I see you have found yourself a friend Sambh." An unknown feminine voice said from near the door. I have seen her yesterday once. She looked fierce and sharp features. And I felt a kinship with her. "I am Satyabhama." Kanha's other wife. I smiled to myself. She was a part of me. "I am..." She cut me in. "I know who you are. But still I will be Arya's favourite wife. And talking of him where is he?" Arya. A realisation dawned upon me. I was supposed to call Kanha , Arya now but really where was he? Wasn't he supposed to meet me last night ? "I don't know where Arya is." She made a face at me and then said, "Lets go meet the others. And Sambh go on play with the others." As I came back after changing into fresh clothes and jewellery she said, "I heard you are good at sword fighting. Lets see if you are better than me. Come." And then she pulled me to the arena. And after an intense sword fight in which she was defeated by me she gave me a genuine sign and said," Atlast now I can practice with someone good. now lets go and meet the others then you'll come to the temple with us."

"That is Rukmini jiji and that is Jambvati. Go greet them." Satyabhama jiji said pointing at two women. "Pranipat jiji." I said to them in general. I had met Rukmini before during Subhadra's wedding. They walked up to me with genuine smiles and said, "You are here. Lets go to the temple now."

The palanquin bearers let us down near the front gate of the main get. While entering the sanctum sanctorum I got separated from the others lost in my own thoughts. And I heard some people talking. It made me stop in my tracks because they were talking about me.

"Shriman Vasudev is a man with a huge heart. Otherwise he wouldn't have accepted the princess as his daughter-in-law." "I have heard Krishna was quiet a good friend to Prince Arjun and maybe that is the reason he married his sister." Two men were saying this when an old woman interrupted them. "No no Krishn married her out of sheer love. Remember when the princess was in Dwarka they would always be together. What a good pair they were. Like Laxmi-Narayan." Then there was a sound of shrill laughter. "Maa", a few woman said,"there is no story of love I tell you. If it wasn't for Krishn she wouldn't have got married even." "Yes yes I heard she was dragged to the court by the sons of Dhritarashtra." " It's such a shame." "After that even her brothers left her." "She isn't actually princess"And..." I couldn't hear what else was being said because Satyaki's voice filled my ears. "Advaita," he called to me. "What are you doing here...." ,he stopped mid-sentence looking at me. "What happened?" He asked concerned. I knew my eyes were moist so I tried my best avoiding his gaze. But he had also heard the conservation and was fuming. "Who said you to come here?" "She came with us Satyaki. What is the problem?" Rukmini jiji asked him.  "You should know that there are strict orders from the Yadava council on her travelling. You shouldn't have brought her here." She nodded and asked me to leave with Satyaki. What was happening?

"What is happening Satyaki? Why are there rules on me? I want a straight answer. Now."
"Maybe Krishn would give you...." I cut him in "I can't wait for him. He didn't get time to even meet me yesterday. You give me the answers now or we fight and I won't be sorry to mortally injure you." He opened his mouth to say something but voice reaching my ears was someone else's. It was Kanha's. "Calm down Darshinika." Satyaki took cue and left the room. "Why would I calm down?" He smiled in reply." These temper of yours never change." "I am not joking Kanha." Now he broke out in peals of laughter. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Arya", he piped in and I slapped myself internally. "Now ask whatever you want to know." "I want to know everything Arya. Why have the council imposed restrictions on me.?" "The whole Aryavart is in turmoil. Its dangerous out there and we just want to keep u safe...." "By keeping me locked up in these golden palace." I finished for him "That doesn't sound much like a plan." And left him standing in the middle of the room. I could have asked him for answers but I didn't feel like it.

And then I got hold of Satyaki. "I am sorry for my previous behaviour, Sakha." "Its alright Sakhi. Did you get your answers from Krishna?" He asked. "No. He just said me that the Aryavart is in turmoil." "It really is Sakhi." I looked up at him and he came and sat beside me. "The kingdoms who were with the Pandavas are force to side with the Kauravas. And..." "Who side are we on,Sakha?" "Definitely not the Kauravas and you know that." I looked him in the eye and said,"I know nothing Sakha. After that incident in the dyuthsabha I know nothing. This Dwarka which is my favourite place doesn't feel safe anymore. Maybe I wouldn't have felt safe in Indraprasth also." I felt my eyes moisten. "Don't cry Sakhi. You are as safe as ever in Dwarka." He said in a soothing tone. "How can I be?" I snapped at him. "My own family humiliated me. My own cousins wanted to kill me. It was..." I said in between sobs," sheer luck that they didn't want anything else maybe because still I was their sister. Yes that day a part of me felt lucky to be their sister." Satyaki flinched at my words. I continued , "There was Kanha to save Panchali from being humiliated even I tried to protect her. I put on a courageous face and fought them but I was scared inside of what awaited me. I wanted to call out to my brothers for help but they had protect their dharm. I laid there in one corner of the court , unconscious in the arms of a weeping brother whom I have left behind and no one noticed. Those memories chase me everywhere I go Sakha. I don't even feel safe with Kanha. And whatever I heard today made up an outlet for all those bottled up emotions." I broke down. "Priya Sakhi whatever they did was heinous but you need to be strong." " I know. I am one of the most powerful women of the Aryavart. Daughter of Samrat Pandu. Sister of the Pandavas and the love of Vasudev Krishna and if they can do this to me they can do this to anyone. But I won't let that happen. I will do whatever is to be done to teach them where they went wrong."

Krishn's Point of view

Now she would be back to normal again. All her bottled up feelings are out. Now she would come to me and then she will come to know a little bit about herself. And together we will show light to this world.