The Mahabharata by R. K. Narayan

air.
    The Kauravas were in a group at one corner of the hall contemptuously watching the arrivals and departures. Karna, the most gifted master of arms and archery, was there with Duryodhana. His brothers and henchmen occupied the seats of honour and jeered at the candidates who failed. A lull fell on the assembly when their turn came, and the girlshivered instinctively and prayed to the gods to be saved from them.
    She watched with apprehension as Karna approached the bow and lifted it as if it were a toy. He stood it on its end and stretched out the bowstring. But at the very moment when he took aim to shoot the mark, Draupadi was heard to remark, “I will not accept him….” At this, Karna dropped the bow and returned to his seat with a wry smile.
    Duryodhana frowned and said in a whisper, “She had no right to talk. If you string the bow and hit the mark, she must accept you. That is the condition. Otherwise, you may seize her and fly off. Go back and take the bow. We will support you.”
    â€œNo,” said Karna, “I don’t want her.”
    In that assembly, unobserved, was a person who was to play a vital role in
The Mahabharata
later. It was Krishna, the King of Dwaraka, actually the eighth incarnation of the god Vishnu, who took his birth in the Yadava clan. He had incarnated as a human being as he had explained:
    â€œFor protecting the virtuous
    For the destruction of evil, and
    For establishing righteousness
    I am born from age to age.”
    He whispered to his brother, Balarama, at his side, “These brahmins are none other than the Pandavas, who were supposed to have perished in a fire. This was all predestined, we will see a great deal of them yet….”
    Now there was a stir as Arjuna got up from the brahmin group. There were shouts of protest. “How dare a brahmin enter this contest, which is open only to the warrior class? Let brahmins stick to their scriptures.” But King Drupada ruled that he had mentioned no caste in his announcement. Anyone was free to try his luck at the swayamwara.
    Draupadi watched anxiously as Arjuna approached the bow. He not only strung the bow, but hit the target again and again, five times. Draupadi approached him with thegarland of flowers and slipped it over his neck, and they became betrothed. Arjuna clasped her hand and led her off.
    There was a commotion at once. “We have been cheated! How can a brahmin win a kshatriya bride? We will not tolerate it. We will kill King Drupada and carry away the girl.” Fighting broke out. Bhima, the strong brother among the Pandavas, armed with the trunks of two huge trees plucked out of the park, guarded the girl while she was taken away to their home in the Potters’ Street.
    Kunthi was in the kitchen when the brothers arrived. Bhima, wanting to sound lighthearted, cried from the doorstep, “Mother, come out, see what bhiksha we have brought today.”
    Without coming out, Kunthi answered from the kitchen, “Very well, share it among yourselves.”
    â€œOh!” exclaimed Bhima. “Oh! Oh!” cried everyone, and the loudest exclamation was from Arjuna, who had won the bride.
    The mother came out to see why there was such an uproar and cried, “Oh! Who is this? You have won, Arjuna?” She was full of joy, and clasped the girl’s hand. “Oh! Arjuna, you have won this bride, this Princess, this lovely creature! So you entered the contest after all. I never believed that you seriously meant to go there. What a risk you took of being discovered by your enemies! How happy I am to welcome this daughter-in-law! Tell me… what was the… Come in, come in.” Her joy was boundless. Her son had won the greatest contest and had come through it safely and gloriously. “Come in, come in….”
    They trooped in behind her. She spread out a mat and told the girl to be seated, but, like a well-mannered daughter-in-law, Draupadi would not be