Image Title: Draupadi
Web Source: Free
India
Sita's party was amazing! The royal palace in Ayodhya had never been home to so many women at one time. After everything that Sita had been through that afternoon with Surpanakha and Mandodari, she was surprisingly starting to have a great time. Sita felt that a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, now that she was not at odds with either Surpanakha or Mandodari. Sita was grateful for that feeling.
As the night continued, the party was showing no signs of dullness and no one was thinking about leaving. All the women were actually talking about turning the party into a giant sleepover and resuming the festivities in the morning, right when a new guest showed up. This new guest was Nalayani, which was a big surprise to most people. Most of the women had never met Nalayani because she lived in a time before most of them were born. However, Draupadi knew exactly who Nalayani was because Nalayani was indeed Draupadi in a previous life. This really startled Draupadi! Draupadi thought to herself, "How is this possible? How could my former life suddenly reappear and be in the same room as me!" Draupadi asked some of her friends if they also saw Nalayani or if she was hallucinating things. Draupadi quickly thought about how much wine she had consumed and reassured herself that Nalayani was probably just a hallucination. However, by the look on the faces of Draupadi's friends, her hallucination was confirmed.
Confusion swept Draupadi and she almost passed out. However, she came to her senses and walked towards Nalayani. Nalayani offered a simple, "Hi Draupadi," and smiled. Draupadi was speechless and motionless. Nalayani gently took Draupadi by the arm and led her away from the crowd into a quiet area where they could talk. Nalayani spoke again and explained to Draupadi that she had heard about the party from the gods and couldn't resist seeing her reincarnation in person any longer. Nalayani admitted that she knew it must be confusing for Draupadi and told her to think of her like a sister so they could talk.
The color in Draupadi's face was returning and she said, "Nalayani, as my sister, you have a lot of explaining to do! I know that you are not my sister but rather myself in a former life and I demand to know what the heck you were thinking when you were married to Maudgalya? Do you realize that you had cursed my life before I was even born?"
Nalayani spoke softly and said, "Yes, dear, I realize that I had already set the events that would take place in your life in motion before you were born. I am not sure just how much of the story you have heard, but let me fill you in on the details. I was foolish when I was married to Maudgalya! You see, Maudgalya was a leper. However, I totally saw past his illness, I didn't care how he looked. I was so in love with him to the point that my life seriously lacked reality. I was insatiable! I wanted him constantly and that is the reason I asked for five forms of him. I wanted all five forms to make love with me. I know it seems crazy but I thought about asking for more than five! Eventually, Maudgalya got tired of my insatiableness and left me. I was heartbroken! However, when Maudgalya left me, he also cursed me so that in my next life I would have to deal with five husbands because of my lustfulness. I know it must be hard for you to have five husbands and not have had a say in the matter. That is the reason I came tonight. I just wanted to say I am sorry for making that choice for you and that I am so proud of you for dealing with your five husbands in such a mature way!"
Draupadi did not know what to say. Her first reaction was to be upset with her former life. However, now that Nalayani had apologized and explained that she knew her old ways were foolish, Draupadi was no longer angry. Draupadi told Nalayani that she forgave her and was thankful for her life now. At that moment, Draupadi thought of several more questions she wanted to ask Nalayani. However, as Draupadi looked up with her first question rolling off her tongue, Nalayani was gone. Draupadi searched everywhere and asked her friends if that had seen Nalayani. Draupadi's friends replied that no one named Nalayani had ever been at Sita's party. Draupadi wondered to herself if the whole conversation had been a daydream. Seeing the confused look on Draupadi's face, her friends took her wine glass and told her it was time to drink some water and go to bed.