Draupadi stirs tempers in BJP, poet in Moily

Draupadi, a revered figure in the Mahabharata, has created quite a stir in political circles. On one hand, the BJP wants a Telegu book on Draupadi banned for showing her as a woman enjoying sex. On the other, Union minister for law M Veerappa Moily is writing a novel in verse that talks of her as a strong woman.

An eponymously titled book, Draupadi, written by Yellargadda Laxmi Prasad, which won a Sahitya Akademi award recently, has now become a target for the BJP’s culture police.

BJP parliamentarian Sumitra Mahajan, who confesses she hasn’t read the book and does not know Telegu, has written to president Pratibha Patil protesting the “insulting references” to Draupadi. The references, translated and attached to the letter sent to the president, include suggestions that Krishna and Draupadi’s relationship was more than platonic. The letter, which was distributed by the party as an official release, speaks of Mahajan’s deep “anguish” at the treatment meted out to Draupadi.

There was no response from the Sahitya Akademi.

However, Draupadi is receiving quite a different treatment at the hands of Moily. The minister is writing an epic poem in old Kannada, titled Srimudi Parikramanam. “There will be shades of the thought and action of every strong modern woman. Draupadi is at once the most exploited and the most courageous of women, and through her, all the modern women will speak,’’ Moily said. For his labour of love, Moily wakes up before dawn and spends at least one hour in the morning, between 5 am and 6 am on his project.

Draupadi, as a character in the Mahabharata, has not been easy to read. While some may look at her through the lens of modern feminism, today’s orthodoxy may enforce a victimhood on Draupadi that is perhaps not intended for one of the strongest female characters in mythology.