Author's POV:

Aftergetting rescued by the Pandavas from the hands of Gandharvas, Duryodhana wasextremely embarrassed. Hisego was severely wounded. He got reprimanded by Pitamah Bhishm, MaharajDhritarashtra, Gurudev Dronacharya and Kulguru Kripacharya for his hotheadedness. They even taunted Angraj Karn's abilities as a warrior, for fledging the battlefield.

The commander, who went to seek help from the Pandavas, got killed in the hands of Duryodhana. Duryodhana was so ashamed that he wanted to put an end to his life, hence he decided to fast till death.

When Karna got to know about his friend's resolution, he went to him to persuade him to break his fast. "Friend! Have you completely lost your mind? What do you think you are doing?" Karna reprimanded Duryodhana. Duryodhana shouted back, "Why do you stop me? After getting rescued by those Pandavas, this life feels like a burden to me. I have become a subject of mockery to the entire world. Tell me what should I do?"

"Friend, whatever those Pandavas did to save your life at the woods was their duty. After getting defeated by you at the game of dice, they are as good as your fellow citizens and it is the duty of every citizen to save the life of their kings and princes. So, stop self-loathing over the past incidents and start thinking about a better tomorrow." Karna tried to reason with Duryodhana.

By that time, Shakuni and Dusshashan too had come there. Shakuni said, agreeing to Karna, "Whatever Angraj Karna says, is absolutely true. You should not feel ashamed for whatever happened at the woods of Kamyaka." In this manner, Karna and Shakuni kept of persuading Duryodhana, giving various logics and reasons. Finally, they were able to break his fast.

Duryodhana's shameful defeat in the hands of Gandharvas and much shameful event of getting rescued by the Pandavas, had somewhat had an adverse effect on Kuru Dynasty's prowess and prestige. And everyone, especially Duryodhana and his companions were thinking of some way to reestablish their honor.

Dusshashan suggested, "How about we perform Rajsurya Yagya?" All of them loved the idea and went to the elderly leaders of Hastinapur to seek their approval. The blind king Dhritarashtra, obviously loved the idea out of his blind love for his son. But Vidur and other elderly members of the Raj Sabha objected. "No Yuvraj Duryodhana, you cannot perform Rajsurya Yagya for two reasons. First of all, Rajsurya Yagya can be performed only by a king, and you are just an heir to the throne, while Maharaj Dhritarashtra still sits on the throne as king. And secondly, since Rajsurya Yagya has already been performed by Samrat Yudhishthira, you cannot perform till he is alive." Vidura, the expert of politics, pointed out.

Duryodhana's anger knew no bounds on hearing this. He was already agitated at the Pandavas after getting shamefully defeated by them. He shouted back, "Can we consider, a person who has been living in the woods as hermit for past 10 years, a ruler of the world anymore."

Vidura argued back, "Jyeshth son of Kunti, went to the woods as per the terms of the game of dice. He has neither been defeated in fair battle nor he has renounced his kingdom yet. So, he is still holding the title of Chakravarthi. In his life-time, you can never perform the Rajsurya Yagya."

Duryodhana might have debated further, had a learned brahmin, who was more loyal to the Kauravas, not interrupted. He suggested, "Maharaj and Yuvraj Duryodhana, if you allow me, I can suggest you about another sacrifice, which is as auspicious as Rajsurya Yagya and can be performed by Prince Duryodhana, without any hindrance."

On getting approval from the King, the brahmin went on, "The sacrifice is called Vaishnava Yagya. It is a very ancient yagya and so far, had been performed only by Lord Vishnu." Then he went on describing about the procedure and rules of the yagya.

Duryodhana's enthusiasm knew no bounds. He immediately began making arrangements for the yagya, Karna set out on journey to win over the kingdoms for the yagya. After travelling for months, he returned with lots of gifts and wealth from all those kingdoms which either supported Duryodhana or got defeated at the hands of Karna.

Kings of all the friendly kingdoms to Hastinapur were invited to the yagya. Duryodhana even invited Pandavas to the yagya. When the messenger reached the Pandavas and read out the invitation letter, Yudhishthira whole heartedly gave his good wishes for Duryodhana and refused to attend the yagya, stating, "Please convey our good wishes to Anuj Duryodhana. My brothers and I would have been delighted to come, but we have sworn to not to enter Hastinapur until we have served thirteen years in exile."

Bheem also sent a message for Duryodhana, "Tell Duryodhana that we shall come for another sacrifice on completion of these 13 years and then and he and his brothers will be the sacrificial goats!"

Yudhishthira said, reprimanding Bheem, "Hush, Bheem!! What has this poor man done to offend you? He has come here only following his master's order."

Obviously, along with Yudhishthira's message, Duryodhana also received Bheem's threat and all Duryodhana concluded that the Pandavas got afraid of his yagya.

The people of Hastinapur and Indraprastha had mixed reviews about Duryodhana's yagya. While some people said that Duryodhana's Vaishnava sacrifice have been the greatest sacrifice in their living memory, while some argued that the Duryodhana's yagya was not even 1/10th of Yudhishthira's Rajsurya Yagya.

The yagya not only acted as a salve to Duryodhana's wounded ego. But it also provided him an opportunity to create further trouble in the lives of poor Pandavas.

Various sages and monks had come to Hastinapur to attend Duryodhana's Vaishnava Yagya. Among them, there was a monk, who was really short tempered and impatient. Out of his ignorance, Duryodhana might have driven him out of Hastinapur, had Shakuni not stopped him.

Shakuni took Duryodhana aside and scolded him, "Fool! What do you think you are doing? Don't you know him? He is the famous sage, Rishi Durvasha. Curse sits at the tip of his tongue. Don't even dare to dishonor him. He is very difficult to please, but if you please him once then, you can obtain any boon from him. Even those Pandavas were also born as a result of a boon that Kunti received from this sage, ages ago. So, please him and obtain any boon from him."

Duryodhana having understood Shakuni's words, sought forgiveness from Rishi Durvasha and took him and his disciples to his palace. He served them very well for several days. At last, Rishivar was very happy with Duryodhana's hospitality and told him to ask for any boon. Duryodhana had already counselled with his cunning uncle Shakuni, his friend Karna and his brother Dusshashan about what to ask for as boon from the angry sage. So, he said, "Rishivar, my cousins, Pandavas are living like hermits in the woods of Kamyaka. I would be really happy if you could visit them once, have meal at their abode and bestow them with your blessings. But I have just one request, please announce your visit to them when Panchali has finished eating."

Rishi Durvasha was slightly puzzled with Duryodhana's demand, but he did not give much thought to it and just said, "Tathaastu!"

Duryodhana had heard a lot about the magical vessel that Yudhishthira had obtained from the Sun God and its magical properties. He knew that if Pandavas failed to show their hospitality to Rishi Durvasha and his disciple, they will surely get cursed by the sage.

*****

[1] Our 12th year of exile had started. Sometimes I felt like I was losing my patience. But I knew I had to stay calm for my brothers and Kalyani. They were already a bit unpleased with the news of Duryodhana's Vaishnava Yagya. I was trying my best to keep them calm.

It was an afternoon of summer. Sitting outside our cottage, I was thinking about our life in the past few years. At a distant, I heard the thumping of multiple footsteps. I looked up and saw a large group of monks was coming towards our hermitage. On a closer look, I recognized that atleast one of them was Rishi Durvasha. The other monks must be his disciple.

I quickly went near Rishivar and crouched down to seek his blessings. "Pranaam Rishivar! Our lives have been blessed by your arrival." My brothers were also in the vicinity. They too came forward and took blessings from the sage. The sage, blessing us with good fortune, said "Raajan, we have been walking since long and right now we are extremely hungry. We wish to dine at your place. Please tell Maharani Draupadi to arrange for meal for us. We, after taking ablutions in the pious water of River Saraswati, shall consume the meal."

I answered, "As you wish, Rishivar, I shall convey your message to Draupadi and make arrangements for your meals." Then turning towards my brothers I said, "You four, go with Rishivar and his disciples and ensure their safety from wild animals while they take bath and meditate." My brothers, following my orders, went with the group of sages and I went inside the cottage to inform Kalyani about our uninvited guests.

"Kalyani! Kalyani! Kalyani, Rishi Durvasha, and his disciples have come and wish to......." I stopped mid-way, for I noticed the empty cooking vessels, then I continued in a low voice, "dine at our place and asked us to arrange for their meal." Kalyani, looked at me with startled expressions on her face.

Then looking towards the empty Akshaya patra, Kalyani said, "What should I do now? From where would I arrange for meals for our guest?" I stepped forward and took a glance inside the cauldron. Except a grain of rice, the vessel was empty.

I was thinking how to arrange food for the sages, when I heard Draupadi say, "Who would have thought that a day would come when Chakravarthi Samrat would be worried about arranging food for some sages and there would be nothing but a grain of rice in Empress Draupadi's kitchen." I just nodded. True, sometimes, it is difficult to understand the twists of fate.

Unable to think of any alternative I told Kalyani, "Don't worry. There is nothing we could do to arrange for food for all those sages at such a short notice. I will rather go and seek forgiveness from Rishi Durvasha for my incompetence."

Kalyani immediately held my hand and said, "Arya, have you lost your mind? Don't you know, how infamous he is for his curses? He will certainly curse you." I looked at her meaningfully and said, "That's why I need to go to him. Neither you nor my brothers, if there is anyone who pays the price, that shall be me." I said and went out and I heard Kalyani's voice getting faint as I moved forward, towards the river bank.

Draupadi's POV:

Why did he always get so hard on him? He was ready to forgive everyone but himself. And once again, he was going into a self-destruction mode and I had to find a way to stop him. So, I started calling for help to the one, who I know would never disappoint me, my sakha, Krishna. I started chanting, "O Krishna! O Krishna!" Next moment, I felt like I heard someone's footsteps nearby. I looked outside the cottage only to find the King of Dwarika, clad in yellow silk textile, adorning the beautiful peacock feathered crown over his head standing tall. His eyes were twinkling and his lips were adorned with a mesmerizing smile. I immediately went near him and said, "Thank God Sakha, you have come. Now please help me save my eldest husband from Rishi Durvasha's curse."

But Krishna, without saying anything immediately went inside the cottage. I followed him inside and saw that he was desperately searching for something. I was bit surprised with his unusual behaviour. I asked, "Sakha! What are you looking for?" Krishna, still continuing his search, replied, "Food! I am extremely hungry, and the way you called me, I could not even grab a bite." Unable to find anything, he turned towards me and said, "Krishne! Come one give me something to eat. I am really very hungry."

I picked up the celestial cauldron and said while forwarding it to my Sakha, "Sakha, I do not have anything except this last grain of rice. You feed half of it to the whole world and eat the other half yourself."

Krishna taking the vessel from my hand said, "Krishne, there is more than enough food." Then he picked up the last grain of rice and ate it. A divine satisfaction was visible on his face, which gave me assurance that I don't have to fear when he is with us.

End of Draupadi's POV

[1] My brothers and Kalyani had suffered enough in the past because of me. I could not let anyone else become the scapegoat of Sage Durvasha's rage. Only I shall bear the brunt of the sage's anger.

Thinking about all these, I was walking towards the river bank, when I noticed my brothers coming from that direction, but the Rishivar and his disciple were not with them. I went near them and asked to which Bheem answered, "Rishivar and his disciples had to chant the Shahastranaam jaap[2], so they asked us to leave and help Panchali in arranging for their meals."

"Jyeshth!! Why are you saying so?" Arjun questioned. I thought for a while and then answered, "Well, if you all remember, Lord Suryadev's blessed vessel, could provide food as long as Panchali had not eaten. Since, Panchali already had her lunch, so we don't have anything to serve our guests and within such a short time, it's impossible to arrange food for so many people."

My brothers kept looking at each other on hearing my reply. Then Nakul questioned, "Then where are you going?" I hesitatingly replied, "To ask for forgiveness from our guests for not being able to serve them any food."

Bheem immediately interrupted, "Jyeshth, our guest is Rishi Durvasha. You know more than any of us how short-tempered he is. The word 'forgiveness' is not perhaps in his dictionary."

Sahadev supported, "Yes, Jyeshth, the moment you tell him that we are unable to serve him food, he would certainly curse you." I looked at my brothers and said, "That's why I want all of you to return back to the hermitage. Only I shall meet with the sage. Even if he gets angry, only I shall bear the brunt of his rage." Sating this, I immediately tried walking past my brothers, when I felt a strong hold on my left shoulder. Even without looking, I knew it was Bheem.

I looked up at his eyes and could clearly see his concerns for me. "Do you think we would let you do this?" He questioned. I opened my mouth to reply, but could not get an appropriate answer.

"It is necessary." I said to which Bheem contradicted, "No Jyeshth, this time you are wrong. I think we all should go together and face whatever is waiting for us."

Arjun too joined, "Majhle Bhaiya is right. Just as the five fingers of a hand come together to form a fist, in the same way, all five of us together are the most powerful. Perhaps we can find a way to persuade Rishivar to forgive us."

I knew my brothers would not leave me alone to deal with the crisis situation. So, all five of us started walking towards our destination.

But what we saw their hadcompletely blown our mind. The bank was absolutely empty. There were no signsof our respected guests. Where had they vanished? We kept looking around for sometime and could not trace them at all. At last, we started walking towards ourhermitage.

Author's POV

After sending away the Pandav brothers, Rishi Durvasha and his disciples started with chanting the 1000 names of Lord Vishnu. When they were done and were about to step out of the river, they felt as if their stomach immediately got filled. They were even having an aftertaste of Payasam on their tongues. They were utterly puzzled. Never had they ever experienced such a bizarre incident. One of the disciples asked the sage, "Gurudev, what is happening to me? Just few moments back I was hungry and now I feel like I won't be able to eat even a single grain of rice."

Rishi Durvasha replied, "Vatsa, not only you, even I feel as if I just had a large bowl of payasam." Another disciple replied, "But Gurudev, how will we now eat the meal prepared by Maharani Draupadi? She must be waiting for us?"

The sage nodded and contemplated as to what should be done. He said his disciple, "Right now if we refuse to eat at the Pandavas hermitage, then they might think that we are trying to ridicule their condition and being so virtuous, they might even curse us. So, I suggest, let us go away unnoticed, before anyone of them come here to look for us." All the disciples agreed with their gurudev's suggestion and quickly disappeared in the darkness of the Kamyaka woods.

End of Author's POV

[1] None of us spoke on the way back. All of us were thinking about the same thing, where did our guests go? We were about to enter when we heard a known voice of laughter. "Keshav?" Arjun questioned. Without thinking anything we entered inside the cottage only to find our dearest cousin and Panchali giggling about something.

"Oho Keshav! When did you come?" I questioned delightedly, while hugging him. "Jyeshth, I was just hungry so I came." Krishna replied innocently. Then turning towards Kalyani, he said, "By the way Sakhi, the payasam was really delicious. I feel like sleeping."

"Where are you all coming from?" Krishna questioned to which I replied, "Rishi Durvasha and his disciples had come and asked us to arrange for their meal, but when we went to call them, there was no trace of them. I just cannot understand why he went away like this." My voice sounded bit worried.

Krishna immediately replied, "Hey Jyeshth! Don't worry about him. He comes and goes on his own, perhaps he chose to be someone else's guest." I could clearly see; his eyes were twinkling. I understood that, once again, he saved us from a huge disaster.

After talking with us for awhile, he took leave from us and in a blink of an eye, he disappeared in thewoods. I could hear his faint voice saying me Don't worry Jyeshth, I will bealways there with you.

Author's Note:

[1] - The story continues in Yudhishthira's POV

[2] - Chanting the thousand names of Lord Vishnu

Hello Readers,

Even though I have already given disclaimer at the very beginning, I would like to state once again.

This work is a combination of Mahabharat incidences mentioned in the original text, scenes shown in the TV serials and author's imagination. Readers may find variations from the original texts. You are requested to excuse such variances as a part of author's creative thinking.

Now coming to this chapter, how was it?

Did you ever have an uninvited guest in your house in most inappropriate timing? What was your reaction? I am really willing to listen to your stories and I too would share my story with you.

Which part appealed you the most?

Which part was not so good?

Do you like the dialogue delivery?

Any suggestions for me?

Good Night : )