Spontaneity
This text was machine-transcribed from the printed book and may contain errors. Select the words and choose “Report a mistake”.
During festival days in small towns such as Tiruvannamalai, local theater groups stage plays. In almost all these plays, men would act out all the roles including female roles.
One popular show was based on the grand epic Mahabharata. The story was about the war between the Kaurava and Pandava cousins. The high point of the play was when Lord Krishna delivered the timeless Truth of the Bhagavad Gita. The plot also included one of the most powerful and moving scenes of the play, the disrobing of princess Draupadi. She was the common wife of the five Pandava princes and she was troubled in the royal court of the Kauravas.
Dushassana the Kaurava prince is the villain in this drama. He insulted Draupadi and attempted to remove her sari in front of a large group of men. Draupadi's husbands, the Pandava princes, were helpless in trying to rescue her since the rules said they couldn't interfere. Draupadi had no one to turn to except Lord Krishna Himself. She threw up her hands and pleaded helplessly to Krishna. And wonder of wonders, as each piece of clothing was removed by the villain, a new set of clothes magically appeared! Tired, confused and frightened, Dushassana gave up and Draupadi's honor was saved. Her faith in Lord Krishna and surrender to Him saved her.
In the drama that Master Nithyananda watched as a boy in Tiruvannamalai, a man played the role of Draupadi. This man normally wore seven saris and the cue was that when Dushassana removed Draupadi's sixth sari, she would call out to Krishna. Krishna would then jump onto the stage and save Draupadi's honor.
While dressing on that
particular day, the actor playing
the role of Draupadi mistakenly
wore only six saris instead of
seven and was blissfully
unaware of this.
During the scene, as the sixth
sari was removed from him he
suddenly realized his mistake
and started screaming aloud for
Dushassana to let go of him.
Draupadi kicked and screamed
but Dushassana was playing his
role in a sincere fashion, keeping
a correct count of the number of
saris.
Even as Draupadi protested, Dushassana was intent upon removing the sixth and last sari, thinking one more remained.
Again and again Draupadi pounded his foot on the stage, screaming the Lord's name, trying to catch the attention of the Krishna-actor backstage. The crowd roared with laughter! Meanwhile, the actor playing Krishna stood smoking outside, oblivious of the trouble his dear Draupadi was in!
Finally Dushassana succeeded. Draupadi stood on stage, a man clad only in boxer shorts and a woman's blouse! With quick thinking and great confidence, Draupadi turned to the audience and screamed out, 'Oh Krishna! I called you so many times and I almost gave up hope. This evil Dushassana disrobed me and tried to shame me in public. But I am so grateful to you. To save my honor you have changed me into a man!'
The entire village laughed uproariously in appreciation of Draupadi's presence of mind and spontaneity.
DID YOU KNOW?
Master says, "When you are truly intelligent, you will respond spontaneously to any situation."
ACTIVITY CORNER ACTIVITY CORNER ACTIVITY CORNER ACTIVITY CORNER ACTIVITY CORNER ACTIVITY CORNER
1 List five things that make you laugh.
2 Collect the favorite jokes of your family and friends. Can you decide which one is your favorite?