Draupadi said to Arjuna:
O Arjuna, greatest among bowmen,
You won me once, called me your chosen—
But where was your manhood, your might,
When my honor was gambled in the night?
You, the famed with arrows and aim,
Why did you not halt that cruel shame?
Why was I, a queen, so wronged and bare,
In a court of kings, stripped and stared?
Why did I suffer in that sacred hall,
While you, my lords, watched it all?
You call yourselves protectors, wise and brave—
Yet none arose my grace to save.
O hero, do you have an answer now?
Do you still bear that righteous brow?
Arjuna replied:
Yes, O Panchali, your pain is true,
That moment haunts me, dark as dew.
To stake you in dice—our greatest sin,
A flaw not just of loss, but deep within.
Our pride in learning, in warrior lore,
Blinded us to what lay in store.
Perhaps our knowledge was still unwhole,
Detached from heart, severed from soul.
How could my soul not burn, not rise,
As tears welled up in your dark eyes?
How did I watch you shamed, defiled,
And sit there mute, my hands exiled?
Was my valor merely forged in war,
But blind to wounds that women bore?
Why did my arms not rise in flame,
To strike the ones who played that game?
What bound me then—I cannot tell,
Cowardice or dharma’s spell.
Yes, I, the great archer of lore,
Sat as a coward, proud no more.
The laughter of Dushasana’s might,
The wicked grin in Duryodhana’s sight—
How did I not feel your pain,
How did I not avenge that stain?
War was certain, if not then, later—
But your disgrace made it far greater.
Why didn’t I sever the hand of sin
That dared to touch your sacred skin?
Why didn’t my muscles rage and flare,
Why didn’t I strike, then and there?
I, the bowman famed and high—
Why did I let you suffer, why?
Now shame consumes my name and breath,
I was your husband, yet worse than death.
Mute, unmoved, like stone I stood,
As evil danced and mocked your good.
But now my soul has found its fire,
Awakened deep with pure desire.
O Draupadi, I take this vow—
To honor all women, here and now.
I live within every man today
Who dares to guard her sacred way.
Though I failed you in that cruel past,
In justice now, I stand steadfast.
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