It was Draupadi herself who called the guards the next morning.
“Come and see what happened to your general! This is what happens to those who antagonize the Gandharvas. Their life is worthless!”
Immediately the soldiers ran to warn Virata and Sudeshna, who rushed to the site of the terrible massacre. Everyone shed tears for that tragedy.
Kichaka’s funeral took place the next day. There was a lot of bad mood around, especially among the relatives and friends of the dead man, who whispered all the time. So, when what was left of that mangled body was placed on the pyre, one of his brothers said:
“Because our valiant Kichaka was so in love with that woman that he even lost his life for her, that at least he can have her after death. Let’s go get her and burn her with him! May this be our revenge!”
Then, shouting loudly, everyone turned towards Virata, who did not oppose it as, even without Kichaka, they were the most powerful clan in the city. So, he allowed the crowd to enter the royal palace and to break into Draupadi’s chambers, who terrified was dragged terrified to the pyre.
Bhima heard the screams and did not take long to understand what was happening. Disguised so as not to be recognized, he ran to the place, uprooted a tree and threw himself into the crowd like a god of death, and so swift was his action that even before Kichaka’s relatives could realize what he was about to do, in a few minutes dozens of them were exterminated. Only a few managed to escape.
The field soon became a vast cemetery, and Draupadi was freed from the ropes that bound her.
Nobody was able to recognize the perpetrator of the massacre.
After the blow of Kichaka’s death, that other carnage terrified the citizens. The fear spread that the fury of the Gandharvas had not subsided with that blood, and that now they would want to take revenge against everyone. It was Draupadi herself who wanted to reassure the population by speaking to them publicly and assuring them that the anger of her husbands had already been extinguished. But Virata was still scared.
That same evening he spoke to his wife:
“This woman is too beautiful and her husbands are too strong. We cannot take any more risks; she must not stay in the city any longer. Tell her to go away and look elsewhere for accommodation.”
When Sudeshna communicated her husband’s decision to Draupadi, she replied:
“Dear friend, let me stay only for thirteen days more, and then I’ll go. This way you won’t provoke my husbands’ wrath.”
Considering that it was a short time, Virata agreed. In fact, exactly thirteen days were left to end the last year of their exile.
This is a section of the book “Maha-bharata, Vol. 1”.
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