Lies!

Hiranyavarman was highly enraged upon receiving the unexpected news that his son in law is in fact a female. He sent this message to Drupada: To retaliate against your foolish act of deception, I’ll soon arrive at your kingdom to vanquish you & your relatives

 

Drupada felt just like a thief caught in the act & was speechless at first. After gaining some composure, he sent his own messengers, assuring Hiranyavarman that the information he had received was false. But by some means Hiranyavarman was able to reconfirm that Sikhandi was indeed a girl. He then assembled his vast army & set out for the kingdom of Pancalas. He decided that if Sikhandi was actually a girl, he would drag Drupada out & after killing him, along with his so-called son, would elect someone else to throne

 

Drupada was by nature not very aggressive but was a very powerful warrior. As he knew that he was wrong, he became tearful. Calling his queen & ministers, he pretended to be ignorant of the facts & innocently questioned his wife about the matter. To maintain her husband's good reputation, the queen explained that it was she who concealed Sikhandi's femininity since the time of her birth. Thus, pretending that his alliance with Hiranyavarman had been made without any fault on his part, Drupada ordered his ministers to prepare for the defense of city

 

Drupada & his queen became very despondent as they thought about impending war. Sikhandi could see that her parents were in great anxiety & felt ashamed understanding herself to be the cause of their distress. Tormented by guilt, she decided to commit suicide. She left the palace with a heavy heart & went to a dense forest, uninhabited by others, that was the haunt of a Yaksa named Sthunakarna. After sitting down, Sikhandi began fasting until death

 

When Yaksa saw the princess so engaged, his compassion aroused & he said: O beautiful girl, what’re you doing in this lonely forest? Perhaps there is something I can do to help you. Feeling great hopelessness, Sikhandi said: No one can help me

 

Yaksa said: I’m a follower of Kuvera & can award benedictions. Sikhandi narrated the story of her life & explained how her father was about to be vanquished by the Dasarna king. She pleaded: O Yaksa, to save my poor father, as well as myself, do something that will enable me to be transformed into a man

 

Yaksa thought it over & since he was inclined to help and considered Sikhandi to be part of Destiny's plan, he agreed to transfer his masculinity to her for as long as it would take to extricate herself from her difficulty. Sikhandi agreed to return Yaksa’s masculinity as soon as Hiranyavarman returned home. Yaksa then accepted form of a woman while Sikhandi became a handsome male

 

When we are wrong, it surely reflects on our composure. At times we are forced to side with the wrong but should come out clean as soon as the situation permits. There is no need to lie when we have nothing to hide. That is why siding with truth is the best policy as one lie makes all our truths questionable

 

Thoughts? #gameoflife