Week 6 Reading B: Palace of Illusions B

Palace of Illusions by Chitra Divakaruni

Here are my notes for the second portion of Palace of Illusions, leading up to the swayamvara.

6 Incarnations I loved this part about Shikhandi. Here is how she imagines Shikhandi's condition: "When I awoke, I was a man. And yet not completely so, for though my form was changed, inside me I remembered how women thought and what they longed for." I love the idea of Drupada's little daughter grasping the garland and remembering her past life as a result. The encounter with the yaksha is also really dramatic. Amba got the garland from Kartikeya! "the child-god Kartikeya took pity and appeared before me with this garland. He said, If you can find someone to wear it, he will defeat Bheeshma." When Draupadi asks Krishna if Shikhandi really is a man or not, Krishna says: "“He believes it to be so. Isn't that what truth is? The force of a person's believing seeps into those around him— into the very earth and air and water—until there's nothing else." And at the end of the chapter, Shikhandi goes off on a pilgrimage of penance: "I'm atoning for it in advance, as it's very likely that I, too, will die in the process."

7 Fish Then Draupadi learns about the coming swayamvara, and Krishna's role becomes more mysterious. The bride test will be conducted with the Kindhara, "the heaviest bow in existence." She says she feels like a pawn, and Krishna retorts: “As for being pawns, aren't we all pawns in the hands of Time, the greatest player of them all?”

8 Sorceress This mysterious woman, apparently sent by Vyasa, has come to teach Draupadi skills she will need in the future... including hairdressing (and of course Vyasa knows all that already, sitting there in his timeless space): "She taught me to be unafraid of speaking out, and to be brave enough for silence. She taught me when to lie and when to speak the truth."

9 Portrait Draupadi is captivated by Karna's portrait: "A hero is a hero, no matter what his caste."

10 Births In this chapter, Draupadi learns about Kunti.

11 Scorpion And this chapter is all about Karna, who let the scorpion bite him and did not cry out. He is twice cursed. First by Parashurama: "Just as you've deceived me, so will your mind deceive you. When you need the Brahmastra the most, you'll forget the mantra needed to call it up." And then by a brahmin whose cow he killed accidentally: "You killed my cow when she was defenseless. You, too, will die when you have no means of protection." Again, Draupadi protests the fate of the warriors: "No matter how skilled they were at battle, ultimately it would not help them because they were forever defeated by their conscience. What cruel god fashioned the net of their minds this way, so they could never escape it?"

Krishna and Draupadi (Krishnaa):

(I'll put my notes for Song in the next post)