#dhrishtadyumna

[nushkiespeaks]

THE MIGHTY PANCHALAS OF THE NORTH

I am honestly, HONESTLY baffled at the shitty portrayals of the Panchalas, be it in TV serials or Wattpad fictions on Mahabharat ( Yes, I am on Wattpad as a writer too ).

As someone who closely follows the authentic texts, the degradation of this mighty sect of Kshatriyas feels like a personal attack. Starting from Drupad to Dhrishtadyumn, EVERYONE is shown as GOOD FOR NOTHING. And this seriously boils up my blood to the core. Drupad and Dhrishtadyumn are mostly toyed around like clueless creatures, and the other sons of Drupad are hardly mentioned. Shikhandi has little to no job and those who mention Satyajit, oh God! They make an ABSOLUTE mockery out of him, like an incapable Prince who has no job of his own!

THEY DON'T EVEN SPARE DRUPAD'S WIFE PRISHATI EITHER!

Let me tell you, the PANCHALAS were a greatest power during the Era of Mahabharat, specially under Drupad! This entire part of north gains so much attention in Mahabharat!

And please, please! Drupad isn't some oldie or something, a misogynistic man ( like in SP Mb). He is one of the best fathers of Mahabharat! Also his ruling capabilities, his ways to analyze things will leave you shocking on how this man has been reduced to trash in fictions and serials!

Just read through the parts where Drupad was involved with the Pandavas along with Krishna, Balram etc and discussing about the war ( from BORI) and you will be baffled with the way Drupad articulates himself and keeps his point of view there. This man knows what he wants and that's how a Kshatriya should be! He is the one who supports the Pandavas till the end!

Like any father, he could've taken back Draupadi or instead go against the Pandavas for what had happened to his daughter, but no! He is the one who genuinely understood the plight of the Pandavas too! Like any family the Panchalas could've blamed the Pandavas, but did they? They never! Till the very end they stood on the side of Dharma with them! If you think Drupad to be stupid, just look at the choices of friendship and strategies he makes. This man knows very well how to make Panchal a powerful kingdom and oh man he lived up to it.

Also yes: I want to bring your attention to Drupad Drona rivalry. Yes, this is somewhere where Drupad falters, but let's also have a look at the story from Drupad's POV too-

Drupad was a child when he had gone to the ashram and he meets Drona, who is older than him; double of his age- they become fast friends and Drona also helps him in his studies. Drupad, happy enough, promises him a part of his kingdom.

Drupad thinks that Drona is his friend and will be forever loyal to him.

Also, mind you, Panchalas and Kurus were always enemies ( before DrauPan marriage) . Drupad, after a few years sees his best friend sticking with Bheeshm, and becoming the son in law of Hastinapur! ( if anyone doesn't know, Dron's wife Kripi is the adopted daughter of Shantanu.)

How will you feel seeing your friend making your enemy a close family all the while, and not even bothering to inform you about it? Mind it Drona always knew about the beef between the two kingdoms, but did he bother ever explaining to Drupad anything? Or assuring him? Even for once?

But what does Drona do? He one day lands up in front of Drupad and start asking for the part of Kingdom he promised? Suddenly he remembers Drupad?

As Drupad, why will you even trust someone who was sticking with your enemy like it was nothing? Isn't Drupad's anger here justified? Yes, he did not fulfill his promise, but will you had if your friend ever did this?

Won't you feel betrayed, left out and hurt? Someone you innocently considered your own and then they do these without bothering to tell you anything?!

Also what's with showing Dhrishtadyumn so angry and hot headed 24x7? If anyone doesn't know, Vaishampaayan considers him like one of the Pandavas, at par the Pandavas almost! He for God's sake IS THE INCARNATION OF AGNI HIMSELF! Stop showing him so petty everywhere! You know, when he comes out of the fire, he roars like a lion that the entire Panchal almost trembles at it? You show this guy powerless, good for nothing? He was one of the favorite confidates of Bheem and Saatyaki ( if anyone didn't know) and one of the most crucial one in handling the army of Pandavas during war! He's the one who looks after the Upapandvas and cares for them!

I seriously don't understand the need to pull them down just to glorify the others!

The Panchalas were one of the most powerful forces to exist, get that fact drilled in your head guys!

[friend-shaped-but]

Reunions

Thirteen years ago, Krishna had taken Dhrishtadyumna and Shikhandi aside and told them in no uncertain terms that they would not be taking out their anger of the Pandavas on their sons. Thirteen years later, Shikhandi takes them aside and looks them in the eye, telling them with pride, and a hint of warning that their boys have changed and grown into men. Nakul knows why his tone holds warning, even if the others may not get it. He gets the message loud and clear.

They have changed, and you are not to fault them for that.

So he doesn't.

He just observes.

He observes Draupadi's brothers run into the room, Yudhamanyu and Uttamaujas running to her and each of them grabbing one of her hands and pulling her ahead to join the rest of them. They're twins, just like him. She's a twin, just like them. Just like half of Panchal's sons. Kumara and Panchalya tackle her in a bear hug, with Prince Satyajit shouting 'careful, careful' in the background. A rare exclamation of joy, rarer in these years, slips out of her mouth when she sees a laughing Shikhandi and a softly smiling Dhrishtadyumna. She shakes off her younger brothers and runs to them. After all, they are her favourites.

With her husbands, she cannot afford to have favourites. With them, she cannot be free. She is always their wife, their queen, and although she gets love in both Panchal and Indraprastha, she gets freedom only with her brothers. It reminds him of himself, a memory flitting across his mind of rambunctious young boys, one getting him in a headlock, another trying to pull it apart, one leaning tiredly against the wall and yet another pulling him to join his brothers. Call him soft-hearted, but his heart always clenches when she laughs freely, like she hasn't done for so long, and that can only be done with her brothers.

But then, from behind them, her sons show up. He observes Kalyani tear up, hands on her mouth, and how Prativindhya is quick to put an arm around her and pull her close and wipe her tears. He towers over her now. He'd always wondered how his second-eldest nephew was doing. A part of him had died after that day, and Nakul feared it wasn't coming back anytime soon. He'd always been close to his mother. Sutasoma and Shrutakarma, he notes, are probably crying more than her, and his heart does a little flip-flop. Shatanik is stone-faced, thoughts flitting through his mind and flickering in his eyes, but his mouth doesn't betray any of it. He looks calm, and absently, Nakul murmurs, 'you've changed, duckling,' and promises himself never to say that out loud. The children are painfully aware of that fact, they don't need to be told. But when she hugs the four of them, Shatanik looks up, caught in the moment as if a deer in the headlights, and then hugs all of them, shifting them and almost picking them up with the force of his hug. Nakul shakes his head in fond exasperation. He had never been good at showing people he loved them. And being trained by the Parshatas would have exacerbated that. But it was alright, he knew how to read emotions from the slightest curl of a fist, the minutest furrow of eyebrows, and the tiniest twitch of an eye.

He observes Prativindhya, turned away from his father, his face painted with slight disgust and his hands crossed. He observes how Sutasoma is quick to swallow, unsuccessful at hiding the lump in his throat, his eyes murky with the film of tears on them. He sees Bheem look at him for only a moment before nearly crushing his son in a hug, picking him up like he was feather-light and asking him about his health and his food and what he'd been up to. He sees Shrutasen stand stiffly as Sahadev looks at him, really looks at him, both of them so stiff and awkward it makes him want to tease his brother and push them closer for a hug. But he knows Shrutasen was barely eleven when they left, and does not know how to interact with a man he scarcely remembers. He also has more important things to do, namely, seeing his own son.

This time around, Shatanik observes him. He's rough around the edges, and his arms on his father's and he is intently looking at him, his eyes narrow and searching. "I've missed you kid," he says, gruffly. He does not call the man in front of him duckling. He does not feel he would like that. Shatanik nods. "Same," he whispers.

But Shatanik's eyes keep darting across the room, and he turns to look. The sight makes a deep, deep discomfort buried within him resurface, and he rolls his eyes at how predictable his brother is being. Shrutakarma is ecstatic to see his father. After all, Yudhamanyu must have told him a lot of stories.

But Arjun has walked right past him to see Subhadra and Abhimanyu. Arjun probably doesn't even realize what he has done in his excitement. But Shrutakarma walks off to stand in a corner, downcast. The action had been done, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, and Shrutakarma cannot see intentions. He can only see effects. But despite all that had happened, Nakul smiles. He remembers the kid.

He remembers a five year old, running through the stables with Shatanik and the stablehands running behind him and stopping only when he came to the strange horses Krishna had given him. He remembers Shatanik listening to him patiently as he rattled off about each of them, his face alight with joy and excitement. Nakul looked at the two of them, how their eyes seemed to search for each other in a crowded room and deduced that he had continued being loyal to Shatanik, and Shatanik, in turn had morphed his patience into a fiery protectiveness.

Shatanik guides him over to his youngest nephew and Nakul just smiles and opens his arms. He bites back a gasp at how quickly Shrutakarma comes to him and hugs the poor boy back. Shatanik rests a hand on his brother's back, and a thin smile splits his face. Nakul drags him into the hug, pressing his head Shatanik's neck, taking a deep breath and smiling to himself. Vindhya and Shatanik are taller than his brother and him respectively. Shatanik awkwardly pats his shoulder.

Shatanik needs time, he senses. To come to terms that this is real. There is a lot going on behind that large forehead, and it needs to settle before his son comes to him.

Nakul decides to wait. They have time, don't they?

[stxrrynxghts]

Satyaki: Let's have a conversation, one 10 to another. Dhrishtadyumna: I'm an 11 but continue.

[theramblergal]

An ask reminded me of this rough piece I'd written a couple months ago. It has no purpose but I like it enough to post it lol:

Nakula and Sahadeva are a unit. None understand it more than Krishnaa and Dhrishtadyumna, understand the bond that goes beyond skin-deep, a knowing more profound than a normal sibling relationship. 

Dhrishtadyumna walked out of the fire to be followed by Krishnaa; Sahadeva entered the world with a sharp cry scarce minutes after Nakula, a cry that naught could silence but being placed next to his twin.

Yudhishthira has always been comfortable in the presence of sages; Dhrishtadyumna is Bhima's dearest and likewise. Arjuna and Krishna are two halves of one soul, each dimmed without the other. 

Each of the Pandavas have been blessed with a companion that understands the other unlike any other, is it merely chance or something higher that Nakula and Sahadeva were always together, even in their mother's womb? Is it destiny that Krishnaa and Dhrishtadyumna were blessed enough to be born from the same fire?

Even though Dhrishtadyumna loves Bhima the most out of the Pandavas, there are moments when the four twins retreat to a private chamber, hand in hand with the one who has always been with them. For there are none who know them better than a twin, rarer even is the knowledge of the burden and blessing that a twin brings.

There need not be any words said. The four sit in silence, basking in the joy of being known.

On quiet nights in the forests, the twins curl up with Krishnaa as she weeps for her twin; they have never been apart this long. Sahadeva has never been far from Nakula but out of her five husbands, it is the youngest two who understand her anguish for the one who shared the fire's womb with her.

The night after the war is ended and Panchala has been utterly destroyed, Krishnaa will accept no comfort but the twins' hands on her shoulder as she wails into the void: for her babies, her father, her brothers, for the twin whose burning mind she'd always felt on the edge of her consciousness but there is nothing now, no remnant but the smouldering ashes of a fire.

[aru-loves-krishnaxarjuna]

Arjuni: does anyone want to come with me to commit arson?

Krishna: count me in, Parthavi!

Draupadi: me too

Dhrishtadyumna: me three

Subhadra:...

Balaram:...

Kunti:...

Nakul:...

Sahadev:...

Yudhishthir:...

Gandiva bow:

Bheem:

Gandiva bow: don't leave me!

Bheem: i am coming too!

Yudhishthir: NO!—

[livingtheparadoxlife]

Vibhatsa Snippet:

Dhrishtadyumna cast another glance at the scroll, slowly tracing the lines with his shaky hands.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦....

As if if he tried hard enough, the lines would change to his satisfaction, as if fate would bend to his will, as if he hadn't said that to himself for the last....

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯?

Reluctantly, he tore his gaze away from the wretched prophecy of his birth, to the beckoning moon outside his window.

The rising sun greeted him instead, blazing red blooming against a white canvas, leaking crimson hues.

White like the robes his teacher so loved.

Blazing red like the fire's womb he and Krishnaa had emerged out of.

Crimson like the blood he was born to shed.

𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦?

[yudrilsthira]

give those to me i need to replace dhrishtadyumna's empty fucking head

[yudrilsthira]

in talks with Boston dynamics about inventing a second dhrishtadyumna to kill a second Sensei

[krsnaradhika]

Krishavyayam behind the scenes ❥

Krishnaa: Now that Govinda and Arya Arjuna are off to frolicking in the outskirts again—

Krisha, about to put her apples away but stopping midtrack: 👀👀

Krishnaa: You are coming with me. To sit beside and NOT show me shenanigans for a while. Just plain quality time.

Krisha:

Krishnaa: And so is your daughter. Give me my niece.

Krisha: Gladly but—

Krishnaa picking up a bamboo stick: This is a threat. Do not counter me.

Krisha, gulps: Sure :D ✨

Krishnaa: Also, I will ship you to Panchala if you don't finish your apples.

Krisha: NOOOOOOOO-

Dhrishtadyumna, sipping tea: This is NICE.

[yoddhasblog]

Mahabharat is and will always be my favourite tale to reflect upon and talk to people about. This book was immensely hyped up along with the author. I have now read three of her books. The Last Queen, which admittedly I adored. Then, the Forest Of Enchantments, the book I'd been looking forward to for such a long time. That one left me in a rage.

I went into this book expecting to be pissed off and disappointed. And I wasn't let down on that assumption.

The Palace Of Illusions is a retelling of the great Indian epic-Mahabharata. A tale incorporated so deeply into our hearts that everyone has their own takes and beliefs and opinions about it. I sincerely believe that you cannot write a retelling without angering a number of people. Well, I'm one them.

The writing style:

I didn't have too many issues except i did not get why there were so many rhetorical and philosophical questions? Literal, paragraphs that were nothing but questions.

Draupadi, the enigma, the fire-born, the one person I would fight for as long as there is life in me, why was acting as though she was a little more than a sullen child? In the book that was supposed to be from her point of view, the person, the author did the most injustice with was-Draupadi.

The plot assassination:

As I mentioned above, most of everything in the plot of the epic was butchered and mangled to fit into the author's narrative of women, good-men,bad. It is common knowledge that women's position in society was as downtrodden as depicted here. Don't get me wrong, horrific crimes happened against women and justice was also delivered adequately but the author pulled apart the entire social structure only to be able to say that every bad thing happened to Draupadi was because she is a woman.

~ In the very first chapter, Draupadi said it was egoistic of her father to give her a variation of his own name when her brother, Dhrishtadyumna got an original name. In Vyas Mahabharat, her birth name was Krishnaa but like many people in Hindu beliefs, she was also known as Draupadi, though that is the most commonly used name. So, no points to the author trying to convince everyone that this was sexist.

~ Draupadi was highly educated and trained in many things including economics and she was the one who was in charge of the treasury of Indraprastha. She was a finance minister of sorts. So, saying that King Droupad refused to let her train because she is a woman is stupid.

~Also, I've grown up listening to that Draupadi stepped out of the fire as a young woman. She wasn't a child. Some sources say she was around 16 some say around 25.

~ Are we still stuck about 50 years ago that we're going to be okay with authors portraying that all women in power are evil? Kunti and Draupadi viewed each other as rivals? Draupadi throwing temper tantrums over other women? wtf

~ Draupadi as a pick-me? Half the book Draupadi's internal dialogue is nothing but I don't know how to socialize with other women, they're jealous of each other, they're always giggling, I won't survive the world of women, I can't dance, people don't find me pretty because of my dark complexion(where did white supremacy even came in this conversation) but suddenly out of nowhere Draupadi just knows that every woman is envious of her. She adores the saris and jewellery that she used to find impossible to handle.

~ Maharishi Vyas giving Draupadi Divya drishti to see the battlefield of Kurukshetra came out of nowhere. It felt a forced action done only to show Draupadi's emotions about the deaths.

~ Draupadi harbouring hidden feelings for Karna and him secretly returning those feelings felt like a teenager's fever dream. A teenager who's hellbent on sexualizing everything they come across.

~Bhagvat Gita was witnessed by everyone on kurukshetra including the Virat roop? Again, it felt like a move forced that was done in order to show Draupadi's internal dialogue. How did the author even think she could fit Bhagvat Gita in half a chapter?

~The Pandavas just had no personality whatsoever outside of being obedient to their mother and scared of Draupadi's temper tantrums.

~Krishan ji was told to be this charismatic, carefree, silvertongued diplomat but he was simply shown as someone who randomly showed up and gave unsolicited advice.

~And I don't know what that ending was but you can't be serious telling me that Karna and Draupadi somehow end up together in heaven?

~WHAT WAS THE AUTHOR'S PROBLEM WITH RESEARCHING ABOUT MAHABHARATA???

There was no way the entire plot of Mahabharata could've fit into one book. She tried too but this book sucked. I understand it's a retelling and sometimes had to change but everything here felt so forced. The author broke everything in context to fit into her supposedly feminist ideal. Don't get me wrong, i dislike the Pandavas, the Kauravas and their elders with all my heart but they all had one dimensional personalities. They had caricature-ish depositions. I had no emotions attached to anyone in this book whatsoever. This was a headache.

[theramblergal]

I think everyone approached this situation from different views of dharma. I read through the entire conversation and here's what each of them said/why they said it (if you don't want the long-winded version, scroll to the bottom, there's a tl;dr):

Arjuna: His well-known compassion is at the very forefront here. Moreso than most parts of the story. He approaches this situation in the point of view of the dharma of a student and a son. Arjuna's view is, as it has been from the start, that they have been performing "ignoble deed(s) for the sake of the kingdom and because of [their] limited intelligence" by killing their family.

He cannot manage to overcome his affection for his dear ones, for good, because his compassion and devotion is what makes the core of him. For that, he censures his older brother and Dhrishtadyumna.

Bhima: This is one of the few (maybe the only?) times Bhima is angry at Arjuna. He did his tasks in his view of kshatriya dharma. He reminds Arjuna of all the transgressions the Kaurava side did to them and scolds him to fortify his heart.

Dhrishtadyumna: Same as Bhima, Dhrishtadyumna views his part in Drona's killing as his kshatriya dharma. He argues that Drona never followed dharma in the first place, thus he is well within his own dharma to have killed Drona and Yudhishthira is right to have lied.

His point can be summarized with these words: "Yet again, the dharma of kshatriyas is to kill, or be killed. O Pandava! In accordance with dharma, I have killed my enemy in the battle."

Most people there actually seem to agree with Arjuna than Dhrishtadyumna.

Satyaki: Ah, this hot-headed boi. He insults Dhrishtadyumna pretty badly. Exchange insults. Then they both fling themselves at each other, trying to kill each other and Bhima and Sahadeva both try to calm them down.

So yes, it was the one moment where the Pandava army was divided.

tl; dr: Arjuna's compassion makes him value his dharma as a student/son higher than kshatriya dharma, while Dhrishtadyumna values his kshatriya dharma/the purpose of his life higher than his own feelings for his teacher. Very suited to their personalities, but there's no real and simple right or wrong here. Arguments can be made for both sides.

Mahabharat tumblr what do we think about Arjun’s breakdown post Drona’s death?

For those who don’t know: when Krishna suggests the double cross of killing Ashwatthama the elephant, Arjun point blank refuses to cooperate. After Yudhishtir speaks the dooming lie, Drona has a breakdown, almost destroys the universe, feels terrible about it and then drops all his weapons at which point he’s beheaded by Dhrishtadyumna, much to Arjun’s protest.

After this Arjun rails against Yudhishtir and Dhrishtadyumna which is about the only time the high command of the Pandava army are all at odds with one another (usually the status quo of the Kaurava army where everyone mindlessly hates each other, the Pandavas however were always a unit). Arjun’s emotions are all over the place throughout the war but it comes out most prominently over here. Arjun believes the rules shouldn’t have been broken. Dhrishtadyumna believes the ends justify the means in a war like the Kurukshetra, especially after Abhimanyu.

It’s one of the great debates on war ethics, especially from the tongue of Vibhatsu himself. Was Arjun right for this or nay?

[chaanv]

A headcanon on Abhimanyu and Uttara, if Abhimanyu had somehow survived the war.

Hi anon,

I don't think THIS is what you have asked for, but you did ask me, so.

Enjoy!

(It kind of reminds me of something @avani008 once wrote.)

Drona, the Kaurava Commander on the 13th day of the bloody war, is swept over by a sudden wave of compassion and orders his army to free a badly-wounded Abhimanyu. It is practically sundown anyway, and the Pandava Army has suffered heavy casualties.

The boy, on the cusp of death, fights a second battle for life back in his camp. His father is greeted by a faint smile from him, and the violent storm within Arjun calms for a moment.

Kunti's youngest takes no pledge that night.

Duryodhan, however, is furious, more so than on any previous night. His son has perished, while Arjun's lives on. And so, Drona is relieved of his duties and sent back to Hastinapur, while Karna takes charge of the Kaurava Army.

The prophecy regarding Dhrishtadyumna is not fulfilled on this battlefield.

No other threat looms over Arjun on the 14th day, and Karna, given sharp instructions by his friend, wastes no time before releasing Indra's weapon onto his brother.

Krishna knows he could have kept them apart no longer, but it isn't enough to console him. He grieves in chilling silence, arousing in the people around him a fear the world is unfamiliar with.

He had told his Parth he wouldn't use a weapon in this war, so he does not. Instead, he takes Arjun's body to their camp.

Bheem, on the other hand, has made no vows of nonviolence. He causes a chaos not yet seen in the war.

But grief too great can kill you. And it gets him killed.

Yudhishtir is more distraught than he has ever been, yet his speech is soft. He bargains his freedom for the lives of the remaining Pandava warriors.

Nakul and Sahdev join their jesht in this bargain.

("They will be prisoners, not slaves... we'll spare them no more attention," Duryodhan declares.)

The Pandavas' vows are not fulfilled on this battlefield.

Panchal and Dwarka offer to provide shelter and protection for Draupadi, Subhadra, and their children. The former empress, whose hair shall never be bound again, accepts a promise of shelter from Bhanumati, instead. She hopes her presence in Hastinapur will help keep three of her husbands alive.

That it won't let Hastinapur forgive itself.

She sends her sons to Panchal. The Kuru capital is not a safe place for a son of Yudhishtir.

Subhadra stays with Draupadi, and Abhimanyu ignores proper recovery to split his time between Matsya (a land now void of princes) and in the service of his mothers.

Uttara is in constant awe of how the two women, bereft of so much in life, manage to smile at her and spoil her in the final months of her pregnancy.

But she does not fail to notice how Subhadra's breath catches when she caresses Abhimanyu's cheek, how a look of devastating confusion mars Draupadi's face every morning when she has to decide how much jewelry to wear.

How much color to wear.

Other men do not come to their chambers often. Sometimes Vidur visits to give them the encouragement he can muster.

Gandhari's is a common presence for them. Kunti spends most of her time in the dungeons, bestowing any comfort she can onto her surviving sons.

For weeks, Drona and Vidur try to convince Yudhishtir to welcome a sentence of house arrest in lieu of this one. Yudhishtir refuses - he will not dishonor those who have died for him.

Even at the peak of her pregnancy, Uttara sends gifts for her uncles with Draupadi. Small things, like the flowers she has been told they loved, to remind them of life's simple beauties. After all, she knows how it feels to lose brothers.

Draupadi always hugs her tightly in response, without a word. Agni's daughter speaks less than she used to.

Uttara doesn't know how it feels to lose a husband. She doesn't want to know.

She misses Arjun, too, but how can she explain that to anyone? To his son? His widows? His mother?

In her silent torment, she forbids herself from wearing ornaments adorned with bells of any sort.

The quiet that results rings loudly in Abhimanyu's ears.

How can he help her? He hides his skin from his own eyes because he cannot forget how his wounds hadn't allowed him to see off his father's body. (Srutakarman has refused to give him details.)

Abhi studies Subhadra carefully when he is with her, desperate to protect her as well. She is composed and tired at the same time; kind to them, but distant from her reflection. As if she has buried anger deep within her.

Without his father, without his mighty uncle, Abhimanyu's family feels like a house without walls. Exposed and ready to collapse...

But somehow, it holds itself together.

He's reassured of how when a scroll from his mama ignites divine sparks in Draupadi's sad eyes, when messages from his brothers make Subhadra's lips curve up into gentle smiles.

And when his uncles share stories about their childhood, filling those dark cells with a bit of warmth.

Just over three months after the war, Uttara gives birth to a healthy baby boy. And, before her mothers can agree on a suitable name for the child, they receive a flood of visitors:

Draupadi's sons arrive to meet their nephew, Krishna and Balram bear gifts from Dwarka, and even some of Karna's sons bring their mother's blessings from Anga (this surprises Uttara the most).

Sudeshna rubs her daughter's hair fondly, relaying Virat's blessings for the baby. For a brief time, Uttara isn't so weighed down by what they have lost.

But then, after a few days of pleasant conversations and attempted normalcy, Sutasom breaks apart in Draupadi's arms. He questions his mother about their uncertain future and begs her to undo the 14th day, so that he may swap his fate with his father's.

Drupad is being turned into a puppet in his own kingdom, he says.

Karna's sons are gone now, and Hastinapur's palace has grown bored of its new resident. It is to this intimate assembly of Panchal, Dwarka, and Matsya's ties to the Pandavas that Krishna finally speaks again of politics.

He speaks under his breath, with a hollow and mirthless tone:

(His voice makes Abhimanyu miss the whispers of death.)

"Duryodhan may be a good king, but an emperor has to take responsibility for more than his own city. No one is immune to greed and corruption, not even Dwarka. His allies mustn't..."

"We need to choose a name by tomorrow," Draupadi cuts in, her solemn gaze fixed on the baby in Subhadra's arms. This is the first time she has ever interrupted her sakha.

She shifts her eyes to Krishna and blinks, and the son of Subhadra could swear he hears her say, "I won't forget."

-----

The group takes the baby to Bhishma, who still lies on the bed of arrows, his wishes incomplete and his body embraced by Arjun's memories.

"Parikshit," the aged man suggests when asked for a name, "because his... our future will surely test him."

Krishna nods in agreement, and Uttara cannot remember where she has heard this name.

[friend-shaped-but]

I'm a day late for trans day of remembrance, but here, have a happy modern AU shikhandi! Glimpses of his life on his instagram page! To learn more about modern AU shikhandi(and by extension, the panchal fam), you can read this post!!

A big big big big thank you to @teaah-art for the profile pic!!

POV: you scroll down and see this

Context for each image under the cut:

First image:

Top left: beach date top middle: he thought shalaka was looking cute top right: he styled her hair

middle left: him and draupadi middle: If you zoom in you'll see it's written "Indian art history series, part 3" he's doing an infographic carousel post thing middle right: himself before he transitioned

bottom 3: rome era

Second image:

him and shalaka go to the guesthouse property

Next six are all nepal pics

lotus pendant

watching a movie with his brothers

first rakshabandhan after coming out(BRO COME ON TELL ME THIS DOESNT HIT YOU IN THE FEELS

indian art history series

his own painting studio

visiting a museum

trying on drish's clothes

caption for this: "found an old pic of mom and dad, I think this was when they had just got the house in Mahe. Miss you mom"

[stxrrynxghts]

Dhrishtadyumna: you often use humor to deflect trauma. Nakul: thank you. Dhrishtadyumna: I didn't say it was a good thing Nakul: What I'm hearing is that you think I'm funny

[theramblergal]

For @livingtheparadoxlife, who asked I write something on the twins and Krishnaa after the war.

This is gonna be long and angsty as hell, warning.

Krishnaa can barely look at her youngest two husbands nowadays.

It is no fault of their own, she knows.

But the kalachakra has spun, wreaking untold devastation across every single person, ripping their very souls out of them.

She can barely look at them together for a few seconds before she is reminded by the ghost of what is, what was, and bile rises in her throat and she has to excuse herself, their sad eyes trailing her as she flees, eyes burning.

She gets as far as the next room before she falls to her knees, chest heaving, her insides screaming for breath because every inhale chokes her with the red dust of Kurukshetra and the rank stench of rotting corpses and the metallic tang of blood even though she is hundreds of yojanas away from Kurukshetra. Her eyes do not see the gaudy wealth of the Kurus but the headless and mutilated bodies of her family.

Krishnaa Draupadi—once affectionately called Panchaali, the saubhagya of Prishata's line, is the last daughter of Panchala. The only survivor of the royal family.

She is sonless, fatherless, brotherless—

Twinless.

Dhrishtadyumna.

She cannot think about him without feeling her soul crumble into thousands of pieces, but he is never far from her thoughts.

His luminous eyes, always so full of life, glint at her from a dark corner of the room, but now they are bloodshot, listless, empty, so empty, too empty—

She had always been aware of Dhrishtadyumna through a fire-edged bond in the back of her mind, no matter the distance between them. But that connection had burned to pieces, a choked and whimpering spark being put out instead of the glorious roar of a warrior, leaving ashes drifting in the wind.

They had won.

They had won.

And then they had lost—everything.

Krishnaa had always been blessed with companionship and love beyond any normal person and she had been eternally grateful for it. But there had no one who knew her best but her twin. She had been with him from the first moment her awareness sparked into existence, cradled by the fire's womb, twin sparks in two bodies.

All her secrets, all her tears, all her joy was his—and all of his was hers.

She told him everything, things she'd never tell her husbands.

But he wasn't here anymore.

And Nakula and Sahadeva still had each other.

They were the only two of her husbands who truly understood her bond with Dhrishtadyumna. They understood what it meant to be a twin, more than she could put into words.

But they had always had each other. There was never a moment they were separated. The sons of Maadri had never been torn from the other's side—not through their exiles, their sojourns in other kingdoms, not through the battle.

And she hates that.

She hates that she hates it—hates that she hates her husbands for something so—so small.

(But it isn't small at all.)

She wants to wail, scream at fate: why were they allowed to keep their souls intact when I have burned myself over and over for them and my soul is torn into two—

You have no right to take my twin from me—

The pain is too much, please bring him back—

Please—

Have I not given enough?

A twin is a mirror, a double helix, Dhrishta had said once, orange-brown eyes smiling at her, hand warm in hers—and Nakula and Sahadeva, she and Dhrishtadyumna have always been that. Similar yet different, but always together.

She had stood alone, eyes reflecting the burning pyres of her dead family, clear vision and chin tilted, watching Nakula reach for a weeping Sahadeva—a comfort in a hand reaching in the blind darkness but knowing that they will always reach back for you.

She wanted that—needed it more than anything.

But the one who used to give her that comfort was burning on the pyre in front of her.

They had approached her a few times after that. She would not look at them. Resentment, bitter and sharp, would curdle a vicious poison in her but she could never bring herself to snap at them. Deep down, she was still their Krishnae but that part of her was lost with Panchaali.

She lets out a cry, sharp and wordless, throat choked with a thousand different emotions.

They come to her, rushing to her side.

He will never come back to her.

"Don't—" she whispers, emotions a frenzied storm in her.

"Krishnaa please—we can't see you like this—" Nakula pleads.

"Leave. Please."

"Dhrishta wouldn't want to see you like this, Krishnae.." Sahadeva murmurs.

But they respect her wishes—they always have, even when they don't want to—and leave her.

The sky is perfectly blue; the wind is soothing; the people go about their lives and the world spins on; but Krishnaa presses the back of her hand to her mouth as she weeps alone, shoulders shaking, wondering if she'll ever be able to look at her youngest two husbands without feeling the hollow emptiness of her twin's absence beside her again.

(She never will.)

[aru-loves-krishnaxarjuna]

Arjuni: can i burn my hands off?

Draupadi:

Arjuni: can WE burn our hands off?

Draupadi:

Arjuni: can we make a really big fire—

Draupadi:

Arjuni: AND burn our hands off?

Draupadi: yes!!

Dhrishtadyumna: Guys NO!!