Why Draupadi laughed at Bhishma as he lay wounded on deathbed

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The battle between brothers – Kauravas and the Pandavas – that forms the crux of the Mahabharata in Kurukshetra, will be remembered for centuries. The battle that defined the difference between the good and the evil, falsehood and righteousness, realisation and unconsciousness, love and hatred, has a number of lessons for us.

The dialogue between Draupadi and Bhishma, who lay wounded on bed of arrows in the war-field, voluntarily waiting to breathe his last, is a notable one.

As Keshav (Krishna) took the Pandavas and their wife – Draupadi – to pay a visit to Bhisma, to tell the latter to teach moral values, righteousness and dharma to the five brothers, Draupadi burst into laughter – an outburst that spoke volumes about the humiliation she had endured.

The Pandavas were shocked on seeing their wife laugh at their Pitamaha. Bhishma too wondered what provoked her to laugh at him.

Draupadi’s answer proved sharper than knife. She questioned why the Pitamaha, the great warrior who stood for high morals and righteousness remained mute while she was humiliated at the hands of Dusshasana who was instructed by his brother Duryodhana to outrage her modesty. Everyone present in the court of Dhritarashtra – the patriarchs and elders of the family, including her husbands (Yudhishtira, Bheema, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva) who lost her in the game of Chausar to the Kauravas, hung thier heads helplessly, stood as mute spectators as she pleaded for mercy and help.

Only Krishna, whose name she took after she had lost all hopes, saved her.