That was question that came up suddenly during a recent Past Life Regression session. A woman, Sangeeta* with a history of being disempowered by her father, who didn’t let her career flourish wanted to find the source of her feeling disempowered around her father, though he loved her a lot. After promising to allow her to go abroad for higher studies, he backed out when she won a scholarship at Oxford, didn’t allow her to study medicine even saying it is a tough profession for women. She ended up doing normal graduation. However the dejection by the way her career dreams were sabotaged, thwarted never left her, slowly it overwhelmed her emotionally and eventually broke her back. She physically developed spine problems later in life, and auto immune problems where enemy is closer home. She was married off as soon as she finished graduation, her younger sister didn’t fare any better. Both the sisters at some point in their childhood tried to commit suicide in the stifling environment.
In a past life, she saw herself as a 12-year old girl, again beaten by the same father for being a girl and riding a bicycle with abandon through the village. Thereafter she ran away from home, and started working in a tailoring shop, but she was found and brought back home to be tied to bed. This started the saga of ruthless crushing of spirit all thru her life. More determined she got, greater the opposition she faced from her father, who somehow took it as a personal challenge to diminish her. “Let me see, how you do it.” In the years to comes, she was made to do menial jobs despite her talent. She was married, literally to get rid off, and made to feel like a problem rather than family member unlike her brother. But she never gave up her determination like warrior, stood tall.
After healing, we tried to find from spiritguides, since when was the soul of father adamant on disempowering his daughters? “From ages”. The answer came.
It turned out the father was Drupada, the father of Draupadi, the heroine of Mahabharata. After the Mahabharata war, after being instigated by someone, his soul concluded that Draupadi was the reason behind the Great War, and thus he vowed that daughters should not be made strong, educated well as they cause destruction then. Just as Drupada was taking the vow, Satyaki was commander-in-chief of Pandavas army vowed to teach him, “How to respect daughters.” Thus both of them were locked in successive lifetimes where they both tried to live up to their vows. In all there were 64 lifetimes, where this soul level conflict ensued, where Drupada plotted against his daughters, and in some lifetimes Satyaki was born as his daughter, often along with Shikhandini, who was also discarded by Drupada. Satyaki resolved to make him realise that he would need daughters at every point. Sangeeta saw herself as Satyaki, waging another war after the Mahabharata, the war for women empowerment.
The most important fact reveal was that disempowering women, especially daughters, has dire karmic consequences. Principal being decline in abundance or fortunes, no wonder daughters are called Laxmi, the Goddess of wealth, in Indian households, worthy of veneration. So in all the lifetimes, his daughters cursed him, to experience same powerlessness, financial troubles, ill-health as he caused. And that he would always need daughter help. Even in this life, Sangeeta and her sister have helped their father, who has experienced ill health and financial struggles all through his lifetime and always needed the help of his daughters.
At this point Lord Krishna was called in spirit guide for counselling. He talked about how it was the behaviour of men, rather moral weak men and the resultant disempowerment of women, which caused the war, not Draupadi. She reminded us that a civilisation or a household where women are not respected, honoured and cared for ultimately falls into ruin, ill-health and desperate circumstances. Accepting daughters, mothers, and wives as equal is not just right, caters to human right but also pure common sense. Denying yourself the wisdom and power of the half of humanity is foolish. A truly empowered woman, in touch with her wisdom and strength can create a civilization that honours beauty and strength, despite immense strength stays humble. Drupada finally understood, and the all the daughters from various lifetimes gradually came and dropped their curses, 60 curses in all. Doors of abundance and knowledge were opened for Drupada, financial and health blocks were cleared too.
Next Sangeeta as in Satyaki’s soul was guided to drop the vow to help Drupada learn. She need not teach anyone, unless we are ready to learn, we seldom learn. Even in this life, she has the habit to taking on spiritual growth of members of her family as personal project or mission, thus draining and often frustrating herself.
She released her frustration and disempowering emotions for all the lifetimes and was told that she need not have lifetimes with Drupada now on; both are free to learn at their own pace. Draupadi on the other hand never took a lifetime with Drupada, she knew it is not for her to teach anyone, before they are ready.
In short, to continually receive the blessing of Laxmiji, Goddess of abundance and well being , it is imperative we honour the women in our lives. They are the embodiment of Shakti amidst us.
* name changed
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