Draupadi Story Book

[Nico Sadiq]

Draupadiand her twin brother, Dhrishtadyumna, were born from a yajna (fire sacrifice) organized by King Drupada of Panchala. Arjuna won her hand in marriage, but she had to marry the five brothers because of her mother-in-law's misunderstanding. Later, she became the empress of Indraprastha after Yudhishthira performed the Rajasuya ritual and achieved the status of the emperor. She had five sons, one from each Pandava, who were collectively addressed as the Upapandavas.[3]

The most notable incident in Draupadi's life is the game of dice at Hastinapura where Yudhishthira lost all his possessions, and she was humiliated by the Kaurava brothers and Karna. An attempt was made by Dushasana to disrobe her, but she was saved by the divine intervention of Krishna. Following the subsequent episodes, Draupadi and the Pandavas were exiled for thirteen years, with the last year being a period of hiding when she assumed the identity of the maid Sairandhri. The exile was followed by the Kurukshetra War, where Draupadi lost her father, brothers, and her five children. After the war, she resumed her role as the empress for thirty six years, after which she retired to the Himalayas along with her husbands.[4]

Draupadi's story has been an inspiration for various arts, performances and secondary literature.[5] In Hinduism, she is extolled as one of the panchakanya (five virgins), archetypes of female chastity whose names are believed to dispel sin when recited.[6] In some parts of the sub-continent, a sect of Draupadi exists, where she is worshipped as a goddess.[7]

The word Draupadī (lit. 'daughter of Drupada') is a patronymic, derived from the word Drupada, which means 'pillar'.[8][9] Like other epic characters, she is referred to by multiple names in the Mahabharata. Some of her other names and epithets are as follows:

The story of Draupadi is told in the great indian script Mahabharata, one of the Sanskrit epics from the Indian subcontinent. The work is written in Classical Sanskrit and is a composite work of revisions, editing and interpolations over many centuries. The oldest parts in the surviving version of the text probably date to about 400 BCE.[19]

The Mahabharata manuscripts exist in numerous versions, wherein the specifics and details of major characters and episodes vary, often significantly. Except for the sections containing the Bhagavad Gita which is remarkably consistent between the numerous manuscripts, the rest of the epic exists in many versions.[20] The differences between the Northern and Southern recensions are particularly significant, with the Southern manuscripts more profuse and longer. Scholars have attempted to construct a critical edition, relying mostly on a study of the "Bombay" edition, the "Poona" edition, the "Calcutta" edition and the "south Indian" editions of the manuscripts. The most accepted version is one prepared by scholars led by Vishnu Sukthankar at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, preserved at Kyoto University, Cambridge University and various Indian universities.[21]

"This dark-complexioned girl will be the first of all women, and she will be the cause of the destruction of many Kshatriyas. This slender-waisted one will, in time, accomplish the purpose of the gods, and along with her many a danger will overtake the Kauravas."[24]

The youth and the maiden are named Dhrishtadyumna and Krishnaa, but the latter one is better known by the patronymic "Draupadi". They accept Drupada and Prishati as their parents and are raised in Drupada's palace.[24][16]

"The fire-born woman was extremely beautiful. Her eyes were black and large as lotus-petals, her complexion was dark, and her locks were blue and curly. Her nails were beautifully convex and bright as burnished copper; her eyebrows were fair, and her bosom was deep. Indeed, she resembled the veritable daughter of a celestial born among men. Her body gave out fragrance like that of a blue lotus, perceivable from a distance of full two miles. Her beauty was such that she had no equal on earth. Like a celestial herself, she could be desired (in marriage) by a celestial, a Danava, or a Yaksha(Mahabharata. Adi Parva. Chapter 169:3)".[25]

Later Draupadi becomes a mother of five sons, one son each from the Pandava brothers. They were known as Upapandavas. Their names were Prativindhya (from Yudhishthira), Sutasoma (from Bheema), Shrutakarma (from Arjuna), Satanika (from Nakula) and Shrutasena (from Sahadeva).[33] Ashwatthama killed the Upapandavas during his surprise raid on Pandava camp on the eighteenth day of the war to avenge the death of his father Drona.[34]

With the Pandavas' survival revealed, a succession crisis was started. Upon the news of Pandavas' death at Varnavrat, the title of 'the crown prince' had fallen to Duryodhana. Dhritrashtra invites the Pandavas to Hastinapura and proposes that the kingdom be divided. The Pandavas are assigned the wasteland Khandavaprastha, referred to as unreclaimed desert. With the help of Krishna, Pandavas rebuilt Khandavprastha into the glorious Indraprastha. The crown jewel of the kingdom was built at the Khandava forest, where Draupadi resided in the "Palace of Illusions".[35] Yudhishthira performed the rajasuya yajna with Draupadi by his side; the Pandavas gained lordship over many regions.[36]Draupadi was trained in economy and was responsible for the treasury of the Empire. Additionally, she also ran a citizen liaison. Her duties as a busy Empress are mentioned in her famous conversation with Satyabhama, Krishna's favourite wife, during their exile.[37][22]

There is a popular myth that is believed to be the reason why Duryodhana hated Draupadi.Duryodhana and his entourage were exploring the keep during their visit to Yudhishthira's Rajasuya yajna. While touring the grounds, an unsuspecting Duryodhana fell prey to one of the many illusions that could be seen all around the palace. When he stepped on the apparently solid part of the courtyard, there was a splash and Duryodhana found himself waist-deep in water, drenched from head to foot by the hidden pool. The myth is, Draupadi and her maids saw this from the balcony with amusement, and joked Andhasya Putra Andhaha meaning 'a blind man's son is blind'. This famous story does not feature in Veda Vyasa's Mahabharata but is the figment of the imagination of a much later playwright. It gained immense popularity gradually through repeated depictions in various screen and written adaptations of the epic across the length and breadth of the country. The most popular depictions were by B.R. Chopra's Mahabharata series that aired on Doordarshan in 1988 and famous Telugu film Daana Veera Soora Karna starring Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao as Duryodhana, where Draupadi's laughter was singled out for dramatic effect.[38]

In Vyasa's Sanskrit epic, the scene is quite different.[39] It was Bhima, Arjuna, and the twin brothers alongside their retinues who had witnessed Duryodhana's fall and laughed along with their servants. In the Sanskrit text, Draupadi is not mentioned in the scene at all, either laughing or insulting Duryodhana. Nonetheless, Duryodhana felt insulted by the behaviour of the four Pandavas, stoking his hatred of them. Later on, he went back to Hastinapura and expressed his immense agony on witnessing the riches of the Pandavas to his blind father, which was the root cause for inviting his cousins for the dice-game. His main wish was to usurp the wealth of his cousins which they had accumulated on account of the Rajasuya Yajna. Known to few, during this conversation, Duryodhan mentions how he had observed Draupadi serving food to everyone, including physically challenged citizens as the Empress. He says to his father, "And, O king, Yajnaseni, without having eaten herself, daily seeth whether everybody, including even the deformed and the dwarfs, hath eaten or not."[40]

He then went on to express his wrath at having fallen into a pool of water and being laughed at mockingly, mainly by Bhima, followed by Arjun, Nakul, Sahadeva and other menials in the palace. It is here, where he fleetingly mentioned Draupadi's name, who accordingly to Duryodhan, had "joined in the laughter with other females." Whether Duryodhana was speaking an untruth or her name was a later addition into this part of the text is debatable.

Draupadi's laughter went on to be singled out and romanticized by writers for centuries as a cause for the dice-game, and the war. In Vyasa's Sanskrit epic, however, her role in the scene is trivial compared to the exaggerated treatment it has received in popular adaptations.[39]

Together with his maternal uncle Shakuni, Duryodhana conspired to call on the Pandavas to Hastinapura and win their kingdoms in a game of gambling. There is famous folklore that the plan's architect, Shakuni had magic dice that would never disobey his will, as they were made from the bones of Shakuni's father. This story, however, is non-existent in the Sanskrit epic. As the game proceeds, Yudhishthira loses everything at first. In the second round, Yudhishthira's brother Nakula is at stake, and Yudhishthira loses him. Yudhisthira subsequently gambles away Sahadeva, Arjuna and Bhima. Finally, Yudhishthira puts himself at stake, and loses again. For Duryodhana, the humiliation of the Pandavas was not complete. He prods Yudhishthira that he has not lost everything yet; Yudhishthira still has Draupadi with him and if he wishes he can win everything back by putting Draupadi at stake. Inebriated by the game, Yudhishthira, to the horror of everybody present, puts Draupadi up as a bet for the next round. Playing the next round, Shakuni wins. Draupadi was horrified after hearing that she was staked in the game and now is a slave for Duryodhana. Duryodhana initially sends his charioteer Pratikamin to bring Draupadi to the court. Pratikamin informs Draupadi about the incidents happened during the dice game. Draupadi questions Yudhishthira's right on her as he had lost himself first and she was still the queen. Duryodhana, angry with Draupadi's questions, commands his younger brother Dushasana to bring her into the court, forcefully if he must.[41][42]Dushasana drags Draupadi to the court by the hair. Seeing this, Bhima pledges to cut off Dushasana's hands, as they touched Draupadi's hair. Now in an emotional appeal to the elders present in the forum, Draupadi repeatedly questions the legality of the right of Yudhishthira to place her at stake.[43][44]

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