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Draupadi was the main protagonist of the epic saga Mahabharata. Rare in ancient times, Draupadi was the epitome of gender and a pioneer of feminism complemented with fearlessness, compassion, and generosity.
She demanded justice for the unfair things meted at her and fought every situation with strength.
With a lighting personality, Draupadi in Mahabharata wife of Pandavas was no less than Arjuna or Bheema in terms of valor, spirit, virtue, and strength.
Draupadi is a story of suffering and disgrace brought to her when she was a mere chattel in the game of dice played by her husband.
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1. Who Was Draupadi?
By birth, Draupadi was the daughter of King Drupada, King of Panchal. So Draupadi was also known as Panchali. By marriage, she was the wife of Pandavas.
As per Narada Purana and Vayu Purana, Draupadi is a combined avatar of Shyamala (wife of Dharma), Bharati (wife of Vayu), Shachi (wife of Indra), Usha (wife of Ashwin), and Parvati (wife of Shiva).
As per a common belief in South India, she is an incarnation of Maha Kali. She was born to assist Lord Krishna in finishing off all the arrogant kings. She is also considered an expansion of Goddess Lakshmi.
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2. How Was Draupadi Born?
Drona, the guru of Kuru princes, defeats King Drupada and takes half of Panchal. King Drupada seeks revenge but knows the fact that his allies and his children are not capable of defeating Drona. King Drupada decides to perform a yajna (fire sacrifice) to have a powerful son.
The priest asks Prishati, the wife of King Drupada, to consume the sacrifice offerings. But she refuses and asks to wait. The Yaja and Upyaja who perform the yajna put the offerings on the altar of sacrifice.
And from the altar appears a youth and maiden. The youth is known as Dhrishtadyumna while the maiden is known as Krishna but better patronymic “Draupadi”. Being born from Yajna, she is also known as Adonijah.
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3. Was Draupadi Beautiful?
As per the description by Vyasa, author of Mahabharata, Draupadi was extremely beautiful. She has large black eyes which resemble lotus petals. Her complexion was dark.
Her hair was dark blue in Colour with curls. She had perfectly convex nails which were bright as burnished copper.
She had fair eyebrows and a deep bosom. Her body would smell like blue lotus even from 2 miles away. She has elegance and grace which all men desire.
Her beauty was such that she had no equal on the earth. Except for Rukmini and Satyabhama, no woman could be compared to the beauty of Draupadi.
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4. How does Draupadi Marry Pandavas?
King Drupada intends to marry Draupadi to Arjuna. But he sets up a Swayamvar after hearing about the death of Pandavas at Varnavata. The test in the Swayamvar is to target the eye of moving fish. The news of Draupadi’s Swayamvar is spread far and wide.
All generals, Princes, and brahmins, start proceeding toward Panchal to win the test and marry Draupadi. Even Pandavas moves towards Panchal in the plan to marry Draupadi. At the Swayamvar, almost all monarchs fail to pass the test.
As per one version, Karna is not allowed to enter the Swayamvar while as per another version he is not able to string the bow by the breadth of a hair. In the end, Arjuna hits the eye of a moving fish and wins Draupadi as her wedded half.
After he reaches home, he calls out his mother, Kunti, and says “See what I have got”. Presuming it to be alms, Kunti asks him to share the same with his brothers. Considering it to be a motherly command, Arjuna is forced to share Draupadi with his brothers.
This is a rare example of polyandry in Indian history. Based on the agreement, Draupadi lives with each brother for a year. No other brother enters her room if she is with any of the other Pandavas.
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Draupadi had five sons, one son each from the Pandava brothers, and was known as Upapandavas. Her sons were Prativindhya (from Yudhishthira), Sutasoma (from Bheema), Shrutakarma (from Arjuna), Satanika (from Nakula) and Shrutasena (from Sahadeva).
Another story says that, in her earlier birth as Narayani, she received a boon from Lord Shiv that she would have five husbands. She wanted a husband who was a good archer, had wisdom and values, was strong and well built, handsome and intelligent.
All these qualities were not found in one man; hence she was married to five who together possessed these qualities.
The qualities were divided among the Pandavas with Yudhistira for moral values, Bhima for physical strength, Arjuna for archery, Nakula was handsome and Sahadev was the most intelligent.
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5. How does Draupadi Manage 5 Husbands?
Satyabhama once asked Draupadi how she manages her five husbands.
In replying to the cunning question, Draupadi recommends, setting your wrath aside, secondly, consider your husband excitable as a child, making your feelings known by well-chosen words instead of tears, fourth Love your husband with all your heart, and finally keep private conversations private.
These recommendations are not only for more husbands but also for any wife even in today’s world.
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6. How Did Draupadi Die?
Long after the battle of Kurukshetra, Lord Krishna decides to leave his mortal body. After Lord Krishna left, Pandavas lost interest in this world. Yudhisthira, Draupadi along with other Pandavas and a dog left for heavenly adobe.
They walk north to reach the Himalayas. After passing the mountains, they see “Sumeru Parvat”. They start crossing the Parvat. However, in the middle of the journey, Draupadi’s feet are stunned and she falls from the mountain and dies.
Bheema asks Yudhisthira,
“Why did Draupadi die before us? Why she didn’t continue with us to heaven?” to which Yudhisthira replies “She loved Arjuna more than four of us”
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7. Issues Of Draupadi with Karna
At the Swayamvar, Draupadi rejects Karna from entering. She says that he is a “Suta Putra” and hence cannot participate in her Swayamvar. This rejection from Draupadi has a light of hatred in Karna’a’s mind.
During the game of dice, Yudhisthira stakes his wife Draupadi. However, Vikarna, brother of Duryodhana, states that no one has the right to bet a woman according to ancient books, not a husband or a brother or father or son or even God.
Hearing this, Karna gets angry and says Yudhisthria has lost all his possessions including his wife Draupadi. Karna calls Draupadi a whore who is wedded to five brothers. Being so if she is dragged to court is not a surprise even if she is attired or naked.
He orders Dushashana to disrobe Draupadi. He also orders Dushasana to take Draupadi to the servant’s quarter and choose another husband who would not bet her in a game the way Yudhisthira did.
8. Did Karna Apologize to Draupadi?
Eventually, various events led to the battle of Kurukshetra. On the 12th day of battle, Arjuna makes a vow to kill Jayadratha (Duryodhana’s brother-in-law) or take Agni Samadhi.
Drona plans to capture Yudhisthira while Arjuna is busy fighting with Jayadratha.
Bheema is appointed to defend Yudhisthira. Duryodhana asks Karna to involve Bheema in a fight and in the meantime he can capture Yudhisthira.
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Karna challenges Bheema and fights with the neutral weapon “Spear” as Karna is superior in archery and Bheema is superior in Gada (The mace).
In the end, Karna defeats Bheema but does not kill him for the reason, that he had promised Kunti that 5 of her sons will remain alive and if he kills Bheema he could not kill Arjuna.
Also, if he kills Bheema it would be an injustice to Draupdi’s unstrangled hair as she has taken a vow to wet her hair with the blood of Dushasana.
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Earlier Karna protected Draupadi from Vasuki and Draupadi touched her feet saying “Hey Angraj Karna, please forgive me for my innocence for unfairly denying you participation in my wedding competition and calling you “Suta Putra”, I take back my words, and today you have protected my modesty.
After Shree Krishna, only you have protected my modesty. And hence you have risen to a Godly level in my heart.
I, Panchali, the wife of Pandavas, the daughter of Drupada, the sister of Dhristadhumnya, the mother of 5 brave sons, respect you to an equal level to my husbands.”
To this Karna had said,
“Hey Devi, hey Annapurna, hey Kalyani, please forgive me too for insulting you in the courtroom. I was blind to the agony of revenge. I never realize your worth. I will ensure justice is done to your hair”
When Draupadi gets to know that Karna didn’t kill Bheema, her love and respect for Karna are augmented.
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9. Was Draupadi in Love with Karna?
If we look at Mahabharata, the two characters who received most of the humiliation were Draupadi and Karna. Draupadi always wanted a husband who had wisdom and moral values, was strong and well-built, handsome, intelligent, and a good archer.
God knows her to wish well ahead and gave all these qualities to one man. Draupadi the only character in Mahabharata who possessed all these qualities was Karna.
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However, Draupadi herself stops Karna from entering her Swayamvar by calling him “Suta Putra”. But years after she learns from Krishna that Karna is not a Suta Putra but the eldest son of Kunti.
Upon hearing this Draupadi said.
“If I had been married to Karna, I would not have been gambled away in a game and humiliated publicly and called whore. He possessed all the qualities which five of my husband’s possessed”
Draupadi always favored Arjuna but Arjuna was always inclined to Subhadra. Draupadi knew this and started having a soft corner for Karna.
For several years, many have explored the hidden love of Draupadi for Karna. Some justified it with her powerful and dynamic character. The undercurrent of unexpressed feelings between Draupadi and Karna has always been a mystery in the story of Mahabharata.
With this we will leave you with a thought, if Draupadi was married to Karna, then probably Mahabharata would have never happened, or it would have been a different story.
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