The Tale of Draupadi

The tale of Draupadi in the Mahabharata is an intriguing one. One has to decide whether Draupadi was a liberated woman or one who just acquiesced with what was presented to her. Draupadi was a princess of infinite beauty and her fame as a lovely princess had spread far and wide.

The poet Vyas who composed the verses of the Mahabharata does not dwell on the mind of Draupadi and as such we have to glean about her thoughts and mind by interpreting the verses composed by Vyas.

As was the custom the father of Draupadi advertised far and wide for her swayamvara. It was a custom where all the suitors vied with one another for the princess and the man who won claimed her as his wife. There were games of skill and archery competitions which went on for many days.

Vyas tells us that Draupadi was won by the Pandava prince Arjuna. He was the third brother of 5 brothers who were sons of the Princess Kunte. He was a great archer and he bested all other suitors and claimed the hand of Draupadi. After that, he took her in his chariot to their palace when it dawned on Arjuna that a knotty problem had arisen. It is known that the mother of Arjuna had got her sons to promise that they would all share anything won or captured together. Thus, when Arjuna took Draupadi home to meet Kunte, the promise of the Pandavas to their mother surfaced. Kunte insisted that all brothers marry Draupadi. Vyasa does not relate what were Draupadi’s thoughts on this bigamous marriage, but she agreed or perhaps she had no choice.

The next part of the tale is most interesting as it emerges that Draupadi was a strong woman in her own way. She decreed that she would marry all the brothers, but she would live with each brother for one year. During this period no other brother would touch her or come near her palace.

She also ensured that she lived in an opulent palace all alone and none of the other wives of the Pandavas could enter inside her palace. The period of one year was chosen as that is the period to have a child as Draupadi was impregnated by all the 5 Pandava brothers and had 5 sons from them.

The tale of Draupadi is not an exception, but there are other tales. Kunte herself had 6 husbands and gave birth to 6 sons while the princess Jatila married 7 sages. Princess Matis also married 10 Pracheta brothers. All these were polyandrous marriages.

The Mahabharata is an exciting tale and the story of Draupadi gives much food for thought. One fact emerges that despite marrying 5 brothers, Draupadi was in her own way a liberated woman who made her own rules. She is in my view an example for modern women. She made the rules and these could not be broken.