Draupadi, the Woman : Epitome of Feminity and Feminism - Part 3

Draupadi - Lost in a game of Dice

The five Pandavas were regarded as handsome and gallant and they definitely would not have had a problem wedding women of high birth and beauty, yet they all chose to be the husband to the fair Draupadi. She was a victim of circumstances and had no control over the situation when she was told that she had to marry five men at the same time. She was expected to love all her husbands equally, which indeed is a difficult thing to do. She was afraid of the kind of sexual commitment she was being asked to make. She placed her worry in a less explicit manner before Krishna. "How am I to divide myself physically and emotionally between five husbands?" Lord Krishna told Draupadi to spend one year with each husband. During that period the rest of her husbands will not have any sexual contact with her. They will be forbidden to enter the chamber in which Draupadi and the husband-of-the-year are spending intimate moments. If one does so, even accidentally, he would be exiled for twelve years. Thus Draupadi became the common consort of the five Pandavas.

Her conjugal life was strictly regimented, requiring tremendous self-control. All her sentiments and emotions needed a great deal of adjustment when she changed her lifestyle for each husband accordingly. It would not be too difficult to realize the tremendous responsibility that she had to bear as a wife of the five heroes who led a stormy life. Despite the difficulties she emerged as one of the most respected women in the epic story. She bravely accepted this challenge to her womanhood, shouldered the task and brought it to a fruitful conclusion. In due course Draupadi had five sons, one from each of her husbands. Prativindhya was the son of Yudhishtir, Srutasoma of Bhima, Srutakirti of Arjun, Satanika of Nakul, and Srutakarma of Sahadev.

Draupadi was living not only in a polyandrous relationship, but a polygamous one as well because the Pandava brothers had other wives. Bhima was already married to the demoness Hidimba. Arjun married several princesses after his marriage to Draupadi, including Lord Krishna's sister Subhadra. Whereas the other princesses stayed in their fathers' kingdoms, Subhadra came to Indraprastha to live with him. After the deaths of Shishupala and Jarasandha, Nakul and Sahadev married their daughters as a token of friendship. Draupadi managed this delicate relationship harmoniously. But she had not forgotten the reason of her birth and was biding her time.

Draupadi's unparalleled beauty and intelligence becomes the cause of her misery. She is charmed by Arjuna, the winner of the archery contest, set for her hand but she is bundled off by her father as the bride of all the five Pandavas on the advice of sage Vyasa. Her cruel fate divides her as a possession among five husbands and cuts up her personality.
Draupadi spends a year with each of her husbands in turn. She is denied fullness of married life with Arjuna whom she loves with all her heart. She is born out of the sacrificial fire (yajna) and called "Yajnaseni"; true to this appellation she burns with men's ill-treatment and she is also the reason of others burning on account of her reactions. She is in the open assembly-hall provoked retaliatory oaths and vows.

In ancient India, women occupied a very important position, in fact a superior position to men. It is a culture whose only words for strength and power are feminine - "Shakti" means "power" and "strength". All male power comes from the feminine. Literary evidence suggests that kings and towns were destroyed because a single woman was wronged by the state. For example, Valmiki's Ramayana teaches us that Ravana and his entire clan was wiped out because he abducted Sita. Ved Vyasa's Mahabharatha teaches us that all the Kauravas were killed because they humiliated Draupadi in public. Draupadi is presented as having a very impressive brilliant and strong personality and is projected as the primary cause of the battle of Kurukshetra.
After Draupadi married the five princes, the Pandavas, their mother Kunti and Draupadi returned to their kingdom, being then ruled by their uncle, Dhritarashtra. The kingdom was split into two, Indrapastha and Hastinapur, to avoid conflicts between the Pandavas and Kauravas. The Pandavas made the city of Indraprastha their capital. The palace at Indrapastha was constructed by the architect demon, Moy. The palace was heavenly and was replete with all kinds of wonderful illusory architecture.

Once they thought of performing the great sacrifice (yagna) of Rajsuya. A huge and wonderful hall was constructed The beauty, grandeur and decoration of the assembly hall for the Yagna made a visitor speechless with wonder. Lord Krishna personally supervised the performance of the Rajsuya Sacrifice. The Kauravas has no mind to see the splendour of their cousins. Still they also attended. Unfortunately Duryodhana was put to shame there. In the new palace he took a pond for polished floor and fell into the water. Draupadi laughed at this. Further on he saw the floor shining wih high polish and thought it was a pond; so he lifted up his clothing that it may not get wet. Again there were waves of laughter. At that moment, Draupadi laughed at Duryodhana, saying "son of a blind would be blind himself". Some versions of Mahabharata do not support this, though it does mention the hearty laugh. These insulting moments pierced Duryodhana deep within him. Nevertheless, because of this insult and the envy within him, of the Pandavas' luxury, Duryodhana decided to humble them and hence proposed them to play a game of dice.

Yudhishthira was very fond of gambling (game of dice). But he was no expert. Shakuni, maternal uncle of Kauravas, was a very experienced player. Yudhishthira went on losing. He offered his chariots, horses and elephants as stakes and lost them; and eventually he lost his kingdom, Indraprastha, as well. Finally he and his four brothers became the slaves of the Kaurava king. He lost Draupadi also in this gamble. The Kauravas having won, Duryodhana ordered that Draupadi be dragged into the court. The Pandavas bent their heads in shame. Yudhishthira now knew what an unjust action he was guilty of. But it was now too late and regret was of no use. When Draupadi heard this news she was dazed. But instead of meekly obeying her husband Yudhishthira , she sent back a query which none could answer. She questioned her husband Yudhishthira, if he had pledged her before or after he had lost himself in the gamble. She argued that if he had pledged himself first, he had no right over her as he was already a slave. She later challenged the game as illegal as she argued, that Duryodhan, a Kaurava, had not placed his brothers and wife as a matching stake. Mahabharata tells us how the assembly started to hiss loudly when Yudhishthira staked Draupadi. Plausibly the ownership of the wife by the husband was recognized but not respected in society. The Ramayana (another important mythology in my culture) preaches that there is no greater gift for a man than his wife. But the phrase gift to a man gives the impression that the wife is merely an object to provide happiness for the man.