AN ABORTED ABDUCTION OF DRAUPADI

 

AN  ABORTED ABDUCTION OF DRAUPADI

                                                       Draupadi


Draupadi, or Panchali, was born as the daughter of King Drupada through a holy fire sacrifice. She was beautiful and intelligent, with a fiery will. She married all five Pandava brothers, becoming queen of Indraprastha. Her humiliation in the Kaurava court sparked the Kurukshetra war.

 

King Drupada wanted a son and a daughter. A son to kill Drona. A son to kill Bhishma. A daughter who will marry into the Kuru household and divide it. King Drupada was defeated by Drona's students. A humiliated Drupada wanted to avenge this, and he invoked Shiva, the destructive form of god. Shiva blessed Drupada with a daughter who would later become a man. 

Drupada was not satisfied with this child. So he sought the help of the Rishis Yaja and Upayaja, who knew the secret art of creating a magic potion that, when consumed, could give women children. The two sages performed a great yagna. But when it was time to give the magic potion to Drupada's queen, she was busy after taking a bath, putting on perfume. Yaja and Upayaja refused to wait for her and threw the magic potion into the fire-pit.



From the flames emerged two children: a man called Dhrishtadyumna who would kill Drona, and a woman called Draupadi who would create a rift in the Kuru clan. Draupadi was fully grown up when she was born and was a ravishing beauty.



Draupadi became the wife of the five Pandavas after Arjuna won a Swayamvara contest. Arjuna offered Draupadi in marriage to his eldest brother, Yudhishtira. However, Yudhishtira wanted all five brothers to marry Draupadi to avoid any rift among them if one of them married her. The custom of polyandry was not prevalent in their society. However, dharma permitted it, according to stories narrated by some sages. Since dharma allowed it, there was no stopping Draupadi from marrying the Pandava brothers. Draupadi received the brothers in her boudoir one at a time every year. The Pandavas wait for their turn to enter her bedroom. She was chastised and remained a virgin by retaining her hymen after having sex with one of the brothers by walking through fire. Draupadi's body smelled of perfume.



Pandavas lost everything precious in the game of dice to the Kauravas and had to spend 13 years in exile. They departed from their palace to spend 13 years in the jungle along with Draupadi.

 

One day, the Pandava brothers left for the forest to get fruits and other eatables, leaving Draupadi alone in their caves.



The Sindhu King Jaydratha was passing by the Pandavas dwelling and was informed of Draupadi's whereabouts through his army. He lusted after beautiful Draupadi and went to the hermitage to meet her. 

Draupadi was taken aback to spot Jaydratha at the entrance of the cave.



Draupadi, following the customs of hospitality, welcomed him politely, invited him inside, and offered him fruits and honey as a guest.



Jayadratha was savouring her beauty with his naked eyes and looked at her lustfully.



During the conversation, she explained that she was the queen of Indraprastha, married to the Pandavas, and her husbands were currently away in the forest hunting, and would return soon, implying that he should behave properly.



Jaydratha presented Draupadi with fine fabrics, precious jewels and pearls and showed his intention to marry her. He told her that she would be his concubine in the Sindhu Empire. After listening to his proposal and knowing his audacity to talk to her in such a manner, she rejected his advances, saying that my husbands will come now and kill him for his ulterior motives and also reminded him that she is the queen of Indraprastha.



Jaydratha mocked her, saying that she was no longer a queen but a beggar now. He reiterated that Duryodhana disrobed her in public in the Kaurava court. Also told her that, being the wife of all five Pandavas, she is nothing more than a whore.








A furious Draupadi called out to her husbands for rescuing her, and she did backstep to avoid Jayadratha's advances. But the determined Jayadratha, with lust, caught hold of her and hurled her into his waiting chariot and sped away.

Jaydratha abducts Draupadi
(Portrait by artist Raja Ravi Varma)



When the Pandavas returned, they saw Draupadi missing. A couple of sages informed them that Jaydratha had abducted Draupadi. Yudhishtira ordered Bhima and Arjuna to chase him and save Draupadi from his clutches, and reminded them of Dharma to spare his life as he was the husband of Kaurava's lone sister Duhshala. Bhima and Arjuna, with great speed, chased Jaydratha in their chariots and intercepted him on the way. An angry Bhima violently hurt him by tossing him up and down, and hurled him on the ground with a thud and pulled off his hair, leaving five tufts, to remind him that he was spared by the five Pandavas.



A terrified and then relieved Draupadi joined her husbands after Jayadratha's abduction attempt. 



The stunning beauty of Draupadi's effect on men is a recurring theme in the epic Mahabharata. Besides Jayadratha, other men lust after her. She has to fend off the unwarranted attention of Kichaka, brother-in-law of Virata, king of Matsya.




Draupadi was a central heroine in the epic Mahabharata by Vyasa. Some even worshipped her as a goddess.




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