Draupadi (), also referred to as Krishnā, Panchali and Yajnaseni, is one of the central characters of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata (c. 400 BCE – 400 CE). Born from a yajna (fire sacrifice) conducted by King Drupada of Panchala, she is the princess of the Panchala Kingdom and the common wife of the five Pandava brothers—Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva—in a polyandrous marriage sanctioned by divine prophecy and narratives of her previous lives. Attested as a partial incarnation of the goddess Shri, Draupadi initially serves as the queen of Indraprastha, overseeing the kingdom's finances and treasury. She is also described as a sakhi (close friend) of the god Krishna.

The most notable episode featuring Draupadi takes place during the game of dice at the Kuru court. In this game, Yudhishthira, having lost Indraprastha and his freedom, wagers and loses Draupadi to his cousin Duryodhana—the leader of the Kauravas. She is forcibly dragged into the royal assembly and deemed a slave. However, she challenges the assembly, questioning the legality of being staked after one of her husbands had already forfeited his own freedom. After she is publicly humiliated by Duryodhana and his ally Karna for being married to five men, the Kaurava prince Dushasana attempts to disrobe her, but her honour is miraculously preserved, as her garment becomes endlessly extended. The Kuru king Dhritarashtra then intervenes and grants Draupadi two boons, resulting in the release of the Pandavas from bondage.

Afterwards, Draupadi accompanies the Pandavas into their thirteen-year exile after they lose their kingdom to the Kauravas. In the final year of exile, Draupadi lives incognito, disguised as a maid to Queen Sudeshna of Matsya. When she is harassed by the Matsya general Kichaka, she successfully persuades Bhima to kill Kichaka. After the exile, when Duryodhana refuses to restore the Pandavas' kingdom, Draupadi strongly supports the call for the Kurukshetra War, recalling the humiliations and assaults she had suffered and demanding punishment for her culprits. Although the Kauravas are slain, the war also leads to the deaths of her father, brothers, and her five sons. These sons—each born to one of the Pandavas—are collectively known by the matronymic Draupadeyas. After the Pandavas' victory, she becomes the empress of the Kuru Kingdom for thirty-six years. In the epic's conclusion, Draupadi joins the Pandavas on their final journey toward heaven, during which she is the first to fall.

Draupadi is a significant figure in Hindu and Indian culture, particularly noted for her beauty, courage, devotion, intelligence, resilience and rhetorical skills. She is also extolled as one of the panchakanya (five virgins), archetypes of female chastity whose names are believed to dispel sin when recited. Mediaeval classical literature introduces several new narratives centred on Draupadi, including her untied hair and the vow to wash her hair with Dushasana's blood as a symbol of revenge. In some parts of the sub-continent, a sect of Draupadi exists, where she is worshipped as a goddess. Her story has been an inspiration for various arts, performances and secondary literature.

Etymology and epithets

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

  • Krishnā (Kṛṣṇā) – 'one who has a dark complexion'. It is the birth name of Draupadi.
  • Panchali (Pāñcālī) – 'one from Panchala'.
  • Yajnaseni (Yajñasenī) – another patronymic derived from Drupada's another name Yajnasena (lit. 'he whose army is sacrificial'); or the name can also mean 'one born from a Yajña (sacrificial fire)'.
  • Sairandhri (Sairandhrī) – 'an expert maid'. This pseudonym was assumed by Draupadi during her incognito life.
  • Parshati (Parṣatī) – 'granddaughter of Prishata', or 'daughter of Prishati'. Both the names—Parshati and Prishati—are derived from Prishata, Drupada's father.
  • Malini (Mālinī) – fragrant, one who makes garlands.
  • Panchavallabha (Pancavallabhā) – 'Beloved of the five Pandavas'.
  • Pandusharmila (Pāṇḍuśarmilā) – 'Daughter-in-law of Pandu'.

Literary background

The story of Draupadi is told in the 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.

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. 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.

Biography

Birth

thumb|A 1940s print depicting the birth of Draupadi from the fire sacrifice

Draupadi is not born of a woman and thus, she is often described as an ayonija (lit. 'one not born from a woman's womb'). Her birth is narrated in the Adi Parva of the epic. Drona—the teacher of the Kuru princes—defeats his former friend Drupada with the help of his student Arjuna and seizes half of Panchala. Seeking vengeance, Drupada realises that none of his sons or allies is capable of slaying Drona. As a result, he decides to perform a yajna (fire-sacrifice) to obtain a powerful son. He approaches the sage Upayaja, who initially refuses to conduct the rite, as it departs from the auspicious śrauta (Vedic) tradition and draws instead on non-śrauta practices. The ritual partakes of the nature of abhichara (black magic)—a death-dealing form of sacrifice—which Upayaja disapproves of. However, Drupada eventually wins over his elder brother, Yaja. With the sages Yaja and Upayaja serving as the chief priests, the yajna is conducted. After its completion, the priests instruct Prishati—Drupada's queen—to consume the sacrificial offering in order to conceive, but she refuses and asks them to wait until she has bathed and put on perfume. Unable to wait, Yaja pours the offering into the altar of the sacrifice. From the flames first emerges a youthful man, prophesied to slay Drona and fulfil Drupada's vengeance. Following him, Draupadi—as a fully grown youthful maiden—arises from the vedi (altar), who, unlike her brother, is not born to fulfil Drupada's task, but that of the gods. The Mahabharata includes an exceedingly flattering description of Draupadi as she arises from the altar,

Draupadi's birth, too, is accompanied by a divine prophecy, which declares that she would be the foremost among all women and would become the cause of the destruction of many Kshatriyas. The twins are named Dhrishtadyumna and Krishnaa, respectively, by the chief priests, and Prishati proclaims that they should be considered her children. The twins accept both Drupada and Prishati as their parents, and Krishnaa is bestowed with the patronymic Draupadi.

At the svayamvara contest, Dhrishtadyumna performs the fire ritual and announces the terms of the challenge. He then presents the assembled barons to Draupadi. It is stated that all the barons, as well as all the Pandavas, seated among the Brahmins, become infatuated with Draupadi the moment they see her. Nearly all the assembled monarchs fail to complete the challenge. There are variations concerning Karna’s participation: in some Northern Recensions, Draupadi exercises her autonomy and refuses to marry Karna on the grounds that he is a suta (a caste lower than the Kshatriya), which seeds a hatred for her in Karna that later manifests during the dice game; in most others, including the Critical Edition, Draupadi raises no such objection—Karna simply attempts the trial but fails to string the bow by the breadth of a hair.

Later life and death

thumb|Draupadi falls dead as the Pandavas proceed to heaven, a 19th-century wood engraving

Following the Kurukshetra War, the Pandavas assumed control of Hastinapura, and Draupadi is described as being among those who encouraged Yudhishthira to assume the role of ruler. Yudhishthira subsequently performed an Ashvamedha Yajna, during which Draupadi presented gifts to her co-wives Chitrangada and Ulupi. After the Ashvamedha, Draupadi resided in Hastinapura, providing service to both Kunti and Gandhari. When Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, and Kunti decided to depart for the forest, Draupadi expressed her wish to accompany them and offer assistance, but her offer was declined. During the Pandavas' reign in Hastinapura, visiting rishis and siddhas reportedly recognized Draupadi as an embodiment of the goddess Sri-Lakshmi.

Draupadi and Yudhishthira ruled for 36 years. When her husbands retired from the world and went on their journey towards the Himalayas and heaven, she accompanied them and was the first to fall dead on the journey. When Bhima asked Yudhishthira why Draupadi had fallen, Yudhishthira replied,

In Svargarohanika Parva, Yudhisthira goes to heaven and sees Draupadi seated as Goddess Sri-Lakshmi.

Draupadi as a goddess

thumb|Draupati Amman idol in Udappu, [[Sri Lanka]]

The Draupadi Amman is a regional Hindu deity primarily worshipped by the Palli community as goddess of sex-positivism and was the primary inspiration for the community's widespread practice of polyandry and prostitution,which they later abandoned due to shaming from wider Tamil community, in medieval period. The rituals are quite unique and aren't typical of the wider Tamil community. This tradition is widespread, with over 400 temples dedicated to Draupadi in South Indian states such as Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka, as well as in countries with a large Tamil population like Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius, Réunion, and South Africa. Additionally, Draupadi is worshipped as an incarnation of Adishakti and Parvati during the Bengaluru Pete's Bangalore Karaga festival, a nine-day event. Communities including the Pillais, Vanniyars, Mudaliyars, Konars, Gounders of Tamil Nadu, and the Tigala community of Karnataka also consider Draupadi Amman as their household deity (kuladevi).

In other traditions

In Theravada Buddhism, Draupadi is called Kaṇhā Devi ( Kṛṣṇā ), a princess of Kasi. In Mahākuṇāla jataka, she was depicted in a very negative light as the epitome of a lustful woman, who even cheated on her five handsome royal husbands with a hunchbacked dwarf.

In Digambara Jain scriptures like Harivamsa Purana, polyandry of Draupadi has been rejected and it is suggested that she was married only to Arjuna. Hemachandra, a Śvetāmbara Jain monk, accepts the polyandry in his work Triṣaṣṭi and further suggests that Draupadi was Nagasri in one of her previous lives and had poisoned a Jain monk. Therefore, she had to suffer in hell and animal incarnations for several lives before being born a woman who later became a Jain nun. After her death, she was reborn as Draupadi and was married to five Pandavas.

right|thumb|Draupadi and Bhima depicted by actors in [[yakshagana theatre]]

In folk cultures

  • According to a folklore, Draupadi introduced the popular Indian snack Pani Puri.

Arts and dances

Karaga is a folk festival of Karnataka which originated as a ritual in Southern India dedicated to Draupadi as known in these parts as Droupadamma. The ritual is performed on a full moon day.

The story of Draupadi is one of the central topics of Yakshagana, a traditional dance-play practised in Karnataka and Terukkuttu, a Tamil street theatre form practised in Tamil Nadu state of India and Tamil-speaking regions of Sri Lanka.

In literature

The fiery heroine of Mahabharata has been the topic of research and debate for centuries. There are various plays and novels based on her.

  • Yajnaseni by Pratibha Ray – This novel, originally written in Odia was the recipient of Jnanpith Award. It was also translated in various languages like English, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam, etc.
  • The Palace of Illusions: A Novel by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni – Deviating much from the Sanskrit text, Divakaruni brings up the emotions of Draupadi, re-imagining the whole epic from her perspective.
  • Draupadi by Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad, is a Sahitya Akademi Award-winning Telugu novel that narrates Mahabharata from Draupadi's perspective.
  • The Cult of Draupadi by Alf Hiltebeitel – This trilogy is an exhaustive, scholarly account of the various folk traditions surrounding Draupadi in South India. Hiltebeitel travels through various parts of India, tracing and recording the lesser-known customs and tribes in Gingi Cult and much more, who extensively worship Draupadi as their deity – a status which has been attained by few Mahabharat characters. There are over 31 plays and ballads that are conducted in over 400 temples, that are dedicated to Draupadi Amman. The story of Draupadi creates great respect for women in society. Her sacrifice and her inner power defeats the evil activities performed on women
  • Nathabati Anathbat by Shaoli Mitra – This is a stage play depicting the agony of Draupadi as a woman who "has five husbands, and yet none to protect her."
  • Dopdi by Mahasweta Devi in Bengali – A contemporary tale of oppression with Draupadi as the lead character.
  • The Great Indian Novel by Dr. Shashi Tharoor – Written as a fictional work that is analogous to the events featured in the Mahabharata in order to describe contemporary Indian Politics, Dr.Tharoor has described the character of 'Draupadi' as 'Di Mokrasi', who is an illegitimate daughter of 'Dhritarashtra' and 'Lady Drewpad' in the novel. Tharoor likens Draupadi to the tenets of 'Democracy'. As mentioned in Veda Vyasa's epic, he ascribes her to be the wife to all five 'Pandyas', who are themselves an abbreviation of different facets of Indian politics.

In politics

Ram Manohar Lohia proposed that Draupadi, the intelligent, sharp-witted, courageous, and fiercely independent heroine of the Mahabharata, represented the ideal of Indian womanhood, standing in contrast to the docile and obedient portrayal of Sati-Savitri. He used this cultural symbol to advocate gender justice.

See also

  • Agnivansha
  • Draupati Amman
  • Yajnaseni, a novel by Pratibha Ray
  • Yajnaseni, a play by Suman Pokhrel
  • Historicity of the Mahabharata

Citations

Notes

References

  • Eminent women in the Mahabharata by Vanamala Bhawalkar.
  • Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, English translation by Kisari Mohan Ganguli
  • Sacred-texts.com
  • The Kaurava race of Sri Lanka and the worship of Draupadi
  • Karaga Worship is all about Goddess Draupadi
  • Pattanaik, Devadutt (2009). 7 Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art. Westland, Mumbai. .
  • Draupadi Amman Shrine/ Temple - KONDAL, Mayiladuthurai, TN.