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Home , Abhimanyu, Ambalika, Ambika (Mahabharata), Arjuna, Bhishma, Dhrishtadyumna

Part IV: Five Holy Virgins, Five Sacred Myths

She Who Must Be Obeyed : The Ill-Fated One

 Pradip Bhattacharya

Draupadi’s emergence by

In the first two parts of this quest we explored three of the five kanyas, , , and of the , seeking to understand what makes them so special and, while en-route Pritha-, discovered in the her grandmother-in-law , another remarkable woman sharing features that characterise the kanya. In the third instalment, we saw the remarkable character of Kunti, the first recorded instance of a redoubtable Single Mother. Now we meet the last of the five “virgins,” the heroine of : Draupadi. To help us through the thickly interwoven maze of relationships, let us lay out the broad linkages:

The sage forces blind born from Shura of the of himself on the fisher-girl, who shut her eyes in Pritha, whom he Matsyagandha-Satyavati, who is aversion during intercourse and gifts away in childhood to his ferrying him across the pale (jaundiced) from childless friend Kuntibhoja who (dark) Dvaipayana (born- who became pale from renames her Kunti. The sage on-an-island) . shock at Vyasa’s ugliness. gives her an incantation , king of Hastinapura, Satyavati, therefore, insists that () whereby she can marries Devavrata- Ambika make good her lapse but summon anyone, even a god, for , who abjures the throne the princess sends in her maid begetting a son. To experiment, and vows celibacy so that to Vyasa instead the she invokes the sun god Satyavati agrees to marry his veritable soul of righteousness.  , born with father. The younger Pandu rules as celestial earrings and armour, Shantanu marries Satyavati Dhritarashtra is disqualified whom she sets afloat in a basket Chitrangada (killed in a duel) and because of his blindness. Vidura in the river Ashvanadi, as she is who becomes king becomes the -keeper unmarried (see Part II). in adolescence, with Bhishma as of the ruler. Karna is rescued by a childless regent. Dhritarashtra marries charioteer Adhirath and his wife Vichitravirya marries Ambika and Ambalika, princesses of (whose father , after whom he is called Kashi (Benares) whom Bhishma Bhishma terrorised into giving Radheya. makes abducts for this purpose. The her in marriage. She blinds Karna ruler of and his fast youth dies without progeny. herself by tying a cloth over her friend. Bhishma refuses to break his eyes permanently) 100 sons A son of Shura is , vow and practices levirate on the called (Duryodhana, whose sons from widows as requested by the Duhshasana, etc.), one daughter and Krishna from Devaki, Queen-mother, Satyavati. She Duhshala, and another son are Pritha’s nephews. summons her illegitimate son Yuyutsut from a Vaishya In a Kunti marries Vyasa who has become a sage maidservant during Gandhari’s Pandu. Immediately, Bhishma by now. Reluctantly he agrees pregnancy. Gandhari’s , pays heavy bride-price and to impregnate the two widows scheming , becomes brings as Pandu’s second their advisor. wife. Pandu is childless, being “” signifies “leading to the birth of”

No.144 19 cursed to die in coitus. In grief, Jealous of their cousins’ claim Dhritarashtra asks the he exiles himself with his wives to the throne, the Kauravas to make their home in the forest in the . Dhritarashtra conspire with Shakuni of Khandavaprastha. Krishna rules. At Pandu’s insistence, and Karna to kill them. The assists the Pandavas in building Kunti uses the mantra to summon Pandavas flee into a their capital by  ; forest where a rakshasi clearing the forest. ;  . marries Bhima . The Kauravas deprive the At Pandu’s plea, Kunti Advised by their grandfather Pandavas of their kingdom in a teaches the mantra to Madri Vyasa, the Pandavas reach the game of dice, in which Draupadi who invokes the twin kingdom where is staked and lost by Yudhishthira. The Pandavas are Ashvinikumaras Arjuna wins the hand of sent into exile for 13 years. and . These are the five its king Yajnasena-’s Arjuna marries , Pandavas. miraculously born daughter sister of Balarama-Krishna Pandu forces himself on (emerging from the who married Madri and dies in coitus. sacrificial altar)-Krishnaa (dark)- daughter of king in whose Entrusting her sons to Kunti, Panchali-Draupadi. She becomes court the Pandavas take shelter Madri dies, too. Kunti returns to the common wife of the five in exile who becomes Hastinapura with the five at Kunti’s command and king of Hastinapura at the end Pandavas. is Krishna’s special friend, sakhi. of the epic.

Yajnaseni-Krishnaa-Panchali to them for restoring his confidence by a skiey heavenly announcement If Kunti’s is a death-in-flames, her after his humiliating defeat by that this lovely, dark (hence, one of daughter-in-law Draupadi is fire-altar and rescue by the exiled her names is Krishnaa) lady will born. Like Ahalya fashioned by Pandavas. Yajnaseni’s complexion destroy all . She appears, , ocean-born Tara, Mandodari resembles the blue and red therefore, to fulfil not Drupada’s created by or , and tree- (nilalohita) kritya of the Rig and purpose but that of the gods, engendered Marisha (wife of the ten Atharva . Like ’s responding to the Earth’s anguished Prachetas), she is ayonija-sambhava, serpent-holocaust ritual performed by prayer to lighten her burden of not of woman born. Like Athena priests in black robes, the rite oppressive Kshatriyas. Despite being springing cap a pie from Zeus’ head performed for Drupada draws on non- aware of this announcement—or and taking shape from the shrauta (sacred) tradition, a departure being conscious of it—the gods- combined fury of the gods, Yajnaseni from the auspicious vedic sacrifice engendered Pandavas wed her and emerges in the bloom of youth from and partakes of the nature of destroy the Kauravas, whose birth is Yajnasena-Drupada’s vedi, abhichara (black-magic), death- entirely human. Her marriage to the sacrificial fire-altar, which is dealing, because of which Upayaja, son of -Dharma, Yudhishthira, repeatedly cited as a simile for her whom Drupada approaches first, reinforces her ominous links with hour-glass figure. Her manifestation refuses to perform it. Here, too, there death. Even her very first appearance does not require the matrix of a human is a resemblance with Kunti because is as Shri in the Adi (I.196), in womb and ignores the absence of Durvasa’s boon to her is described the context of a twelve-year sacrifice Drupada’s queen who does not as abhicharasamyuktam…varam Yama, the god of death, performs on respond to the priest’s summons, as mantragramam (I.113.34), the banks of the Ganga, during which her make-up is unfinished. invocations linked by black magic. In there is no death in the world. Shri is It is significant that Draupadi particular, it is linked to Yudhishthira’s a mysterious femme fatale weeping emerges gratuitously at the end of a birth. Pandu specifically urges Kunti tears that turn into golden lotuses in sacrificial rite performed to wreak to summon Dharma with abhichara the Ganga, luring the intrigued Indra vengeance—that, too, on the rites, upacharabhicharabhyam into the presence of playing dice —like the kritya (a dharmam aradhayasva (I.39, 42).1 with his consort. Indra, not woman created by sorcery to slay an Born to Destroy recognising Shiva, berates him for not enemy) sent by the prince of Kashi Draupadi’s emergence is an showing respect and is despatched against Krishna to avenge his father’s unintended bonus for Drupada who into a nether-world-like cave to join death and the kritya invoked by performed the rite for obtaining a son four other arrogant demons to bring suicidal Duryodhana to kill Drona. Her birth is accompanied (Vishvabhuk, Bhutadhama, Shibi,

No.144 20 Shanti, and Tejasvi), all sentenced to An Amorous Lover her entire life parcelled out among five be reborn on earth as the Pandavas Dark like her great grandmother- men within the sacrament of marriage.5 accompanied by the cherchez la in-law Gandhakali and gifted with She shares with Satyavati and Kunti femme Shri as Draupadi.2 blue-lotus fragrance wafting for a full an imperishable, ever-renewable Lovely and Enchanting krosha like Yojanagandha, she virginity: “Panchali,” as she is called when “knows”—like her mother-in-law The divine , narrating this she appears from the altar, is pregnant Kunti and great grandmother-in-law wondrous, miraculous and excellent with double meaning: “of Panchala” Satyavati—more than one man. Like event said, and “puppet.” This presages how she Kunti she is also described as an Lovely-waisted and noble-minded lives her entire life, acting out not just amorous lover: Draupadi bhratripati indeed, 3 her father’s vengeful obsession but ca pancanam kamini tatha. Dr. she became virgin anew after each as an instrument of the gods to bring Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri records an marriage” (I.197.14) account narrated by Pandit Anantalal death back to the world. Is there a link with the Vedic marital Thakur in which Duryodhana’s wife She is the only kanya whose hymns where the bride is first Bhanumati sneers at Draupadi asking appearance is described in detail and offered to Soma, , and how she manages five husbands, it is, therefore, worth noting: and only then to the human “kena vrittena Draupadi pandavan bridegroom as her fourth husband? eye-ravishing Panchali, adhitishthasi.” Draupadi swiftly black-and-smiling-eyed… responds that among her in-laws the Somah prathamo vivide Dark-skinned Panchali, number of husbands has always been gandharvo vivida uttarah/ Lotus-eyed lady, rather excessive, “pativriddhi kule Tritiyo agnishte patisturiyaste Wavy-haired Panchali mama”4—a right royal riposte that manyushyajah// Hair like dark blue clouds, encompasses in a fell swoop her (Soma obtained her first of all; Shining coppery carved nails, mother-in-law Kunti, grandmothers- next the Gandharva was her lord./ Soft eye-lashes, in-law Ambika and Ambalika (who are Agni was thy third husband:/ Swelling breasts and Bhanumati’s, too), and great- now one born of woman is thy Shapely thighs… grandmother-in-law Satyavati. The fourth./ Soma to the Gandharva, Blue lotus story shows how popular memory has and to Agni the Gandharva gave:/ Fragrance for a full krosha treasured Draupadi for her acute And Agni hath bestowed on me Flowed from her body… intelligence and forceful personality riches and sons and this my (I.169.44-46) that took nothing lying down. Yet, spouse.)6 Vyasa categorically states that the hers is an immeasurably greater She-Who-Must-be-Obeyed creator had so fashioned her that predicament compared to those According to the Villipputtur’s women of her husbands’ family. her loveliness surpassed that of Tamil version of the epic, Draupadi Where theirs were momentary bathes in fire after each marriage, all women (reminiscent of encounters, Draupadi has to live out emerging chaste like the pole star.7 about Ahalya) and enchanted This emergence from fire everyone. The kings in reinforces the kritya image and the svayamvara hall are reminds us of Rider Haggard’s described as so tormented “She-who-must-be-obeyed,” by the arrows of desire renewing her youth by bathing (kandarpabanabhinipiditangah) in fire, an Anima archetype. that even friends hated each The South Indian cult of other (I.186.5). When the Draupadi sculpts her holding brothers look upon her in the a closed lotus bud symbolising potter’s hut, they all lose their virginity, as opposed to the hearts to her. Noticing this, open lotus of fertility Subhadra Yudhishthira recalls Vyasa’s holds. Icons of Draupadi also prophecy and announces that hold in one hand a parrot, the she will be their common wife Arjuna, Bhima bring Draupadi home, vehicle of the god of watches (I.190.12-14). erotic desire.

No.144 21 “The parrot symbolizing the No husband have I, nor son principle of desire,” writes Archna nor brother, nor father; and Sahni, “is poised atop the bud to tease O Madhusudana, even it open, so as to begin creation. you are not mine!” Draupadi, carrying the two She exhorts that he is bound fourfold interdependent and interactive symbols to protect her13: of desire and creation is none other than For four reasons, Krishna, you the goddess as the genetrix of all are bound to protect me ever: 8 things.” Thus, she is , who is at I’m related, I’m renowned, once virgin and erotic. She transforms I’m your sakhi and herself into stone, like Ahalya, when all revere you. (III.10.125, 127) touched by the demon Kempirnacuran by invoking her chastity in an act of The special relationship she truth.9 She resembles Madhavi, enjoys with Krishna is seen not only ancestress of the Kurus, in retaining in such dramatic confrontations but her virginity despite being also in unexpectedly delicate, many-husbanded.10 Kunti herself understated interactions. When Krishna tells Yudhishthira that Arjuna describes Draupadi to Krishna as Arjuna and Draupadi with lotus sarvadharmopacayinam11 (fosterer bud and parrot has one defect in his body that of all virtues), using the identical term condemns him to misfortune, by which describes his brothers at specified intervals. “Krishnaa Draupadi glanced askance daughter Madhavi while bestowing Possibly, the only comparison can be at Krishna in annoyance” and her upon Galava.12 with two women Yudhishthira Krishna’s reaction is one of approval The conjunction of both mentions, both non-Kshatriyas: at her display of love (III.14.89). occurrences of this epithet in the same Marisha/Varkshi mother of Relation with Krishna parva is surely deliberate on the part married to the ten Prachetas and Her relationship with Krishna and of the seer-poet for drawing our Jatila spouse of seven sages, of with Arjuna is complicated. She is the attention to these correspondences. whose lives we know nothing else. incarnation of Shri, the spouse of Madhavi regains virginity every time A Mind of Her Own Vishnu who is incarnated as Krishna. after giving birth to a son each to the A true “virgin,” Panchali has a That is the secret of the unique kings Haryashva of Ayodhya, mind of her very own. Both Krishna intimate relationship between of , Ushinara of the and Krishnaa appear for the first time Krishnaa and Krishna which is one North-West, and to the sage together in the svayamvara sabha of the most enchanting features of the . After this, Yayati holds and make decisive interventions. It is epic. On the other hand, she is wed to a bridegroom-choice ceremony for Draupadi’s wholly unexpected refusal Arjuna, the partial incarnation of her; but at that point she chooses to to accept Karna as a suitor Indra. The Purana (V.25- retire to the forest and become an (significantly, here Vyasa does not 26) seeks to solve this awkward ascetic. When her father falls from call her “Panchali”) that alters the situation of Vishnu’s spouse heaven because of his pride, she entire complexion of that assembly becoming Indra’s by indulging in reappears to join her sons in gifting and, indeed, the course of the epic some rewriting to declare that it was their joint merit to Yayati so that he itself. The affront to Karna sows the Indra’s wife Shachi who emerged from rises back to the realm of the gods. seeds of the assault on her in the dice- the sacrificial flames (instead of the Sharadandayani, whom Pandu game. It is her sakha-to-be, Krishna, epic’s altar) as Krishnaa, and she is mentions when persuading Kunti to who steps in to put an end to the wedded only to Indra who had have children by others, stood at night skirmish between the furious kings divided himself into five. In Pauranic at crossroads and chose a passer-by and the disguised Pandavas. She accounts, Shri leaves the demons and from whom she had three sons. alone enjoys the unique relationship goes over to the gods to become However, neither Madhavi nor of sakhi with her sakha Krishna, an Indra’s “good fortune and Sharadandayani nor Kunti had to live equality of status that empowers her prosperity.” Draupadi’s insistence on out their lives adjusting repeatedly to to upbraid him much as his aunt Kunti accompanying the Pandavas into a different husband from among five does in the : exile is, therefore, doubly significant:

No.144 22 their Shri has not abandoned them. rushes to help and calls out to Throughout the exile she constantly Yudhishthira who, taking her head on badgers Yudhishthira, desperately his lap, grieves: and tirelessly labouring to arouse in The soft hands, face and lotus-feet him a desire to win back what she of this lady, deserving symbolises and he has gambled away. the finest cosmetics, are dark-blue Panchali, like Helen of Troy, is today—all my fault! fully conscious of her sexual power. my obsession with dice is the explicitly begs her to cause of all this! share her secrets of female sexuality I am reduced to seeing her in by which her husbands are at her beck an animal-infested forest!” and call (III.222.7). She uses it in Saying, ‘O auspicious one, Kalyani, getting her way with Bhima in Virata’s You will find happiness with kitchen (IV.20) and with Krishna in Pandavas’ turning the peace-embassy into a King Drupada bestowed on us declaration of war (V.82). his large-eyed daughter. The captivating pose she strikes Draupadi going to : And now, broken down with the Painting by Ravi Varma when alone in , rigours of sorrow and enchanting , is a telling Kamyaka forest when she finds a travel—all my fault!—she lies instance of this. Leaning against a wonderfully fragrant golden flower unhappy on the ground…. kadamba tree, holding on to a branch saugandhika, she gives it to The twins, with bowstring-scarred with an upraised hand, her upper Yudhishthira and calls Bhima by the hands, began massaging garment displaced, she flashes like name usually reserved for Arjuna, gently her red-soled feet graced by lightning against clouds or like the using a ploy common to women for all the auspicious signs. flame of a lamp quivering in the night- getting what they want from their men: (III.144.11-14, 20) breeze (IV.264.1). Though as lovely as If you truly love me, Partha, left alone in the wilderness, no Draupadi makes a similar request then bring me many more such. when they come across multi- would have succeeded in (III.146.7) spiriting Draupadi away. When coloured flowers lying on the banks Jayadratha seizes her, she repulses Bhima, of course, obliges her with of Ashvaratha River. Seeking Bhima him so hard that he falls to the a vengeance, despatching hordes of out when he is alone, shrewdly she ground. Retaining full control of her Krodhavasha guarding first praises Arjuna’s prowess in the faculties, she mounts his on the lake where these flowers grow. burning of and urges finding him bent on forcing her, calmly Just before this, we have seen how Bhima that he, too, is like Indra in asking the family priest to report to delicate she is. Unused to walking on might and should free the mountain her husbands. There is no Sita-like hilly terrain, after covering just a peak of rakshasas because, lamentation here, no shrill outcries for krosha on Gandhamadana mountain Bhima, I have wanted this succour. As her husbands close on en route Badari ashram, Draupadi for a long time. Jayadratha, she taunts him with an trembles and falls: I want to be on the summit, elaborate description of the prowess Trying to support herself on her protected by you. of each and the inevitable trouncing elephant-trunk-graceful Foe-chastising, mighty-armed Bhima that will follow. thighs, she slipped and fell seemed to come Art and Craft of Sexual Power like a plantain tree. (III.144.4) under a spell; he stood like a proud, The manner in which Draupadi Again, it is Bhima who comes to whip-tormented bull. manipulates Bhima to get what she her rescue, summoning Ghatotkacha (III.160.26-27) wants is a fascinating lesson in the to carry her. What is of interest is the Voicing what she fancies, she art and craft of sexual power. She does reaction of the Pandavas here, deeply appeals to his masculine ego by not turn to Arjuna, knowing him to concerned and lavishing personal wanting his protection and comparing be a true disciple of Yudhishthira as care on her, which is so different from him to his younger brother. His amour seen in the dice-game. Then Bhima their total indifference to her collapse propre wounded and his manhood alone had roared out his outrage. In in their final journey. It is Nakula who appealed to, Bhima rushes to decimate

No.144 23 rakshasas and their leader Maniman the queen’s toilet and particularly Bhima peels one, his eyes burn and on Gandhamadana’s peak, winning mentions how she swoons when he he recalls Draupadi.15 Even after the ’s approval for what he has wrestles with wild beasts, having to war, when Ashvatthama has slain all done for Krishnaa depending on his bear barbed comments from maids. her sons in a night-raid, it is to Bhima own prowess. She laments over mighty Arjuna, that she turns for wreaking revenge. Never Forgets or Forgives consumer of Khandava, hiding in the Ill-fated from Birth After the terrible trauma of her inner apartments in female attire Catching these nuances, in her humiliation in the court, instead of protecting her and exclaims splendid recreation of Draupadi’s last Draupadi’s most trying ordeal is when what can be more painful than her moments in Yuganta, Iravati Karve , Virata’s queen, wasting away despite her husbands has her whisper to Bhima, despatches her to meet her brother being alive. Finally, in an ineffable “Aryaputra, in the next birth, be the Kichaka who is maddened by her feminine touch, she extends to him eldest!” There is, undoubtedly, a beauty. her palms chapped with grinding special relationship between them, It is Bhima, again, to whom unguents for the queen. His reaction which Bhatta dramatized in Draupadi turns for revenge when is all that she had planned for so his play Venisamhara (6.40-41): Kichaka, whom she has shaken off as consummately: With this very hand smeared with she had done Jayadratha and rushed Wolf-waisted foe-crushing Bhima Suyodhana’s blood for protection into Virata’s court, has covered I will bind up Panchali’s black kicked her in the presence of the king His face with the tresses, and the disguised Yudhishthira. Her Delicate,chapped hands of his wife, pulled apart by Duhshasana. eldest husband, instead of coming to And burst into tears.” (IV.20.30) My queen, daughter of the Panchala king… her rescue, reprimands her for making Kichaka’s death is sealed. When a scene and disturbing the king’s dice- Look at me, and cease Bhima has pounded him into a this fearful trembling. game and commands her to repair to misshapen lump, Panchali recklessly the women’s apartments. Touch this blood, clotted on my flaunts the horror before his kin, hands— Furious, Panchali (as Vyasa refers revelling in her revenge. They abduct to her more than once in this all that remains of the beast her to burn her with his corpse and sequence) seeks out Bhima in the dark Duhshasana who dragged you she has, once again, to be saved by of the night in Virata’s palace, as a into the council of kings’ Bhima. maidservant (befittingly her disguise and, beloved, touch this blood as well, There is a piquant touch added in is that of Sairandhri) would steal out still liquid and smeared on all a Kannada folk myth. To grant my body, on an assignation. Finding him asleep Draupadi’s prayer that Bhima should of the Kuru king whose thigh my in the kitchen, she snuggles up to him never forget her sorrow, Krishna mace crushed to extinguish like a woman aroused (clearly it is creates onions and throws them into the fire of your disgrace.16 planned seduction), as a wild she- Virata’s kitchen, so that whenever crane presses close to its mate and a As women, both Kunti and three-year old cow in season rubs Draupadi are singularly ill fated. Like against a bull. She twines herself her mother-in-law, Draupadi never round him as a creeper entwines a enjoys possession of her first love. massive shala tree on Gomati’s banks, Kunti had chosen Pandu above all as a lioness clasps the sleeping king kings in the svayamvara ceremony of beasts in a dense forest, as a she- and lost him to the voluptuous Madri. elephant embraces a huge tusker. As How deeply this pained her is voiced Bhima awakens in her arms, Draupadi frankly as she finds Pandu lying dead administers the coup-de-grace by in her co-wife’s arms (I.125.23). addressing him in dulcet vina-like Similarly, before Arjuna’s turn came tones pitched at the to be with Draupadi, he chose exile. note, the third in the octave. To rouse Her anguish at losing him to , his anger, she narrates all her Chitrangada and Subhadra in misfortunes, even how she, a Kichaka insults Draupadi in court14 : succession is expressed with moving princess, has now to carry water for Painting by Ravi Varma abhimana, hurt self-image:

No.144 24 Go son of Kunti, her hand. The very first night in the even earlier than the early-rising where she of the Satvatas is! potter’s hut—where the disguised cowherds and shepherds. A second knot loosens the first, Pandavas have taken shelter in Her sweat-bathed face is lovely, however tightly re-tied.” (I.220.17) Panchala—sees mother-in-law and like the lotus, like During their exile, when he has left daughter-in-law paralleling each other the jasmine; slim-waisted like to acquire weapons from the gods, in their sleeping postures. Kunti lies the middle of the sacred she voices how much she misses him horizontally at the Pandavas’ heads, vedi, long-haired, pink-lipped, in plangent verses: while Yajnaseni lays herself down and smooth-skinned. (II.65.33-37) Arjuna with two hands was similarly at their feet, silently. Does From Passive to Aggressive like Kartavirya-Arjuna with many; Vyasa’s story of her asking for many It is then that, all of a sudden, we without that excellent , husbands in an earlier birth represent find a complete reversal from meek this forest has no charm. a psychological truth about Krishnaa passivity to an extraordinarily Wherever I look, I see only the kanya?18 articulate and forceful expression of an empty earth. Later, the manner in which she is a personality that towers above all the This forest, with its flowering described by her husband men in the royal court. Fire-altar-born trees, Yudhishthira, as he stakes her like Yajnaseni shocks everyone by its pleasing sights, chattel at dice, wipes out her very challenging the Kuru elders’ very gives me no pleasure at all, individuality as a human being. We concept of dharma in a crisis where for Arjuna is absent; are reminded that when she emerged the modern woman would collapse in his skin is the colour of dark blue from the fire-altar she was called hysterics. Her questions show her to clouds, his strength an elephant’s. “Panchali,” also meaning “puppet”: be intellectually far superior to all the Without that lotus-eyed hero, how Neither short courtiers. Instead of meekly obeying insipid is the Kamyaka nor tall, neither dark nor pale, her husband’s summons, as expected forest! I think of the thunder- with wavy dark-blue hair, from her conduct so far, she sends roaring twang of the eyes like autumn-lotus leaves, back a query which remains bow of ambidextrous Arjuna, fragrant like the lotus… unanswered till the end of the epic: and my peace is gone.” extraordinarily accomplished, can a gambler, having lost himself, (III.80.12-15) soft-spoken and gentle… stake his wife at all? She has a brilliant She is the last to sleep, mind, is utterly “one-in-herself” in As we have seen, she always gets the first to wake Esther Harding’s phrase for the Bhima to do what she wants by bringing in comparisons with Arjuna’s prowess. Puppet like Submission As Draupadi replaces Kunti as the central female interest in the epic with the Sabha Parva, there appears to be a sudden decline in the status of women.17 This begins with her silent consent to the shocking dispensation of becoming the common wife of five brothers. Her father and brother protest, but she does not utter a word throughout the multiple exchanges between them, Kunti, Yudhishthira, and Vyasa. This is significant because, immediately before this, she had astonished everyone by publicly refusing to accept Karna as a suitor despite Drupada’s announcement that Draupadi and dice by M.F. Hussain anyone passing the test would win

No.144 25 “virgin,” and does not husband like an insensate hesitate to berate the Kuru object? Suffer molestation in elders for countenancing public, with her husbands wickedness. As Karna directs sitting mute? Face abduction her to be dragged away to the in the forest and see her servants’ quarters, she cries husband forgive Jayadratha out to her silent husbands. the abductor? Be molested Finding no response, with again in Virata’s court, be quicksilver presence of mind reprimanded by her husband she seizes upon a social ritual for making a scene, and be to wrest some moments of carried off to be burnt alive? respite from pillaging hands. With war imminent, witness Her speech drips with her husbands ask Krishna to sarcasm. The elders whom Disrobing Draupadi,Basholi 18th c.19 sue for peace? Finally, find all she ceremoniously salutes, her kith and kin and sons deliberately using the word Here with lowered eyes like slain—and still remain sane? “duty,” have remained silent in the dead men And not just sane, but in such face of Vidura’s exhortation to do their with life-breaths gone.” (II.69.20) command of her intellectual faculties duty and protect the royal daughter- as to succeed in persuading in-law. Significantly, it is only , Rescuer of Husbands Yudhishthira to rule instead of taking one of the junior Kauravas, and a When the repentant to the forest after the war? servant-maid’s son Vidura who voice Dhritrarashtra offers her boons, An illuminating contrast can be their outrage. The epic says that it Yajnaseni takes advantage of this to seen in Shaivya (also called Taramati), was Dharma (Vidura’s other name) win back freedom for her enslaved wife of king .20 She who protected Draupadi when she husbands. Karna pays her a does not utter a word when was sought to be stripped. Let us remarkable tribute, saying that none Vishvamitra drives her out of her attend to Draupadi’s choice of words: of the world’s renowned beautiful kingdom, belabouring her with a stick women had accomplished such a feat: because she is too exhausted to move One duty remains, which like a boat she has rescued her swiftly (VII.29). She herself suggests I must now do. Dragged husbands who were drowning in a sea to Harishchandra that, since she has by this mighty hero, of sorrows (II.72.1-3). Later, (Udyoga fulfilled her function by presenting I nearly forgot. I Parva 29.41-42), Krishna reiterates her him with a son, he should sell her to was so confused. remarkable deed saying: Sirs, I bow to all of you, all my elders pay Vishvamitra what he requires “That day Krishnaa did a deed and superiors. Forgive me for (VIII.30-31). When the Brahmin to exceedingly pure and difficult. not doing so earlier. whom she is sold drags her by the Herself and the Pandavas she It was not all my fault, hair, she remains silent (VIII.56). This lifted up gentlemen of the sabha.” (II.67.30) is precisely the paradigm of the as in a ship from the swell of the patrivrata, chaste wife, who utterly It is a “mighty hero” who is terrible sea.” wipes out her own self and lives only dragging into public view his single- With striking dignity, she refuses in, through, and for her husband. cloth-clad menstruating sister-in-law to take the third boon Dhritarashtra Crafts Her Own Morality by her hair. She has “nearly forgot” offers. For, with her husbands free and The kanya’s personality, on the her duty, while the elders are wholly in possession of their weapons from other hand, blazes forth, quite oblivious of theirs, despite being his two boons, she does not need any independent of her spouse and her reminded by a servant-maid’s son. It gift from anyone. Can we even imagine offspring. She seeks to fulfil herself is surely not her fault that she is being any woman married off to five regardless of social and family norms. outraged and it is certainly not she brothers, though won by one, and Draupadi does not rest until the who is “so confused,” but rather the made to spend a year with each in revenge her father sought is complete Kuru elders, of whom Bhishma says, turn, regardless of her own feelings, and the insult she suffered is wiped “Our elders, learned in dharma, so that none has more of her than the out in blood. Through the thirteen Drona and others, sit others? Be staked at dice by her years of exile, she never allows her

No.144 26 husbands and her sakha to forget listening to a learned Brahmin brothers will avenge her if her how she was outraged and how they discoursing to her father and husbands will not. Krishna’s were deceitfully deprived of their brothers (III.30.60-61). response is all that she has been kingdom. The marital relationship The complete account of income aiming at: between Draupadi and the Pandavas and expenditure of her husbands Consider those you disfavour is constantly that of a mahout was in her grasp, and she alone knew As already dead!… goading a somnolent elephant into the extent of their wealth. She kept The Himavant hills may move, the the fray. Krishnaa’s urging track of what each of the many Earth shatter Yudhishthira in the forest that maidservants attending on her In a hundred pieces, heaven and individual enterprise, husband was doing. It is she who collapse; purushartha, are indispensable to used to make all the arrangements My promise stands… preserve society and one’s integrity for Yudhishthira’s tours, keeping You will see your enemies killed. anticipates her sakha Krishna’s count of the large retinue of horses (V.82.45, 48) discourse to Arjuna on the and elephants and their quartering, battlefield. “She is the only one laying aside her own comfort The course of the epic is among the Pandavas and Kauravas (III.233.458). It is not without determined by the dark five and who assumes an atheistic, nastika, justification that she is called a Kunti, of whom three are kanyas: stance in a violent outburst, like one pandita, scholar (III.28.2).22 -Satyavati, Krishna Dvaipayana who does not believe in scriptural A particularly piquant revelation Vyasa, Vasudeva Krishna, Arjuna, norms of morality. This calls forth is that she takes particular care never Draupadi-Krishnaa, and Kunti. Yudhishthira’s plea that she abandon to surpass her mother-in-law in While Yamuna’s black waters link the criticising the dharma observed by ornaments, dress, and even the food first three, Arjuna is a second the strictly scriptural—as he is doing taken, besides controlling herself to Krishna while Satyavati, Kunti, and in accepting the exile for 13 years, avoid all criticism of Kunti (III.233. Draupadi are prototypes of one sticking to the conditions of the dice- 38, 41). When she finds her another. It is Draupadi, Krishna, and game—for that is nastika heresy. husbands, except Sahadeva, and Arjuna who jointly persuade She gives this back in full measure even her sakha Krishna in favour of Yudhishthira not to pursue his after the war when he wishes to suing for peace, she brings to bear decision to renounce the throne after become a hermit, saying that were all her feminine armoury to turn the the war, with Krishna Dvaipayana his brothers not as crazy as he, they course of events inexorably towards Vyasa adding his voice to clinch the would have tied him up as an atheist war. Pouring out a litany of her case. There is also a thematic motif non-believing in raja-dharma and injuries, she takes up her serpent- of Ganga opposed to Yamuna. ruled the kingdom themselves like thick glossy hair and, with eyes Hastinapura ruled by the Kauravas (XII.14.33).” streaming with tears that wet her is on the Ganga, while Indraprastha The healthy respect in which her breasts, urges Krishna to recall these established by the Pandavas is on husbands hold her has been well tresses when he sues for peace.23 At the Yamuna. It is Krishna, Krishnaa, brought out in Rajshekhar Basu’s this point, Shaonli Mitra’s Arjuna, and Vyasa, all linked with the delightful take-off “Panchali— Draupadi24 asks Krishna whether, if Yamuna, who are opposed by Beloved of the Five.”21 In exile she she agrees to forgive the Kauravas Bhishma, son of Ganga. says (III.32, III.30.23) that creatures as he wishes, he will guarantee that Relations with Other Women are like wooden dolls (darumayi in future no woman will be outraged What do other women have to yosha) in the hands of a whimsical as she has been. Krishna remains say about Draupadi? Krishna’s creator, recalling the significance of silent. favourite wife Satyabhama her own name Panchali, anticipating The epic recounts that after circumambulates Draupadi in King Lear’s heart-wrenching, “As Dvaraka was submerged, the mighty admiration and in gratitude (III.224). flies to wanton boys are we to the archer Arjuna failed to protect the Draupadi’s only rival is Krishna’s gods/They kill us for their sport,” women from being abducted favourite sister Subhadra. Yet, when and Thomas Hardy’s, “the President by staff-wielding Abhirs. In the epic, meeting Draupadi for the first time, of the Immortals had ended his sport sobbing with rage and hurt, she she is sent by Arjuna dressed as a with Tess.” This, she says, is part of declares that her five sons led by gopika (cowgirl) to gain her favour. the political science she learned Abhimanyu and her old father and Vyasa himself describes her in Vana

No.144 27 Parva as priya ca darshaniya ca In keeping with her deadly role, husbands to satisfy her sexual pandita ca pativrata, “beautiful, she is left childless after the war, her craving. Thereupon, she practised learned, devoted to her husbands sakha having taken no steps to severe penance and pleased Shiva, and beloved of them” (III.27.2). Like protect her five sons from obtaining the boon of regaining a mother, she first feeds her assassination. Indeed, the dark, virginity after being with each husbands and all and fiery, “virgin,” Draupadi is the husband.26 By asserting her only then assuages her hunger with counterpoint of the fair, traditional womanhood and refusing to accept what is left over (III.50.10). Kunti wife, “very auspicious” Subhadra a life of blind subservience to her asks Krishna to convey to “that who becomes subordinate to the husband, Nalayani the was auspicious and renowned Krishnaa, overwhelming destructive nature of transformed into Yajnaseni the O Krishna, that what irked me most her senior co-wife.25 kanya. was not losing the kingdom or the Sati who Turns Kanya Her Earlier Incarnations exile of my sons, but the humiliation Draupadi is the only instance in According to the of that great dark woman weeping epic mythology of a sati becoming Brahmavaivarta Purana,27 she is in the assembly hall as they mocked a kanya. Addressing Krishna in the reincarnation of the shadow-Sita her. Nothing more painful than that anguish when they meet in the who was Vedavati reborn after insult.” forest, she exclaims accusingly, “O molestation at Ravana’s hands and She urges him to tell Arjuna Krishna, despite being a sati would become the of the from her side to “follow Draupadi’s admired of women, I was, in the very fourteen Mahendras in , of path” (V.137.17-19). presence of Pandu’s sons, O whom five incarnated as the As with Kunti, the power and Madhusudana, dragged by my hair” Pandavas. Because she existed nobility that radiates from in the three yugas (in as Draupadi places her far above Vedavati, in Treta as Sita and in the other female characters and Dvapara as Draupadi), she is most of the male. When known as trihayani and being abducts Draupadi along with the vaishnavi krishnabhakta is twins and her eldest husband named “Krishnaa.” Draupadi’s Yudhishthira, his warning to the astonishing intellectual acumen contains a significant also has its roots in Vedavati, revelation of her who was so named because the destructiveness: Draupadi, Pandavas, Ashvatthama Vedas were ever present on the In touching this woman you tip of her tongue (ibid.14.64): have drunk a jar of well-stirred (III.12.121). The Southern recension satatam murttimantashca poison. (III.157.26) of the epic states that in an earlier vedashcatvar eva ca/ While she is like a boat to her birth as Nalayani (also named santi yasyashca jihvagre sa ca husbands, saving them from Indrasena) she was married to vedavati smrita// drowning in the sea of distress, to Maudgalya, an irascible sage afflicted with leprosy. She was so Significantly, this text states the wicked she is death itself. Her utterly devoted to her abusive (14.57) that after the fire ordeal, the impact is borne witness to by none husband that when a finger of his lovely and youthful shadow-Sita other than Duryodhana in his dropped into their meal, she took it was advised by and Agni to speech to after Karna’s death: out and calmly ate the rice without worship Shiva. While doing so, Krishnaa-Draupadi, anguished revulsion. Pleased by this, kamatura pativyagra prarthayanti Krishnaa, engages in fierce Maudgalya offered her a boon, and punah punah, tormented by sexual ascesis to destroy me and ensure she asked him to make love to her in desire and eager for a husband, she her husbands’ success; ever she five lovely forms. As she was prayed again and again, asking the lies on the ground. Even insatiable, Maudgalya got fed up three-eyed god five times for a Vasudeva’s sister, discarding and reverted to ascesis. When she husband. status and pride, became as remonstrated and insisted that he As far back as 1887, the Krishnaa’s maid, ever obeying continue their love life, he cursed great Bengali litterateur her.” (IX.4.18-19) her to be reborn and have five Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay

No.144 28 drew an illuminating distinction solicitude as directed by Kunti, nor Kanathos as virgin anew. As Hera between Sita and Draupadi,28 her favourite Arjuna—tarries by her is also her daughter Hebe and noting that while the former is side when she falls and lies dying Demeter is also Kore-Persephone, chiefly a wife in whom the softer on the Himalayan slopes, nathavati so is Satyavati also Kunti and Kunti feminine qualities are expressed, the anathavat29(husbanded, yet also Draupadi. Like Demeter- latter is pre-eminently a unprotected). Indeed, only Bhima Nemesis and the “awful” tremendously forceful queen in speaks. That, too, is a question Persephone queen of Hades, who whom woman’s steel will, pride, and addressed to Yudhishthira, not a arouse both admiration and fear, brilliant intellect are most evident, a word of sympathy for her. The Draupadi is Krishnaa, the dark befitting consort indeed of mighty crowning insult is the answer goddess, the virgin Vira-Shakti Bhimasena. He also pointed out that Yudhishthira provides: she has whose cult still exists in southern Draupadi represents woman’s fallen because she was partial to , a manifestation of the selflessness in performing all Arjuna. That is when we realise that goddess Kali, supping full of household duties flawlessly but this remarkable “virgin” never asked horrors on the battlefield at night, detachedly. In her, he sees anything for herself, while her the primal uncontrolled, chaotic exemplified the Gita’s prescription mother-in-law Kunti and great- persona of Prakriti. Similarly, in the for controlling the senses by the grandmother-in-law Satyavati both northern hills, the Pandavalila of higher self. Since a wife is supposed sought the status of virgo intacta Garhwal celebrates her as an to present her husband with a son, and the royal throne for their sons. incarnation of the same goddess she gives one to each of the Born gratuitously, thrust abruptly with an intriguing reference to her Pandavas, but no more, and in that into a polyandrous marriage, eight avataras: exemplifies the conquest over the Krishnaa seems to have had a senses, as in the case of Kunti. Once profound awareness of being an Draupadi took eight incarnations; this duty is over, there is no instrument in bringing about the The Kali of Kailash did the 31 evidence of any sexual relationship extinction of an effete epoch, so that war. between her and the Pandavas, a new age could take birth. And, The later story of Barbareek, each of whom has a wife of his own. being so aware, Yajnaseni offered son of Ghatotkacha, adds a However, Draupadi can call no man up her entire being as a flaming significant dimension to the epic her own and that is why she, like sacrifice in that holocaust of which account. When his decapitated Kunti, stands apart from other Krishna was the presiding deity. Yet, head that has witnessed the entire married women. Despite having five did all that happened in eighteen war is asked who really slew the husbands, Draupadi is the acme of days fulfil her hopes of being the Kauravas, he answers that he saw chastity, priya ca darshiniya ca cause of a righteous war, dharma only the Sudarshan discus flashing pandita ca patrivrata (III.27.2), yuddha?30 everywhere and Draupadi roaming “beloved, lovely, scholarly and faithful to her husbands.” Akin to Instrument of Higher Design the battlefield drinking the blood of 32 sakha Krishna, like the lotus bud This feature of transcending the the enemies. and the parrot her icon holds, she lower self, of becoming an Draupadi, like the Kore Helen, is of this world of senses, yet never instrument of a higher design, is appears with the skiey immersed in it. The bloom of her what seems to constitute a common announcement that she will be the unique personality spreads its trait in these ever-to-be-remembered destruction of warriors. Like fragrance far and wide, soaring maidens. Remembering them daily, Deirdre, the “sorrowful one,” she is above the worldly mire in which it learning from them how to sublimate the cause of wholesale destruction is rooted. our narrow ego to reach the Higher of warriors and is a mother left Left to Die Alone Self, we transcend sin. without any children. Draupadi, like Ultimately, the fact that These maidens provide a parallel Demeter and Helen, is always Draupadi stands quite apart from to the three forms of the ancient subjected to violence: her her five husbands is brought Arcadian goddess, Hera: maiden, svayamvara ends in strife; a fivefold tellingly home when not one of fulfilled woman and woman of marriage is imposed upon her; she them—not even Sahadeva of whom sorrows. Hera, too, would emerge is outraged in the royal court twice she took care with maternal from her bath in the spring over; Jayadratha and Kichaka

No.144 29 attempt to rape her; and the 9 Hiltebeitel ibid. p.220, 290. Greek Pauranik Score (Indialog Publications, New Upakichakas seek to burn her alive. mythology is replete with instances of , forthcoming). metamorphoses undergone by virgins to 22 Hiltebeitel: Rethinking the Like vengeful Demeter-Erinys and protect themselves against rapists Mahabharata p. 268. Helen, Draupadi seems to attract (Daphne, Chloe etc.). 23 Draupadi leaving her tresses unbound, rape and wreaks vengeance 10 Three outstanding artistic creations on as a symbol of her insult, is the exact thereafter. Again, like the vengeful the predicament of Madhavi are Subodh opposite of what Sita does. She leaves her Ghose’s remarkably insightful Bengali who pursues Bhishma hair braided in a single plait. Sarama assures retelling “Galav and Madhavi” in Bharat through death itself, whose suicide her that soon Rama will loosen her bound Prem Katha (translated by Pradip hair (Ramayana, Yuddha kanda 33.34). in flames represents the inner Bhattacharya, RUPA, Calcutta, 1990), anguish consuming her and who Bhisham Sahni’s play Madhavi 24 Shaonli Mitra: Nathaboti Anathabot, takes rebirth to exact blood-price for (translated by Ashok Bhalla, Seagull, M.C. Sirkar & Sons, Calcutta, 1990, p.63 her outraged femininity, Draupadi is Calcutta, 2002) and Dr. Chitra Chaturvedi’s 25 Alf Hiltebeitel: “Two Krsnas, three novel Tanaya (Lokbharti Prakashan, Krsnas, four Krsnas, more Krsnas”, Journal veritably a virgin goddess of war Allahabad, 1989). of South Asian Literature, XX.1, 1985, like Artemis and Athene. 11 Mahabharata, V.137.16. pp.71-77. Endnotes 12 Ibid. V.115.11. A. Hiltebeitel: The 26 Vettam Mani: Puranic Encyclopaedia, 1 C. Minkowski: “Snakes, Sattras and the Ritual of Battle, Cornell University Press, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1975, p. 549. Mahabharata” in Essays on the 1976, p. 222-4. He does not provide the reference to the source of this story. Also M.V. Mahabharata ed. A. Sharma, Leiden, E.J. 13 Dr. N.P. Bhaduri op. cit. Brill, 1991, p. 391 and A. Subramaniam: The Mahabharata Story: Hiltebeitel:Rethinking the Mahabharata 14 The painting of Draupadi insulted in Vyasa & Variations, Higginbothams, (University of Chicago Press, 2001), p. Virata’s court is by , Madras, 1967, p. 46-47. The Jaina 188. www.cyberkerala.com Nayadhammakahao picks this up and tells of suitorless Sukumarika reborn as a 2 Hiltebeitel ibid. pp. 190-191. 15 A.K. Ramanujam: “On Folk Mythologies and Folk ”, Purana celestial courtesan because of her passion 3 Brahmavaivarta Purana 4.115.73. Perennis ed. W. Doniger, State University who is born as Draupadi (B.N. Sumitra Bai’s 4 Dr. Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri: of New York Press, Albany, 1993, p. 104. “The Jaina Mahabharata” in Essays on the “Draupadi,” Barttaman, annual Mahabharata ed. A. Sharma, Leiden, E.J. 16 D.L. Gitomer: “Rakshasa Bhima: number1396, p.26. Brill, 1991, p.253). Wolfbelly among ogres and ”, 5 portrays this at length in Essays on the Mahabharata ed. A. Sharma, 27 Prakriti khanda, 14.54 and Krishna her novel Yajnaseni: the story of Draupadi Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1991, p. 322. Janma khanda 116.22-23. (Rupa, , 1995, translated by 17 Pradip Bhattacharya: “Epic Women: 28 Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay: Pradip Bhattacharya) and Roopa Ganguli East and West—some observations”, “Draupadi” in Bibidha Prabandha Part 1, conveyed the anguish dramatically in the Journal of the Asiatic Society, XXXVII.3, 1887. Bengali teleserial Draupadi. 1995, pp. 67-83. 29 A term used by Dhritarashtra to 6 The Hymns of the 10.58.40- 18 Dr S.D. Singh describes this as “the describe Draupadi in his lament in 1.157 41, translated by R.T.H. Griffith, Motilal significant but eloquent silence of Draupadi. and by Kunti in 5.90.87. Shaonli Mitra Banarsidass, Delhi, 1973. Repeated in the She is neither appalled nor outraged by the created a riveting one-woman performance Atharva Veda XIV.2.3. Sayana explains of this name in Bengali to depict the agony that till sexual desire arises in the girl, Soma prospect of Pandava …She is enjoys her. When it has arisen, Gandharva exceedingly trustful and as willing as a of Draupadi, op.cit. has her and transfers her at marriage to woman could be, if her deportment serves 30 Shaonli Mitra op.cit. p.65. Agni from whom man takes her to produce as any guide.” Polyandry in Ancient India 31 Hiltebeitel, op.cit. p. 291 and vol. 2, wealth and sons cf. S.D. Singh, Polyandry (Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1978) p. 92- in Ancient India (Motilal Banarsidass, 93. This is a detail from an 18th century 1991, p. 400. William Sax, “Ritual and Delhi, 1978). The painting is by Kangra painting taken from performance in the Pandavalila of Garhwal” Nandalal Bose, www.kamat.com/kalranga/ www.asia.si.edu/devi/fulldevi/ in Essays on the Mahabharata ed. by A. mythology/mahabharat/draupadi.htm deviCat81.htm Sharma, Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1991, p.290. 7 Alf Hiltebeitel: The Cult of Draupadi, 19 Ibid. The Disrobing of Draupadi 32 The Khatu Shyamji temple in Sikar Vol. I, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1988 attributed to Nainsukh (1710-1778). India, district of Rajasthan is dedicated to p. 438. Punjab Hills, Basholi, ca. 1765. Barbareek whose head is supposed to be buried here. The story forms part of two 8 Archna Sahni, personal 20 Markandeya Purana VII-VIII, communication and “Unpeeling the layers teleserials: B.R. Chopra’s “Mahabharat Nababharat Publishers, Calcutta. of Draupadi” in the National Symposium Katha” and another named “Khatu Shyam.” on the Pancha Kanya of Indian Epics, 21 Parashuram’s “Panchapriya Panchali”, http://www.khatushyamji.com/legend.htm, Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, Kolkata translated into English by Major General http://www.shrikhatushyamji.com/ (forthcoming). S.K. Sen, VSM at www.boloji.com and in A shri_shyam_katha_ii.php3?lang=e

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