In the epic Mahābhārata, Draupadi, also known as Kṛṣṇā draupadī (Devanagari: कृष्णा द्रौपदी; approximate pronunciation: [krɪʂɳaː d̪rəʊpəd̪iː]) is the "emerged" daughter of King Drupada of Panchāla and the wife of the five Pandavas. When Yudhisthira becomes the king of Hastinapura at the end of the war, Draupadi (again) becomes the queen of Indraprastha. She is also variously referred as Kṛṣṇā (or Krishnaa, meaning one of darker complexion), Panchali (meaning one from the kingdom of Panchāla), Yajnaseni (meaning one born from a Yajna or fire-sacrifice), Mahabhaartii (great wife of the five descendents of Bharata) and Sairandhri (literally: an expert maid, her assumed name during her second exile in which she worked as Virat kingdom's queen Sudeshna's hair-stylist).
She had five sons, one by each of the Pandavas: Prativindhya, Sutasoma, Shruthakeerti, Satanika, and Srutasena. She has been described in the Mahabharata to be extraordinarily beautiful- undefeated by any woman of her time in terms of beauty. She is one of the Panch-Kanya (The Five Virgins) of Ancient Hindu Mythology along with her mother in law Kunti.
King Drupada of Panchala had been defeated by the Pandava prince Arjuna on behalf of Drona, who subsequently took half his kingdom to humiliate him. To gain revenge on Drona, he performed a fire-sacrifice (yajña) to obtain a means of besting him. Draupadi emerged, as a beautiful dark skinned young woman, together with her siblings Dhrishtadyumna and Shikhandi from the sacrificial fire. She was named kŗşņā, for her dark complexion, though she is better known as draupadi, daughter of Drupada. she was very brave woman
Drupada intended that Arjuna alone win the hand of his daughter. Upon hearing of the Pandavas' supposed death at Varanavata he set up a swayamvara for Draupadi intending to bring Arjuna out into the open. The princes vying for Draupadi's hand had to shoot five arrows at a revolving target, while looking only at its reflection in a bowl. Drupada was confident that Arjuna alone could accomplish this task. Arriving with his brothers disguised as Brahmins (priests), Arjuna successfully tackled the target, which other kings and prince were unable to accomplish.
While in exile, Kunti, mother of the Pandavas often advised her sons that they share everything they have (or obtain through Bhiksha i.e. alms) equally amongst themselves. Upon returning home with Draupadi, on purpose, Arjuna addresses his mother first "Look mother, I have brought Bhiksha (alms)!". Kunti, unmindful of what Arjuna was referring to, unassumingly asked her son to share whatever it is with his brothers. Thus, in order to obey their mother's order all five accepted Draupadi as their wife.
When Krishna visits the family, he explains to Draupadi that her unique position as the wife of five brothers results from a certain incident in her previous birth, She was born as Nalayani (daughter of Nala and Dhamayanthi) She had in that lifetime prayed to Shiva to grant her a husband with five desired qualities. Shiva, pleased with her devotion, tells her that it is very difficult to get a husband with all five qualities that she desired. But she sticks to her ground and asks for the same. Then Lord Shiva grants her wish saying that she would get the same in her next birth with five husbands, she was shocked and asked lord shiva is it a boon or curse, shiva replied back saying "My child do not get worried, you will regain your virginity each an every morning you take bath, till the end of your life you will live with virginity" Hence she gets married to five brothers each who represents a given quality:
The just Yudhisthira for his wisdom of Dharma;
The powerful Bhima for his strength that exceeded that of a thousand elephants combined;
The valiant Arjuna for his courage and knowledge of the battlefield; the exceedingly handsome Nakula and Sahadeva, for their love that put even Kama, the God of Love, to shame. Over here Pandava's represents to Five Virtue's not as human beings
Draupadi And Karna
Karna was a suitor for Draupadi at her swayamvara. Unlike most other contenders, he was easily able to wield and string the bow, but as he was ready to set aim, on Krishna's gesture, Drupada restrained him from shooting the arrow by calling him a soota-putra (son of a charioteer). The Pandavas were also present in the swayamvara, disguised as brahmanas. Following the failure of the other princes, Arjuna stepped into the ring and successfully hit the target, winning Draupadi's hand. This insult by Drupada thus was one of the reasons of her downfall in the court room after the 'dice game'course. Karna insulted Draupadi by saying that Pandavas were all like sesame seeds removed from the kernel and she should now find some other worthy husbands. Draupadi was very faithful and loved the Pandavas from the deep of her heart though she had special love for Arjuna who had won her hand.
Indraprastha was built at the site of the Khandava forest. The pride of buildings was the Palace of Illusions and this was where Draupadi took Duryodhana and his entourage. The moment Duryodhana entered the palace he encountered an atmosphere of mystery. A retinue of maidservants appeared through a wall and lined up before the guests. The Courtyard was divided in two parts. The surface of one part appeared to ripple like the surface of a lake. The surface of the other part appeared solid as granite flooring and when Duryodhana stepped on the apparently solid part of the courtyard, there was a splash and Duryodhana found himself waist deep in water, drenched from head to foot. When Draupadi's maids saw this from the balcony they were amused. When Draupadi saw all of this, she was concerned as she did not want her guest to feel insulted and asked her maids to leave quietly. Duryodhana felt extremely insulted that Draupadi and her maids saw his embarrassing predicament. This was the most embarrassing moment in Duryodhana's life. Time and again his cousins had got the better of him. This was the last straw. He swore revenge and such a revenge that Draupadi would fall at his feet begging for mercy.
Her Existence And Personality
As per The Garuda Purana Draupadi is the incarnation of Bharati-Devi, The Consort of Lord Vayu. As per Narada and Vayu Puranas, Draupadi is the composite Avatar of Goddesses Shyamala (wife of Dharma), Bharati (Wife of Vayu), Shachi (wife of Indra), Usha (wife of Ashwins), and Parvati (wife of Shiva), and hence married their earthly counterparts in the form of the five Pandavas. Enraged at a jest by Parvati, Shyamala, Shachi and Usha, Brahma cursed them to human birth. Parvati thought of the solution wherein they will be born as one woman, Draupadi and hence share the earthly body for a smaller period of time. They requested Bharati to be with them in their human birth. Draupadi's characteristic fight against injustice reflects Parvati or her Shakti, Kali, inhabiting Draupadi's mortal flesh at times. At other times, Draupadi was docile and even waited to be rescued (as in case of Jayadratha and Jatasura) showing the qualities of other goddesses like Shachi and Usha. Other times, she showed astuteness in hiding their true identity and asking Vayu's son Bhima to kill the evil Keechaka, like Goddess Bharati would. Draupadi was also avatar of Goddess Shree, who was joint wife to five Indras, who incarnated as the Five Pandavas.
She was to be born several times for imprisoning the Indras. The first time was as Vedavati who cursed Ravana (who is another goddess Avatar Swaha, wife to Agni). She then came again as Sita, especially to take revenge from Ravana while Agni hid the real Sita. Her third incarnation was partial: either Damayanti (whose husband, Nala, was equivalent to Dharma, Vayu, and Indra, just like the Pandavas) or her daughter Nalayani. She married Sage Mudgala. The fifth avatar was Draupadi herself. So, we find in Draupadi, a composite avatar of Kali, Parvati, Shachi, Shyamamala, Usha, Bharati, Shree, and Swaha, the eight goddesses.
Draupadi was a multifaceted personality: she could be fiery and angry when the situation called for it, but she still had a compassionate nature. She knew all the servants in the palace by name and they affectionately called her “bahu rani.” She encouraged people to face life with the same inner strength that she did.
For example, after Abhimanyu’s death, she consoled his grieving widow, Uttara, by reminding her of the cause for which Abhimanyu gave his life. She encouraged Uttara to gather her strength for the sake of her and Abhimanyu’s child, whom she was carrying at the time. After the war, Draupadi looked after Gandhari with respect and affection, even though Gandhari’s sons had wronged her in so many ways.
Because of her virtuous nature, Draupadi is considered one of the panchakanya, a group of five women who are especially venerated in the Hindu tradition.
The other four are:
Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas and an accomplished scholar of the Atharva Veda;
Tara, the wife of Vali who was instrumental in reconciling Rama with Sugreev;
Ahalya, Sage Gautam’s wife who was given a blessing of purity from Shri Ram; and
Mandodari, the virtuous wife of Ravan who had the courage to speak out against her husband when he abducted Sita. Simply remembering these virtuous women destroys great sins
Polyandry
The marriage of Draupadi with five Pandava men, i.e., polyandry, was not regarded without censure by the society spoken of in the epic. The Indo-Aryan texts almost never mention or allow polyandry, although polygamy was common among men of higher social ranks. Her marriage to five men was controversial.
Draupadī's polyandrous marriage seems to have been a historic event; otherwise the author of the Mahābhārata, who is at his wit's end to justify it, would have quietly kept silence about it. ... The Mahābhārata proceeds to give several fantastic reasons in justification of Draupadī's marriage; only one of them may be given by way of illustration. Draupadī got five husbands in this life because in one of her previous existences she had five times uttered the prayer to God, 'Give me a husband' (Mbh 1:213). [See also Mbh 1:206:2,27; 1:210:29 for contemporary cultural responses to polyandry.]Owing to her marriage to five husbands, Draupadi had to live with each one of them turn-by-turn for one year each. She had the boon to be born virgin every year, and is therefore called an eternal Kanya (a virgin)In the Svargarohana Parva of Mahabharat, during their final journey to heaven, Draupadi and all Pandavas but Yudhisthira fall on their way. The reason for the fall of Draupadi is quoted as she being more doting towards Arjuna than the rest of the brothers. Draupadi always loved Arjuna more because Arjuna was the one who won the swayamvara and was also the close friend of Krishna.
When her husbands retired from the world and went on their journey towards the Himalayas and Indra's heaven, she accompanied them, and was the first to fall on the journey. When Bhim asked Yudhisthir, "This princess never did any sinful act. Then why is she fallen on Earth?" Yudhisthir replied, "Though we were all equal unto her, she had great partiality for Dhananjay(Arjun). She obtains the fruit of that conduct today."
"Beholding his brothers fallen on the Earth, king Yudhishthira the just said unto that deity of a 1,000 eyes these words: ‘My brothers have all dropped down here. They must go with me. Without them by me I do not wish to go to Heaven, O lord of all the deities. The delicate princess (Draupadi) deserving of every comfort, O Purandara, should go with us. It behoveth thee to permit this."
"He also beheld the princess of Panchala, decked in garlands of lotuses. Having attained to Heaven, she was sitting there, endued with a form possessed of solar splendour. King Yudhishthira suddenly wished to question her. Then the illustrious Indra, the chief of the gods, spoke to him, ‘This one is Sree herself. It was for your sake that she took birth, as the daughter of Drupada, among human beings, issuing not from any mother’s womb, O Yudhishthira, endued with agreeable perfume and capable of delighting the whole world. For your pleasure, she was created by the wielder of the trident. She was born in the race of Drupada "
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