Draupadi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Draupadi |
|
|---|---|
| Member of Panchakanya | |
Draupadi, by Raja Ravi Varma
|
|
| Other names |
|
| Affiliation |
|
| Texts |
|
| Gender | Female |
| Personal information | |
| Born | Panchala |
| Died | Himalayas |
| Spouse | Pandavas |
| Children | Sons
|
| Parents |
|
| Siblings |
|
| Dynasty | Kuru dynasty by marriage |
Draupadi (Sanskrit: द्रौपदी, romanized: draupadī, lit. 'Daughter of Drupada'), also referred to as Krishnaa, Panchali and Yajnaseni, is the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, Mahabharata. She is the wife of the five Pandava brothers—Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva.
Draupadi is described to be extremely beautiful. Vyasa—the author of the Mahabharata—describes her having a dark complexion, lotus-like eyes, beautiful copper nails, dark curly hair and an enchanting fragrance like that of a blue lotus. She is also noted for her courage.
In Mahabharata, Draupadi and her brother, Dhrishtadyumna, were born from a yajna (fire sacrifice) organized by King Drupada of Panchala. Arjuna won her hand in marriage, but she had to marry the five brothers because of her mother-in-law's misunderstanding. Later, she became the empress as Yudhishthira performed the Rajasuya ritual and achieved the status of the emperor. She had five sons, one from each Pandava, who were collectively addressed as the Upapandavas.
Marriage
The news of Draupadi's beauty spread far and wide, and numerous princes, as well as the general public began proceeding towards Panchala. It so happened that the Pandavas, the five sons of Pandu, the King of Kuru, also began their journey toward Panchala at this time along with their mother, Kunti.
The Pandavas heard from a group of travelling sages about a contest being held in the Kingdom of Panchala that offered Draupadi's hand in marriage to the winner. The contestants needed to rely on their skills of archery, and Arjuna, who was a peerless archer, entered the competition and won. When the brothers took Draupadi to introduce her to their mother, they jokingly announced to Kunti that they had arrived with excellent alms. Kunti was busy with some work and replied without turning to look at Draupadi (who the alms referred to) ordering the brothers to share the alms equally amongst the five of them. Even when uttered erroneously, their mother's word was supreme for the Pandavas, and they agreed to share the princess, who was subsequently married to all five brothers.
Each Pandava had a son with Draupadi and they were collectively referred to as Upapandavas; their names were Prativindhya (fathered by Yudhishthira), Sutasoma (fathered by Bhima), Shrutakarma (fathered by Arjuna), Shatanika ( fathered by Nakula), and Shrutasena (fathered by Sahadeva).
In the epic, the Pandavas founded the city of Indraprastha after the Kuru Kingdom was split to avoid succession disputes. After the split, the other part of the kingdom was ruled by their cousins, the Kauravas. However, the Pandavas lost their kingdom to Duryodhana (eldest and king of the Kauravas) when Yudhishtira gambled it away during a game of dice.
Game of dice
The most notable incident in Draupadi's life is the game of dice at Hastinapur. This story, however, is non-existent in the Sanskrit epic.
Legend has it that Duryodhana, the crown prince of the Kuru Kingdom, was jealous of the prosperity and fame of the Pandavas and wished to dethrone them. With the help of his maternal uncle, Shakuni, he conspired to call on the Pandavas to Hastinapur and win their kingdoms in a game of gambling. Shakuni had magic dice and couldn't lose as the dice would never disobey his will.
Unable to decline the invitation, due to diplomacy, Yudhishthira gambled away his entire kingdom, his wealth, his four brothers and even his wife, in a series of gambits to retrieve one by staking another. Horrified after hearing that she is now a slave for Duryodhana, Draupadi questions Yudhishthira's right on her as he had lost himself first while she was still the queen. Duryodhana then orders his younger brother, Dushasana, to bring Draupadi into the court as she now belongs to him. Draupadi prays to Krishna to protect her. When Dushasana attempts to disrobe her, she is miraculously protected by Krishna, and Dushasana finds that as he continues to unwrap the layers of her sari, the amount of fabric covering her never lessens.
Queen Gandhari, the mother of Duryodhana, then enters the scene. Fearing retribution by the Pandavas and their allies, she counsels Dhritarashtra to undo her sons' misdeeds. However, when all of Yudhishthira's losses are reversed, the game is repeated (either through Duryodhana forcing his father to command the Pandavas to play again or through Shakuni's vicious tricks). For this game of dice Shakuni set the condition that upon losing, Yudhishthira and his brothers must spend thirteen years in exile in the forest before they reclaim their kingdom. The thirteenth year must be passed incognito, or else the term of exile would be repeated. The Pandavas lost and began their exile.
The exile is followed by the Kurukshetra War, where Draupadi loses her father, brothers and her five children. Post war, she resumes her role as the empress for 36 years, after which she retires to the Himalayas, along with her husbands.
Draupadi's story has been an inspiration for various arts, performances and secondary literature. In Hinduism, she is extolled as one of the panchakanya ("five virgins"), archetypes of female chastity whose names are believed to dispel sin when recited. In some parts of the sub-continent, a sect of Draupadi exists, where she is worshipped as a goddess.
Literary background
The story of Draupadi is told in the Mahabharata, one of the Sanskrit epics from the Indian subcontinent. The work is written in Classical Sanskrit. It was revised and edited many times. 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.
In literature
Draupadi has been the topic of research and debate for centuries. There are various plays and novels about her.
- Yajnaseni by Pratibha Ray – This novel, originally written in Oriya 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.
- 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, the events featured in the Mahabharata are used to describe contemporary Indian Politics.
Images for kids
-
A painting of Krishna saving Draupadi from the humiliation.
-
Krishna saves Draupadi from the wrath of sage Durvasa by B.P. Banerjee
-
A Ravi Varma print depicting Jayadratha abducting Draupadi.
-
Draupadi in Virata's palace, painting by Raja Ravi Varma
-
Draupadi falls dead as the Pandavas proceed to heaven, a 19th century wood engraving
-
Reclining Draupadi's head – near Auroville.
-
Draupadi and Bhima depicted by actors in yakshagana theatre.
See also
In Spanish: Draupadi para niños
