58 Facts About Draupadi

Draupadi is noted for her beauty, courage and polyandrous marriage.

Draupadi and her twin brother, Dhrishtadyumna, were born from a yajna organized by King Drupada of Panchala.

Draupadi's marriage was determined through a svayamvara, where Arjuna won her hand in marriage, but due to a misunderstanding with their mother Kunti, Draupadi became the wife of all five Pandavas.

Draupadi had five sons, one from each Pandava, who were collectively addressed as the Upapandavas.

Draupadi's story has been an inspiration for various arts, performances and secondary literature.

Draupadi is extolled as one of the panchakanya, 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.

The story of Draupadi is told in the Indian script Mahabharata, one of the Sanskrit epics from the Indian subcontinent.

Draupadi's eyes were black and large as lotus-petals, her complexion was dark, and her locks were blue and curly.

Draupadi's nails were beautifully convex and bright as burnished copper; her eyebrows were fair, and her breasts were deep.

Draupadi's body gave out fragrance like that of a blue lotus, perceivable from a distance of full two miles.

Draupadi's beauty was such that she had no equal on earth.

The news of Draupadi's svayamvara spread far and wide, and numerous princes, as well as the general public including brahmanas, began proceeding towards Panchala.

Some renditions show Draupadi refusing to marry Karna on account of being a Suta, while some other versions describe him failing to string the bow by the "breadth of a hair".

Arjuna and Bhima together protect Draupadi by defeating all attendees and are able to retreat.

Drupada accepted the arrangement as dharmic, and the Pandavas wed Draupadi, after gaining permission from Drupada, who was hesitant to allow.

The brothers agreed that none should intrude if Draupadi was alone with one of the others, the penalty for doing so being 12 years to be spent in exile.

Later Draupadi becomes a mother of five sons, one son each from the Pandava brothers.

The crown jewel of the kingdom was built at the Khandava forest, where Draupadi resided in the "Palace of Illusions".

Draupadi was trained in economy and was responsible for the treasury of the Empire.

Chopra's Mahabharata series that aired on Doordarshan in 1988 and famous Telugu film Daana Veera Soora Karna starring Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao as Duryodhana, where Draupadi's laughter was singled out for dramatic effect.

Draupadi then went on to express his wrath at having fallen into a pool of water and being laughed at mockingly, mainly by Bhima, followed by Arjun, Nakul, Sahadeva and other menials in the palace.

Draupadi's laughter went on to be singled out and romanticized by writers for centuries as a cause for the dice-game, and the war.

Draupadi was horrified after hearing that she was staked in the game and now is a slave for Duryodhana.

Draupadi gives his opinion that Draupadi is not won rightfully as Yudhishthira lost himself first before staking her.

Draupadi then instructs Dushasana to remove the garments of Draupadi.

Dushasana is eventually reduced to exhaustion, as the awed court observes that Draupadi is still chastely dressed.

Draupadi asks that her husband Yudishthira be freed from bondage so her son Prativindhya would not be called a slave.

The text narrates Draupadi offering support and comfort to Yudhishthira during their exile.

Certain passages depict Draupadi expressing her distress and, in some instances, voicing condemnation of the Devas.

The Vana Parva includes passages where Draupadi imparts instructions on the duties of a wife to Satyabhama, Krishna's wife.

Durvasa requested food, but Draupadi found herself with no remaining provisions.

In some versions of the story, Yudhishthira asks Draupadi to pass the sentence since it was she who was attacked, and she begrudgingly counsels to spare him because of the relations they share.

Draupadi becomes the maid of Sudeshna, queen of Matsya, and serves her.

Draupadi is filled with lust by looking at her and requests her hand in marriage.

Draupadi refuses him, saying that she is already married to Gandharvas.

Sudeshna orders Draupadi to fetch wine from Kichaka's house, overriding Draupadi's protests.

When Draupadi goes to get wine, Kichaka tries to molest her.

Furious, Draupadi asks about the duties of a king and dharma.

Draupadi meets with Kichaka, pretending to actually love him and agreeing to marry him on the condition that none of his friends or brothers will know about their relationship.

Draupadi asks Kichaka to come to the dancing hall at night.

Draupadi calls the members of Kichaka's family and shows them the mutilated body of Kichaka.

Notably, following the death of Abhimanyu, Subhadra's grief was profound, and Draupadi, in attempting to console her, fainted.

Alf Hiltebeitel in his acclaimed research work, "The Cult of Draupadi" explores the source of this myth as he travels through the rural areas of India.

Draupadi discovers that the first literary mention of the blood-washing theme appeared in "Venisamhara" or "Braiding The Hair ", a Sanskrit play written in the Pallava period by eminent playwright Bhatta Narayana.

Draupadi gives the jewel to Yudhishthira and forgives the killer of her children.

Yudhishthira subsequently performed an Ashvamedha Yajna, during which Draupadi presented gifts to her co-wives Chitrangada and Ulupi.

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.

When Bheema asked Yudhishthira why Draupadi had fallen, Yudhishthira replied,.

Draupadi obtains the fruit of that conduct today, O best of men.

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

Draupadi's marriage to five men was controversial for political reasons as that was an advantage for Prince Duryodhana to get the throne of Bharat Varsha.

Additionally, Draupadi is worshipped as an incarnation of Adishakti and Parvati during the Bengaluru Pete's Bangalore Karaga festival, a nine-day event.

In Mahayana Buddhism, Krsna Draupadi is presented in the Mahavastu and the Lalitavistara as one among eight goddesses who reside in the western cardinal direction.

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 Svetambara Jain monk, accepts the polyandry in his work Trisasti and further suggests that Draupadi was Nagasri in one of her previous lives and had poisoned a Jain monk.

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 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.