Draupadi vastra apaharana

Mahabharata Sabhaparva section 65-66

Sri Sadgurubhyoh Namah

Duryodhana then orders Vidura, 'O Kshatta, go and bring Draupadi here and put her in servants quarters'. Vidura refuses and advices Duryodhana to desist from such behaviour. Then Duryodhana orders the Pratikamin at the door to bring Draupadi to the assembly.

Pratikamin goes to inner chambers and tells Draupadi, "Yudhistir has lost you in a game of dice and Duryodhan won you, and he is ordering you to be brought to servants quarters to do menial labour".

Draupadi replies to him "Go back and ask Yudhistir , did he lose himself first or he staked me before himself. Let the elders in the assembly determine whether I am won lawfully or not".

Pratikamin comes back and poses this question to all. Nobody including Bhishma, Vidura, Kripa, Drona and other kaurava elders could answer whether Draupadi has been won lawfully or not.

Duryodhan says 'Let Draupadi be brought here and allow her to speak to Yudhistir and let all listen to their conversation. Yudhistir and other pandavas are silent, so they consider Draupadi as won'.

Duryodhan then orders his younger brother Dussasana to drag Draupadi to the assembly, thinking that Pratikamin is afraid of Vrikodara (Bhima).

Dussasana goes to inner chambers and finds Draupadi there. He tells her to come to the assembly. Draupadi tells him that her season has come and she is clothed in a single robe, and she cannot come in front of kaurava elders in such a situation. She then runs towards the ladies of the kauravas. Dussasana runs after her and catches hold of her hair and drags her to the assembly. Draupadi repeatedly requests him to let go of her, and her piteable cries falls on deaf ears.

In the assembly she asks elders the same question, whether they consider her as won in the game of dice. Bhishma tells her "I cannot determine the answer to this question, on one hand, Yudhistir lost himself first and he cannot stake you after that, on the other hand a woman is considered as to be under the orders of husband, and when he lost all his belongings, you are included in that".

There arose a clamouring in the assembly, the opinion is divided amongst them.

Vikarna, the youngest of kaurava princes could not bear himself at the injustice, and requests the elders repeatedly. Failing to get an answer, Vikarna says "Let me give my opinion on this matter. Draupadi does not belong to Yudhistir alone, she is the wife of all five Pandavas. So Yudhistir has no right to stake her. Also, he has been won before Draupadi, so he being a slave do not have right to stake her. Considering these points I tell my judgement that Draupadi has not been won".

Karna then says "Vikarna being a child does not know what is right and wrong. While Yudhistir and other pandavas are silent, they are considering Draupadi as won. Most of the elders are silent, not able to decide. If Vikarna feels that Draupadi should not be treated like this, then listen to me , Pandavas and Draupadi being slaves, they can be disrobed also." Saying this Karna then asks Dussasana to remove the robes of Draupadi.

Dussasana grabs Draupadi's robes and starts pulling it. Draupadi then cries out to Narayana and Nara for help. Sri Krishna in Dwaraka who is an avatar of Narayana, gets up and starts coming towards Hastinapur. Dharma who is invisible and witnessing all these, then covers Draupadi with layers after layers of robes. As Dussasana is pulling one robe, another robe is covering Draupadi.

Dussasana atlast desists from that act after getting tired of pulling at the unending layers of clothes off of draupadi. All the people in the assembly then applaud Draupadi and censure son of Dhritarastra.

Bhima enraged at this, makes a terrible vow, "Listen all to what I am say, I will not be eligible to enter heaven and the abode of ancestors, if in battle I dont kill Dussasana and break open his chest and drink his blood".

Vidura then requests all to deliver their judgement on the matter that Draupadi brought forward. Nobody was able to judge what is right.

Karna alone speaks, asking Dussasana to take Draupadi to servant quarters.

My Commentary :

Dharma (in this case , dharma is equivalent to justice), is subtle. Yudhistir cannot stake his wife before himself, as a husband he is supposed to protect her. On the other hand , if he loses himself, he cannot stake after that.

Inspite of whether she is won or lost, no one can stoop to such levels of indecency as the sons of Dhritarastra and Karna.

The kauravas have exhibited all the negative qualities that a person can show, and not for nothing the four people 'Duryodhan, Karna, Sakuni, and Dussasana' are named as 'Dushta chatushtayam' (evil four).

Hari Om

Atmajyoti in guruseva