In the previous episode, we had witnessed Arjuna entering into an argument with all the kings who had assembled at King Drupada’s Svayamvara event. As key kings and princes including Shalya, Karna, Duryodhana, etc. falter in the Svayamvara event, it was Arjuna alone who was successful in lifting the bow and hitting the target as per the prescribed rules and regulations. While everyone started questioning the rules and regulations of the event and when Arjuna succeeded in it, all the kings felt insulted and frustrated in front of the entire courtroom. Also since everyone was under the impression that Arjuna was a “Brahmana Rishi”, it added to their woes and insult. This led to a huge argument as to how could a Brahmana Rishi stake claim to marry a Kshatrya woman. A huge war of words broke out between the kings and Arjuna, and in return, Arjuna threw an open challenge to engage in a fight with him then and there and win over him! Yudishtra came forward to offer help for Arjuna to fight, and Arjuna asked him to stand aside. Bheemasena too came forward, and Arjuna gave the same reply to him as well. Bhagawan Krishna Himself got up from His seat and came rushing down to the courtroom center where the entire argument was going on. With folded hands, Arjuna requested Bhagawan Krishna to “wait and watch”. Bhagawan Krishna too understood Arjuna’s message and decided to provide His “Anugraha” to Arjuna as a “mute spectator”. With this, Arjuna decided to take on all of them single handedly and prove his worth!
The war begins – Not in the battlefield, but inside the courtroom itself. Karna came forward and Arjuna gave him a befitting reply. Duryodhana, Ducchaasana, Shalya, and the others too met with the same fate within a split of a second! This insulted the gathering even more, as none had the guts or the technique to take on Arjuna’s prowess with the bow and arrow. Looking at all of these, Bhagawan Krishna once again turns towards Balarama and explains thus, “Oh Balarama! Look at the way this boy is fighting! By the way his hand movements are and by the way with which he is handling the bow and arrow, he is undoubtedly Arjuna and nobody else! He is in a disguised form for some reason, but his prowess in the bow and arrow reveals clearly that he is none other than Arjuna himself!”
As the war came to a close and as all the kings faced heavy bruises and embarrassing defeats, Arjuna takes Draupati’s hands and starts walking away with her! With this, Yudishtra and the other four brothers also followed Arjuna and all of them came back to the place where they were staying. Meanwhile, Kunthi Devi was waiting there with the stove on! She was waiting for her sons to bring in the “Bhiksha” for the day, so that she could cook it and make a meal out of it for all of them. However on that particular day, the Paandavas did not return on time for the meal and Kunthi Devi was concerned. As the Paandava brothers entered inside, Yudishtra exclaimed that they had brought “something” for all of them! Initially, Kunthi Devi did not understand what that “something” was. Without the knowledge that this “something” was none other than Draupati, Kunthi Devi replied from within the house saying thus, “Ok fine! Then you split it within the five of you and do the needful!”
As Kunthi Devi says thus, Yudishtra decides on the spot that all the five brothers have to marry Draupati, since that was mother’s instruction! Actually, it should only be Arjuna who should be marrying Draupati because he was the person who won the “Svayamvara” event. However, since Kunthi Devi said thus, all the five brothers decided to marry Draupati. However, as Kunthi Devi turns back and sees what was happening, she was shocked! She came to know that this “something” was not some food item that she was thinking of! It was a woman walking along with them! She did not expect this to happen, and immediately tried to reverse her words thus, “Oh Yudishtra! I’m terribly sorry. I did not anticipate that you would come with a woman, and since Arjuna was the winner in the Svayamvara, it would be appropriate that he marries Draupati”. However, Yudishtra, Arjuna and all the five brothers were steadfast in their opinion of Draupati marrying all the five of them. Yudishtra explains thus, “Oh Mother! The moment you had given the first instruction, it stays forever. Words cannot be retrieved back! Moreover, this is exactly what Sage Vyaasa told us before we entered this place, isn’t it? He had explained clearly that this girl would end up marrying five husbands. Probably we are that set of five people. If we correlate his words and what has happened just now, I feel that Sage Vyaasa’s words are coming true. Moreover, this is Bhagawan Shiva’s wish and who are we to interfere in His wish? Let the marriage happen between Draupati and the five of us together!”
As Kunthi Devi listened to it, she was satisfied. All her five sons were satisfied as well. Draupati also was satisfied with Yudishtra’s stance. With this, now the marriage talks begin, and as this happens, Drshtadhyumna had closely followed the whereabouts of these Paandava brothers and he secretly overhears these conversations between Yudishtra and the others! Now what is Drshtadhyumna going to do with this information? Did he understand that these five “Brahmana-Rishis” are none other than the five Paandava brothers? Let us wait till the next episode to witness a cracker of a discussion! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 