Mahabharata – Draupadi weds the Pandavas – {Ep.248}

Today’s story is from the Mahabharata, including an explanation of how Draupadi ended up marrying all 5 Pandavas. Also featuring murderous plots, arson accusations and insurance fraud!

Welcome to “Stories From India”. This is a podcast that will take you on a journey through the rich mythology, folklore and history of the Indian subcontinent. I am Narada Muni, the celestial storyteller and the original “time lord”. With my ability to travel through space and time, I can bring you fascinating stories from the past, the present, and the future. From the epic tales of the Mahabharata and Ramayana to the folktales of the Panchatantra to stories of Akbar-Birbal and Tenali Raman, I have a story for every occasion.

The purpose of the stories is neither to pass judgment nor to indoctrinate. My goal is only to share these stories with people who may not have heard them before and to make them more entertaining for those who have.

Today’s Story

In this episode, we’re back to the Mahabharata. In case you haven’t heard previous Mahabharata episodes, I’ll give you a quick summary of the story so far.

The Mahabharata is one of two major epics from India. The other being the Ramayana, which we have also covered.

The Mahabharata started with Bhishma, the crown prince of Hastinapur. Bhishma put in his two weeks notice, even before he ascended to the throne. And all in exchange for a new stepmother, because he wanted his dad to be happy. This wasn’t a Cinderella story however. The stepmother, Satyavati, and Bhishma got on alright. But the citizens of Hastinapura weren’t happy even if Bhishma and his stepmother were. They had after all lost out a crown prince. All they got in return as their next emperor was Satyavati’s child who wasn’t even born yet. A couple of blink-and-you’ll-miss-them emperors later, Dhritarashtra sat on the throne. 

Dhritarashtra was blind and because of that people were always worried. What if, one day when ordering a routine execution, he were to sign his name on the wrong dotted line? And then the people would be left with no one to impose unfair taxes and arbitrary laws on them. Such a tragedy would be completely on-brand for Hastinapur, considering all that had happened to Dhritarashtra’s predecessors.

The Hastinapur royal family overreacted to these problems, by overcompensating – Dhritarashtra had over a hundred children. But to his utter disappointment, it wasn’t his eldest, Duryodhan, who became crown prince.

That honor went to Yudhishthir, the nephew of Dhritarashtra, and the oldest of the previous Emperor, Pandu’s children. Duryodhan wasn’t happy of course. Still, trying to barbecue Yudhishthi, his 4 brothers, and his mother Kunti was not the path an ordinary gentleman would have pursued.

Unknown to them, the Pandavas and Kunti, escaped. Instead of going back and confronting Duryodhan, they explored the countryside in disguise. Along the way, Bhima the Pandava got married, and the new couple even had a child. After that Bhima killed Bakasura, a local terrorist. And Arjun reached a swayamvar – you know an event where a bride picks out her groom amongst an assembled lineup of eligible bachelors. This Swayamvar was that of Princess Draupadi of the Kingdom of Panchal. But Draupadi wasn’t picking her husband based on personality or looks. She was targeting an archer and she got one!

That’s where we’ll continue the story.

Draupadi really wanted to be married to the legendary Prince Arjun, and now was marrying this guy who apparently had the same skills as the legendary Prince Arjun. That’s not all, when he introduced himself to her he said his name was Arjun. That couldn’t be, could it. The Pandavas were dead, everyone had read their obituaries. And yet it must be! What other explanation was possible?

She tore her eyes away from her husband to the crowd which included her new bestie Krishna.

Yes, Krishna, the leader of the Yadavas. Draupadi and Krishna had met earlier, and instantly they had become best buddies. And it wasn’t just that they shared a name. Oh if I haven’t mentioned it before, Draupadi’s name was also Krishna. Anyway, the reason Draupadi sought out Krishna in the crowd of shocked onlookers was because of something Krishna had said to her earlier before the Swayamvar began. 

“Draupadi, keep an eye out for Arjun”

“Why? Is his spirit supposed to be roaming the Earth, wandering amongst us?” Draupadi asked

“Not exactly. Just keep an eye out, will you?” and he’d walked away.

Draupadi had been puzzled at that time. It was very unlike Krishna to rub salt on her wounds. Last time she had strained a muscle, he had definitely rubbed an ointment on it, not salt. The same as the time before.

She finally spotted him, far away. She didn’t have to scream the question out loud, and he didn’t have to scream back any answer. The cheerful smile on his face told her the whole story.

She whirled back and faced Arjun. “You are Arjun. The Arjun. Prince Arjun, the Pandava”

“That’s what I said. Didn’t I?”

“Well you don’t look at all like your obituary picture” she muttered.

“I know. I bet it was the snake Dushasana who chose those pictures. I wrote a strongly worded letter to the editor. I might still send it one day. But I have to wait for those jokers to catch on first”

He indicated Duryodhan and Karna who were busily muttering to each other.

Karna was adamant. “Iss daal mein kuch kaala hain, Duryodhan.” using a popular phrase to indicate that there was something suspicious about this. There was more here than met the eye. 

He went on to say that this ragged, bearded beggar who had just married Draupadi had to be Arjun. The massively built man, who was curiously the same size and height as Bheema must be Bheema, and those twins with the tattoos of horses on their arms – definitely Nakul and Sahadeva. And the wise looking bearded guy who wasn’t saying much – could be Yudhishthir.

Adamant though Karna was, everyone knows it’s impossible to be more stubborn than Duryodhan.

“Fake news! Those Pandavas are total disasters. What a sad lot! You just want Arjun to be alive so that you can defeat him once. Well you lost your chance bigly. Arjun’s dead. And Karna, there’s no need to insult the hosts. The daal they served at lunch was perfectly fine, I didn’t see anything black in it”

Duryodhan may have been dismissive of Karna’s theory, but when he got back to Hastinapura, his elders didn’t think he should have been.

“The Pandavas are definitely alive,” Dhritarashtra said. “At least according to our secret service. Shakuni has the reports”

Shakuni was Dhritarashtra’s brother-in-law, and brother to Duryodhan’s mother Gandhari.

Bhishma didn’t think much of Shakuni and had politely objected to Duryodhan’s decision to route all the secret service reports through him. 

Dhritarashtra had not-so-politely overruled this objection. “I’m not blind, Pitamaha” he said, addressing Bhishma. “Well I am blind physically, but I mean that I’m not blind metaphorically speaking. Shakuni is loyal to Duryodhan who is the current crown prince. That’s all that matters.”

“Your evidence, uncle Shakuni?” Duryodhan asked.

“I feel it in my bones, Duryodhan. What more evidence do you want?”

Duryodhan was not satisfied with that. Like I told you he was stubborn. If he took a position, he was going to dig in and not give up without absolutely contrary evidence.

Shakuni sighed and revealed what else he knew, besides his intuition. “There’s this copy of a birth certificate for a baby named Ghatotkach. His father’s name is recorded here with first name Bhima, last name Pandava.”

“Could be many Bhimas in the world, even with the name Pandava. Those antifa and left-wing cultists obsess over the Pandavas. They probably name their children after the Pandavas”

“The address is that of the palace right here in Hastinapura”

“Fake news! Someone’s trolling us”

Shakuni moved on “then there is Kunti’s signature on a food bill at this roadside dhaba, Arjun’s initials on this gas registration and Nakul’s and Sahadev’s painting at a horse show dated a month after the Lakshagruha episode. Believe me boy – they are alive.”

That seemed to convince Duryodhan, but he wasn’t happy about it.

“That was cheating! They stole the Swayamvar from me! Draupadi should have been mine. The Pandavas couldn’t just come in late. The contest was already over by then. Those Pandavas are cheaters, they cheated again. Just like how Sleepy Yudhishtir cheated and stole the popular vote and became Crown Prince. I won. By a lot. This is an embarrassment to the whole country!”

I don’t know how others reacted to this, but Shakuni was immensely proud of what a wonderfully combative politician his nephew had turned out to be. This was Shakuni’s mantra. Everything was always someone else’s fault. Elections were always stolen unless he won. Journalists were always lying if they were unkind to him. He was the best emperor ever, better than the legendary Bharat himself. Though he wasn’t even emperor yet.

Duryodhan wanted to know what was to be done, but Dhritarashtra said not to worry. It was already done. A messenger had been dispatched to fetch them back.

“Whatever happens, I’m not giving up my crown. Hastinapura’s throne is mine now. We went through the whole inauguration and all that”

No one said anything. They all prayed it wouldn’t come to that. But Dhritarashtra had been right in inviting the Pandavas back to Hastinapura – for a conversation at least.

The messenger was speeding to the last known hangout of the Pandavas. The location was easy to spot – not just thanks to Hastinapura’s excellent secret service. But more importantly it was thanks to Drupad’s administration which had a new 4-lane chariot way speedily constructed. It led straight from Drupad’s palace to the hut where the Pandavas and Kunti were living.

But let’s go slightly back in time to the very same hut, back to the moment when Arjun, Draupadi and the other Pandavas returned from the Swayamvar party.

While the group was still washing their hands and feet outside the hut, Kunti welcomed them back. From inside the hut. She was busy cooking. It’s not like she had a choice. Anyone who was at home at any point was likely to be cooking something or the other to feed Bheem’s insatiable appetite. Naturally, she didn’t know yet that they had come back with Draupadi.

“Mummy, mummy, do you know what happened? I won a contest, and you’ll never believe the prize I won.” He seemed not to notice that Draupadi was staring daggers at him.

“Oh goody!” Kunti said from the inside. She did not realize yet that Arjun wasn’t talking about a ring toss, or balloon darts or some such carnival game that was typical around the Swayamvar setup for the working class citizens.

“Well, whatever prize it is, make sure you divide it equally amongst the five of you. Unless it’s food. Then you know that Bheem gets half, and the rest of you get a quarter of the remaining. And if it’s a giant teddy bear, give it to Nakul this time. It’s his turn – last time Sahadeva got to keep the one you won last month”

At this point Arjun, Draupadi and the rest of them entered. Arjun’s face was beet-red.

“Umm, ah you see. When I said prize, I didn’t mean any disrespect, I actually won the Swayamvar. And Draupadi and I are married now”

Kunti was shocked. “We’ll have to have a long conversation about how a person is not simply a prize to be won.” 

Sahadeva had been about to object that that’s exactly how Swayamvars were marketed, but Kunti suddenly realized something else “Holy cow! What are we going to do now? I already ordered you to divide her up”

“Yeah, great going there, mom.” Yudhishtir said. “Now if we don’t do what you said we end up becoming disobedient kids”’

“Hang on, bro” Arjun objected. “It’s not like we haven’t been disobedient for sillier things before. Like you Bheem – I saw you sneak the cookies without telling us. And you Yudhishtir – you kept quiet about Duryodhan’s attempt to kill Bheem. And me – I disobeyed instructions too – I disobeyed Dronacharya’s curfew in practicing Archery. I ask you – why must we be obedient right now for what was clearly a misunderstanding?”

“Even if we wanted to obey you, mom, what does it even mean to divide her up?” Bheem asked

“Hey, I’m right here!” Draupadi objected and grabbed Arjun’s arm in support. 

You might feel things were getting deadlocked, but that’s when I stepped in. Yes, me. Narada Muni. You didn’t guess that I played a role in this did you? Well if you heard Episode 177 on Tillottama or Episode 225 on Uloopi, you probably knew that I was involved.

I was right there on their doorstep and I offered a possible interpretation was to divide up Draupadi’s time amongst the 5 Pandavas. One Pandava at a time. But just to be clear, I was NOT advocating for it. In fact, I was dead against it.

“But I strongly advocate against doing anything like that. I’m dead against it,” I told them. “It won’t work out in the end, you’ll end up fighting just like the Sunda and Upasunda.”

I launched into the story of the two Asuras who fought over Tilottama and ended up destroying each other.

Nobody seemed impressed. It seemed like only Draupadi had paid careful attention.

Arjun was forceful now, and the little hope that the other 4 Pandavas had faded now. “No, absolutely not,” Arjun said. “We’re not even going to talk about it. We can’t divide up Draupadi’s time like that. It’s completely messed up. Just think about all the logistical difficulties. How will we manage our tax returns for instance? We’re not doing anything like that”

“Oh yes we are!” Draupadi exclaimed.

Arjun’s jaw dropped. “What, what?” he stammered, even as 4 other Pandava faces brightened.

“Yes, I have decided that I like this arrangement.” She refused to say anything more. But till this day, I wonder if the Tilottama story made her drunk with the possibility of power. She’d be getting 5 husbands for the price of one. 5 times the power. Imagine, all 5 of them were going to be obligated to her. And I have to say, Draupadi was a very progressive thinker for her time. Maybe if it was absolutely normal for a man to have multiple wives, why couldn’t she have multiple husbands?

So it was settled. Draupadi married all of the Pandavas and they worked out the logistics. It was a rather interesting way in which this worked. But I covered that before in Episode 225 so I won’t go into it again.

Fast forward a few days, when this family of 7 was interrupted at dinner.

“Is this Kunti’s home?” a voice asked. It was a messenger, in the standard uniform of the HPS. The Hastinapur Postal Service.

Bhima looked up at the new 4 lane chariot way, the massive billboard advertising their names, the neon lights and the glittering mailbox outside

“What gave it away?” he asked dryly.

“Sign here please,” he said. These HPS folks are trained to be no-nonsense. The messenger dashed off without so much as a “good day”

Kunti opened the letter. It had Dhritarashtra’s seal on it.

“My Dearest Kunti,

I was shocked to hear the news of your survival, and the survival of the Pandavas. It has been brought to my attention that the fire at the Lakshagraha may not have been the unfortunate accident we had initially believed it to be. There are rumors floating around that cast our family in less than flattering light. 

The leading theory is that the fire was a deliberate act of arson. We had an insurance representative from the Life Insurance corporation report that someone from the Hastinapur palace had specifically asked about the policy the day before the fire. That is very suspicious timing indeed.

I am puzzled by your behavior and cannot help but wonder:

1. What were the exact circumstances of your departure from the Lakshagriha palace?
2. Why did you not establish contact with us? Why did you go AWOL? You could have simply returned to Hastinapura if you escaped the fire?
3. Whose bodies were found? One of them was Purochana the architect, who were the other 6 people? They definitely seemed like a woman and her 5 children

Did you or any of your children start the fire? Did you do it for the insurance? I can try my best to ensure a fair trial. But I need the truth. People died in this terrible fire, and justice must be served.

I can no longer ignore the whispers that suggest a dark truth. It pains me to even entertain the notion, but I must confront the possibility that you and your sons may have played a role in the Lakshagraha tragedy.

I implore you to provide me with the truth, Kunti. Our family’s honor hangs in the balance, and it is imperative that we address these allegations with the utmost seriousness and transparency.

Don’t send me back a letter. Instead all of you need to come to Hastinapura. Come in 5 days time. We have a pre-trial committee setup to hear your side of the story.

If you or your children burned down your palace and were ashamed to admit it we’ll try and minimize your punishment. 

The one thing that I can’t understand is how Yudhishtir could have abandoned his kingdom?. Why was he okay with it? Luckily my son Duryodhan stepped up and has taken up the Crown Prince role. I am confident he demonstrates a lot more love for his people than Yudhishthir ever did. 

Now, it’s time for you and the Duryodhans to come back here and face the music.

Gandhari sends her love,

Best Regards,

Dhritarashtra”

Put that way there wasn’t much room left. The decision was unanimous – the Pandavas were going back to Hastinapura! The Pandavas were back in force, no more hiding. Or so they thought

We’ll see what happens in Hastinapura, but that will be in a future episode. We’ll leave it here for now.

Links to Previous Mahabharata episodes: https://sfipodcast.com/category/mahabharata/

Next Time

In the next episode, we’ll do a Telugu folk tale. It’s about a shepherd who turns into a ghost! 

Feedback

Thank you all for the comments on Social Media and on Spotify’s Q&A! I can’t directly reply to the questions there, but I’ll address them here on this show.

Kaira, Jenn, HYSR, Ayra, thank you for the feedback!

Abeer, of course I am real!

Shalu – thank you for the meaningful feedback as always.

The Ghost – I do have Chandrakanta coming up again soon.

Aniv – I did cover Holi stories a long time ago. Check out Episode 143.5, and also Episode 20. 

Hiranmayee, thank you for the support as always! I will look into doing a story on Aruna Asaf Ali.

Deepti, thank you for the feedback. To your question, the answer is simple. As much as I don’t like playing favorites, my preference may not come as a surprise. I am Vishnu’s number 1 fan and president for life of his fan-club after all. In all popular cultural depictions, I’m constantly repeating his name too. That  probably answers your question.

If you have any other comments or suggestions or if there are particular stories you’d like to hear, please do let me know by leaving a comment or a review on the site sfipodcast.com, or reply to the questions on Spotify Q&A. You can also find me on Instagram and Facebook. You can listen to the show on all podcast apps, and that now includes Youtube. If you want to send me an email it’s stories.from.india.podcast@gmail.com.

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The music is from Purple Planet.

Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next time!