As per Narada and Vayu Puranas, Draupadi was composite Avatar of Goddesses Shyamala (wife of Dharma), Bharati (Wife of Vayu), Sachi (wife of Indra), Usha (wife of Ashwinis) and hence married their earthly counterparts in the form of the five Pandavas.
Enraged at a jest by Parvati, Shyamala, Sachi and Usha, Brahma cursed them to human birth.
Parvati thought of the solution wherein they will be born as one woman, Draupadi and hence share the earthly body for a smaller period of time.
They requested Bharati to be with them in their human birth.
Draupadi's characteristic fight against injustice reflects Parvati or her Shakti, Kali inhabiting Draupadi's mortal flesh at times.
At other times, Draupadi was docile and even waited to be rescued (as in case of Jayadratha and Jatasura) showing the qualities of other goddesses like Sachi and Usha.
Other times, she showed astuteness in hiding their true identity and asking Vayu putra Bhima to kill the evil Keechaka like Goddess Bharati would.
Draupadi was also avatar of Goddess Shree or Wealth who was joint wife to five Indras, aka Five Pandavas.
She was to be born several times for imprisoning the Indras. First time was as Vedavati who cursed Ravana (who is another goddess Avatar Swaha, wife to Agni). She then came again as Maya-Sita especially to take revenge from Ravana while Agni hid the real Sita.
Third one was partial either Damyanti (whose husband Nala was equivalent to Dharma, Vayu, Indra just like the Pandavas) and her daughter Nalayani.
She married Sage Mudgala.
The fifth avatar was Draupadi herself.
So we find in Draupadi, a composite avatar of Kali, Parvati, Sachi, Shyamala, Usha, Bharati, Shree, Swaha, the eight goddesses.
When her husbands retired from the world and went on their journey towards the Himalayas and Indra's heaven, she accompanied them, and was the first to fall on the journey. When Bhim asked Yudhisthir, "This princess never did any sinful act. Then why is she fallen on Earth?" Yudhisthir replied, "Though we were all equal unto her, she had great partiality for Vijayan(Arjuna). She obtains the fruit of that conduct today."
"Beholding his brothers fallen on the Earth, king Yudhishthira the just said unto that deity of a 1,000 eyes these words: My brothers have all dropped down here. They must go with me. Without them by me I do not wish to go to Heaven, O lord of all the deities. The delicate princess (Draupadi) deserving of every comfort, O Purandara, should go with us. It behoveth thee to permit this."
"He also beheld the princess of Panchala, decked in garlands of lotuses. Having attained to Heaven, she was sitting there, endued with a form possessed of solar splendour. King Yudhishthira suddenly wished to question her. Then the illustrious Indra, the chief of the gods, spoke to him, This one is Sree herself. It was for your sake that she took birth, as the daughter of Drupada, among human beings, issuing not from any mother's womb, O Yudhishthira, endued with agreeable perfume and capable of delighting the whole world. For your pleasure, she was created by the wielder of the trident. She was born in the race of Drupada and was enjoyed by you all."
Drupadi was an amazing character ! Her personality was so fabulous, it was impossible to describe her as anything short of a goddess on earth.
Drupadi had a fiery temper to match her origins from a fiery yagna. Incredibly beautiful, absolutely self confident, brave like a lioness, honest in all her dealings, fearlessly outspoken, Drupadi had a very strong sense of justice and never wavered from her goal.
Born of Draupad's desire for revenge, Yagnaseni Draupadi was fated to help her brother Dhristadhyman kill Drona and bring death and destruction to millions of kshatriyas. Beautiful and alluring, Draupadi attracted many people to her like a flame attracts moths. Though married to the Pandavas, she was sought after by Kauravas, desired by Jayadratha, lusted after by Kichak and constantly insulted by Karna.
As a princess, Draupadi was haughty and proud of her linage. It was this pride that made her reject Karna as a contestant during her svayamvar. Karna never forgot the insult and repaid it countless times during his life time. The most hurtful occasion was when he incited Duryodhan to call Draupadi his "slave", strip her and even ask her to sit on his naked thigh in full view of all Kurus ! Karna's barbed insults left their mark on Draupadi and she never forgave him for that.
As a daughter-in-law, Draupadi got on very well with Kunti. From their first meeting in the potter's hut, Kunti won over Draupadi by her simplicity, firm yet fair control over her small family. Kunti's inadvertent order to share Draupadi between her husbands was a tough ordinance for Draupadi to bear. But, even Draupadi could see this was an honest mistake by Kunti.
As a wife, Panchali was no more manipulative than any other woman when it comes to getting what she wanted from her hubands. Indeed, the fact that she was able to keep all her husbands happy is a testament that she was a wonderful wife.
1) She knew Yudhithir was bound by duty and was unflinching in his observance of protocols. She knew her post as the empress was secured through her marriage to the eldest Pandava. Though Draupadi was dragged into the kuru court due to Yudhisthir's addiction to gambling, the first person Draupadi freed was Yudhisthir.
2) Bhima she knew loved her so much, that he could never see her unhappy. She knew that of all the brothers, his love for her was whole hearted. Bhima had other wives, like most powerful men at the time, but of all his wives, Draupadi was his favourite. He would fulfil her slightest wish with relish. This was especially true while they were exiled for 12 +1 years. Bhima felt aggrieved by her insult in the Kuru court and could not forgive himself for not having had the freedom to fight for her when she needed it the most. She had rescued them from the brink of an abyss of Yudhisthir's making and yet, his gambling brother had thrown it away again at the throw of a dice. As a result, he felt he should do anything Draupadi wanted, just to relive the gloom of this tiresome exile. He felt that as a princess and an empress, she deserved better.
3) According to Yudhisthir, Arjun was her "favourite husband" - though there is no evidence to back this up. Yudhisthir felt that as Arjun had won her hand in marriage, this was bound to be the case. She may be been wedded to the five brothers thanks to her mother-in-law's word, but, Arjun was the person she loved first. Fact is, though Arjun loved Draupadi very much, he had a wondering eye and had other wives to occupy his attension.
4) Nakul and Sahadev were sweet to her. They loved her very much and Draupadi mothered them with her affection.
Yudhisthir's charge that she loved Arjun more is baseless. Here are the reasons why -
1) If she had loved Arjun more, would she not have asked Arjun to be freed first when she had the chance to rescue the Pandavas from Yudhisthir's gambling folly ? Instead, she asked for Yudhisthir to be freed first.
2) During her trials and tribulations in Upalavya, when Drupadi was kicked and bruised by Kichak, the first person she appealed to for justice was Yudhisthir. If she had loved Arjun more, would she not have turned to him ? Indeed, had she turned to Bhima, she may have had a better chance of getting instant justice !
3) After the Upalavya battle, just before Arjun entered the court, Virat threw his dice at Yudhisthir, making his nose bleed. Instantly, Drupadi came forward to offer a bowl of cold water to staunch his blood flow. If Drupadi had loved Arjun more, would she not have gone to greet and congratulate Arjun rather than help Yudhisthir ?
Yudhisthir always felt that Drupadi loved Arjun more - despite evidence to the contrary. By not verbalising it, he kept it as a smouldering complaint in his own heart. Yudhisthir vented his frustration when it was too late for Drupadi to answer his charge.
Drupadi married the Pandavas for their strength and unity. At her svayamvar, her only condition was, she will marry a brave and capable archer. The reason she refused to let Karna take the challenge was because he intended to "gift" her to Duryodhan. Drupadi wasn't about to be objectified and given away as a magnanimous gesture of a vassal to his liege lord. She was happy to marry a brave pauper rather than a soft prince. The same Drupadi who refused jewel bedecked Karna, was happy to let poverty riddled Arjun, half naked, covered in ash, take up the challenge because he was taking part as an individual - not someone's servant.
After Yudhisthir's defeat at the dice, when Karna advised her to chose a Kaurav prince as her new Lord, he was mocking her for having rejected him and Duryodhan at her svayamvar. People who choose to stand with you in your dire-most circumstance, are hardly going to abandon you at other times. Drupadi refused to abandon her husbands and indeed, for the second time she was the one who rescued them from a hopeless situation. After her marriage and after the gambling match, it was Drupadi who helped Pandavas regain their lost rights.
Of all the wives of Pandavas, Drupadi was the only one who chose to share their 13 year exile with them. All the others went back to their father's kingdoms, taking their sons with them. Drupadi sent her sons to her father's kingdom and followed her five husbands into the jungle for 13 years of hardship. This alone merits her the title of "maha-sati".
Drupadi worked hard to please her husbands and her mother-in-law. She also worked hard as an empress and made sure the palace ran like clockwork. Even during their exile in the jungle, where she had fewer maids and servants to contend with, Drupadi was in charge of feeding several hundred brahmins per day. Taking her duty very seriously, she made sure everyone - including the servants - were fed first before taking her meal. Such attention to detail and leadership charmed all those who met her.
Despite all this, Draupadi suffered more than most.
- She had to suffer the questions of society by marriage to five men !!!!! People found this endlessly intriguing and she was asked about this by all and sundry. Sometimes as a joke, sometimes as a question, sometimes as a shock response, sometimes as a surprise, rarely as a genuine enquiry into how she felt.
- She had to suffer the myriad restrictions of being a wife of the Eldest Pandava. There were times when she would have wanted to tell Duryodhan to shut up, but as the eldest daughter-in-law, she had to behave like the eldest in the family without all the respect that was due to her.
- She had to suffer the idiosyncrasies of all her five husbands. Just imagine how bored and frustrated we sometimes get with just one wife / husbands, how much more with 5 of them !
- Despite all her efforts to be fair to all her husbands, Yudhisthir still felt short changed !
- Though she could do nothing about it, her beauty was blamed for attracting men like Duryodhan, Kichak and Jyadratha.
- Though she was born a princess, had five husbands from one the most illustrious Indian royal families, had five warrior sons, had relatives in countless royal families, Draupadi suffered the public humiliation in Kuru court. She suffered 13 years of exile from all comforts of life. She had to wait on a queen who was far less accomplished than herself just to stay hidden.
- She was dragged into Kuru court and insulted in ways even slaves were not subjected to.
- She lost her father, brothers, sons, and countless other relatives she dearly loved in a terrible battle that many blamed on her.
- She was blamed for a war of Yudhithir and Duryodhan's making.
Draupadi had to tread carefully between many boundaries. Boundaries set by moral, ethical, family, religious and personal will. It was a tough job and only Draupadi could do what she did. Panchali had a tough life and a tough end. She was frustrated with the cards dealt to her by life. Though she tried to "live with it", she was human enough to call spade a spade and lash out at injusticies piled on her by society.
Panchali was born to avenge the partition of Panchal by Drona.
Draupadi was born to annihilate the Kurus.
Yagyaseni was born out of the fire to burn down the top heavy pyramid of Kshatriya society.
All this - and more - was predicted at her birth.
How could she avoid her destiny ?
Like all of us, she was an instrument in the hands of Maha-Kala - Time - destroyer of all.
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Another very nice story from when the Pandavas were in the Jungle with Draupadi:
http://cms.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Articles&ArticleID=1536
Enjoy!!
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Depictions of Draupadi by artists and popular culture:
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