Draupadi's previous life as Nalayani and the five Indras

Classical

A sage's curse and a boon fused into one polyandrous marriage.

In the Adi Parva, Vyasa tells Drupada that Draupadi was in a former life a maiden who asked Shankara (Shiva) for a husband five times and was granted five husbands. Separately, the five Indras were to be born on earth as the Pandavas and Sri as their common wife. The Nalayani/Maudgalya framing, the cursing of Nalayani and the cave of five Indras do not appear in the pages read.

Who: Draupadi, Nalayani, Maudgalya, Shiva, Indra

Bound to

Draupadi's other past lives: Vedavati, Maya Sita, Damayanti same-story-other-version

The divine births of the Pāṇḍavas twin

Draupadī's svayaṃvara: Arjuna wins the target birth

Kuntī's careless command and the five-fold marriage birth

Where this comes from

vulgate (Ganguli) · Ganguli translation of the Mahabharata (read via MahabharataOnline) Ganguli, Adi Parva, Vaivahika Parva (page heading reads "Section CLXLIX", evidently a typo)
modern-popular · hindu-blog.com, Nalayani previous birth of Draupadi Adi Parva chs 195-196 (as cited by page)
commentary · Wikipedia: Mudgala (search hit, not read)

See it on the tree · All stories

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