Draupadī's svayaṃvara: Arjuna wins the target

Classical

After escaping the House of Lac, the Pāṇḍavas lived in disguise as Brahmins. They heard that Drupada was holding a svayaṃvara for his daughter Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī), the fire-born princess, and went to Pāñcāla with the Brahmins. The hall was full of kings, and the gods, Nāgas, Gandharvas and sages watched from above. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were there too, and Kṛṣṇa quietly recognised the Pāṇḍavas among the Brahmins. The test was a huge bow and five arrows. The bow had to be strung, and the arrows shot through a revolving device at a mark above. Young princes, proud and jealous of one another, each claimed Draupadī for himself. Karṇa, Duryodhana, Śālva, Śalya, Aśvatthāman and many others tried one after another.

The bow was so stiff it threw some to the ground, with their garlands and ornaments in disorder. Karṇa lifted the bow, strung it and fitted an arrow. The Pāṇḍavas thought he would hit the mark. Draupadī said aloud, "I will not choose a Sūta for my lord," and Karṇa, with a bitter smile, put the bow down. Śiśupāla fell on his knees while trying. Jarāsandha tried, failed, and went home. Śalya also failed. Then Arjuna, in a Brahmin's dress, stepped forward. Some Brahmins laughed at the idea, others encouraged him, saying that Brahmins could do what no one expected. Arjuna walked around the bow, bowed his head to Īśāna and thought of Kṛṣṇa.

He took the bow and strung it in the blink of an eye, then took the five arrows and shot the mark down through the hole in the machine. The sky roared, flowers fell from the heavens, Brahmins waved their cloaks, and the defeated kings groaned in disappointment. Drupada was glad and ready to back the stranger with his army. Yudhiṣṭhira quietly left the hall with the twins. Draupadī came to Arjuna with a white robe and a garland, and followed him out. What looked like a quiet victory of a poor Brahmin was the start of the angry reaction of the kings that came next, and of Draupadī's marriage to all five.

Three details are worth noting. The test is not only strength, since the bow has to be strung and then a difficult shot made, which suits the best archer rather than the strongest man. Draupadī's refusal of Karṇa as 'a Sūta' is one of the sharpest lines in the epic, and later tellings (the Jambhul Akhyan, for example) try to explain or soften it. And Arjuna's winning in disguise lets the Pāṇḍavas show themselves to the world without a public declaration. Kṛṣṇa's recognising them in the crowd is the first meeting between him and the Pāṇḍavas as adults. From this day Kṛṣṇa is part of their lives, and the alliance with Drupada gives them an army.

Told by Vaiśampāyana → Janamejaya

Who: Draupadī (Kṛṣṇā), Arjuna, Drupada, Karṇa, Duryodhana, Śalya, Śiśupāla, Jarāsandha, Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma, Dhṛṣṭadyumna

Bound to

Draupadi's previous life as Nalayani and the five Indras birth

Jambhul Akhyan: Draupadi's confession about Karna mirror

Karna's curses: the beetle, the cow, and the sinking wheel mirror

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

Drupada captured: Droṇa's fee origin

Draupadī dragged to the hall: the disrobing mirror

Places: Pāñcāla, Kāmpilya

Where this comes from

read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (mahabharataonline.com) Adi Parva, Section CLXXXIX (the contest; Karṇa rejected; Arjuna steps up)
read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (Roy edition, archive.org full text) Adi Parva, Section CLXXXIX to CXC (Arjuna strings the bow and hits the mark)
read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (mahabharataonline.com) Adi Parva, Section CXCI (kings enraged; Bhīma and Arjuna fight; Kṛṣṇa recognises them)
read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (mahabharataonline.com) Adi Parva, Section CXCII (Karṇa and Arjuna fight; Śalya and Bhīma wrestle)

See it on the tree · All stories

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