Kuntī's careless command and the five-fold marriage

Classical

After the svayaṃvara Arjuna and Bhīma walked to the potter's house where the family was staying, followed secretly by Dhṛṣṭadyumna, Draupadī's brother, who wanted to know who they were. They came home that evening carrying the day's alms and brought Draupadī with them. Kuntī was inside, busy, and did not look up. When her sons said they had brought something wonderful, she called out, "Enjoy it, all of you, together." A moment later she saw Draupadī and cried, "What have I said?" She was terrified of speaking falsely. She took Draupadī by the hand and asked Yudhiṣṭhira how her word could be honoured without sin. Yudhiṣṭhira told Arjuna to marry her, since he had won her. Arjuna refused: that would be a sin, and Yudhiṣṭhira, then Bhīma, should wed first. The brothers looked at Draupadī and could think of nothing else.

Yudhiṣṭhira, fearing that desire would divide them, recalled Vyāsa's words, and announced that she would be the wife of all five. The next day, Drupada's priest and then Drupada himself questioned the family. Yudhiṣṭhira revealed their identities. Drupada, overjoyed, asked how they had escaped the fire, and promised to help them regain their throne. But when Yudhiṣṭhira said Draupadī would marry all five brothers, Drupada was shocked: one man may have many wives, but a woman with many husbands was unheard of and against the Vedas. His son Dhṛṣṭadyumna agreed. Yudhiṣṭhira replied that dharma is subtle, that he had never lied, that the example of earlier sages supported him, and that his mother had spoken. Vyāsa arrived while they argued. He heard each person, then took Drupada aside.

In private he told the story of the five Indras, cursed by Śiva to be born as men, who were given a single wife, the goddess Śrī, who now lived as Draupadī. He gave Drupada divine sight, and the king saw the five Pāṇḍavas in their heavenly forms. He also told the story of the maiden who asked Śiva five times for a husband and was given five. Drupada accepted the destiny: "The knot of destiny cannot be untied." The marriages took place on five days, Yudhiṣṭhira first on the lucky day chosen by Vyāsa, each with the priest Dhaumya and the sacred fire as witness. The text adds that Draupadī regained her virginity each day. Drupada gave each brother gifts, and Kuntī blessed her new daughter-in-law. Kṛṣṇa sent jewels, cloth and elephants.

The marriage is told as a sacred exception, argued over by the characters themselves, and Draupadī's later suffering is partly a result of its being so unusual. The Mahābhārata does not hide how unusual the marriage is. It lets Drupada object, lets his son object, and has Yudhiṣṭhira defend it by dharma's subtlety, precedent and his mother's word. It then provides three justifications: Kuntī's command, the older customs of Jaṭilā and the ten Pracetas brothers, and Vyāsa's story of the five Indras who share Śrī. The device of the sacred exception does not remove the difficulty. In the dice hall, Karṇa uses the marriage as an insult, and Vikarṇa uses it as a legal argument for her; and Draupadī's role as the one wife of five men makes her both the cause of the Pāṇḍavas' bond and the person who suffers the most from what happens to it.

Told by Vaiśampāyana → Janamejaya

Who: Kuntī, Draupadī, Yudhiṣṭhira, Arjuna, Drupada, Dhṛṣṭadyumna, Vyāsa, Dhaumya

Bound to

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

Draupadi's other past lives: Vedavati, Maya Sita, Damayanti birth

Shvetaketu and the origin of marriage fidelity mirror

Kunti's mantra and Karna's birth mirror

Draupadī's svayaṃvara: Arjuna wins the target origin

Vidura brings the Pāṇḍavas home; Dhṛtarāṣṭra divides the kingdom origin

Places: Pāñcāla, The potter's house

Where this comes from

read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (Roy edition, archive.org full text) Adi Parva, Section CXCIII (Kuntī says 'Enjoy it, all of you'; Yudhiṣṭhira's decision)
read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (mahabharataonline.com) Adi Parva, Section CXCIV (Dhṛṣṭadyumna follows the Pāṇḍavas; the evening meal)
read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (mahabharataonline.com) Adi Parva, Section CXCVII (Drupada's objection; Yudhiṣṭhira's defence)
read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (mahabharataonline.com) Adi Parva, Section CXCVIII (Vyāsa and the debate)
read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (mahabharataonline.com) Adi Parva, Section CXCIX (the five Indras; Draupadī as Śrī)
read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (mahabharataonline.com) Adi Parva, Section CC (the wedding)

See it on the tree · All stories

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