Draupadi

In their wanderings through the forest, the sons of Pandu heard that the daughter of Drupad, King of Panchala, was about to hold a Swayamvara, and they decided to go to this monarch’s royal city.

As they drew near to the place, they found the roads into the city thronged with the chariots and attendants of numerous princes and nobles who had come to the festival of the princess, whose name was Draupadi, and who was reported to be of surpassing beauty, with eyes like the lotus flower and a figure as graceful as that of a young fawn.

The suitors brought, according to custom, many gifts of cattle, gold and jewels, embroidered muslin, and fruits of the rarest quality, and the king made a splendid banquet in their honor.

But the five tall sons of Pandu trudged along the road, leaning upon their rough staffs, choked with the dust, barefooted, and appearing to any who chanced to look at them to be only a group of very ordinary hermits.

Then without another word the princes turned and left the field while Arjun led the princess to the potter's hut where he reported to his mother that they had received a great gift that day.

Then it belongs to your eldest brother Yudhishthira was a quiet reply and according to custom and law the beautiful princess became the wife of the wise Yudhishthira while to Arjun remained the pure honor of the victory.

Part 3 It was indeed a victory which brought good fortune to the whole family for the alliance with King Draupadi reminded Duryodhana that it would be well for him to come to terms with his five cousins.

It was arranged therefore that the kingdom in dispute should be divided into two portions.

A festival of this kind was known as a Swayamvara, or the bride's choice, and it was conducted with great pomp and splendor.

In their wanderings through the forest, the sons of Pandu heard that the daughter of Draupadi, king of Panchala, was about to hold a Swayamvara, and they decided to go to this monarch's royal city.

As they drew near to the place, they found the roads into the city thronged with the chariots and attendants of numerous princes and nobles who had come to the festival of the princess, whose name was Draupadi, and who was reported to be of surpassing beauty, with eyes like the lotus flower and a figure as graceful as that of a young fawn.

The suitors brought, according to custom, many gifts of cattle, gold and jewels, embroidered muslin, and fruits of the rarest quality, and the king made a splendid banquet in their honor.

But the five tall sons of Pandu trudged along the road, leaning upon their rough staffs, choked with the dust, barefooted, and appearing to any who chanced to look at them to be only a group of very ordinary hermits.

Their mother walked with them, tenderly guarded, but completely disguised like her sons.

They found a lodging in a humble cottage owned by a potter, who little dreamt that he was sheltering a princess and five princes of the highest lineage.

Now, King Draupadi greatly desired that his daughter should be won by Prince Arjuna, and in order to bring this about, he made it known that the princess was to be given to the suitor who showed the greatest skill in the use of a mighty bow which he has made.

So the question is, how do we do that? Let's say when you're doing bhajans, how do we get that bhavam? How do we hit that jackpot, so to say? If you've heard some of the workshops that our Bhajan boys, the Prasanthi Mandir Bhajan group boys have done, I think they've done in a lot of places, they come up with a lot of beautiful innovative suggestions, right? One of the things is, you are not in pain, you are not in need, but you kind of simulate a situation where probably you're in the place of a person who is in need.

Like one of the things they would suggest is there are some bhajans which you can picturize as Draupadi singing out to Krishna at the moment.

when she's being dishonored in the Kaurava court.

So there are some bhajans which probably so beautifully gel into that situation.

It's like a situational bhajan.

So they say, can you imagine yourself being Draupadi and crying out to Krishna like this? You're not in pain.

It's not that you're really having the trouble, but you kind of simulate, you imagine that you're in that pain.

It's all right.

Ah Guru, see this line, how vast it is of Pandu fighting men, embattled by the son of Drupada, thy scholar in the war.

Therein stands ranked chiefs like Arjuna, like to Bhima chiefs, benders of bows, Virata, Yuyudhan, Drupada, eminent upon his car, Dhristaket, Chekitan, Kasi's stout lord, Purujit, Kuntibhoj, and Shaivya, with Yudhamanyu and Uttamauj, Subhadra's child, and Draupadi's, all famed, all mounted on their shining chariots.

On our side too.

Thou, best of Brahmans! See, excellent chiefs, commanders of my line, whose names I joy to count, thyself the first.

He sang the name of his son.

You came to Draupadi.

and you came to that newcomer who went to the Radha Desh Kirtan mellows, and who was singing perhaps the first time.

And when I looked at Madhurika's Instagram and Radhika's Instagram, Radhika Ranjan's Instagram, I saw also brand new people in the audience who were very moved.

So in case of Pandavas, we know that Pandavas, when Duryodhana tried to burn them in the house of lack and they escaped from there because there was a tunnel which was made on the advice of Vidura.

So they escaped through the tunnel but after that they ran from there because they knew that if in any case Duryodhana comes to know that we are alive then he will send and get us killed because now everybody knows that they are burnt so he will get us killed so they ran and ran and ran and then to hide themselves they dressed themselves as brahmanas and they were bagging food that's how Bhima killed that Bakasura And when Arjuna along with Bhima had gone to that ceremony where Draupadi was selecting husband, they were actually dressed as Brahmanas.

That's why when Arjuna stood up there in the assembly to pick up all the Kshatriyas, they started laughing.

He said, we Kshatriyas could not do it and this Brahmana boy is going to do it.

Yeah.

Like, even the character of, say, a Draupadi, uh, how she's, she was portrayed earlier and how she, subsequent writings have changed it.

And seen, you know, the Mahabharata through Draupadi's eyes, what it meant.

Or Sita, you know, how she was seen.

Um, I mean, it, it's interesting times that we live in, that-