7/28/2019 draupathi

1/3

motorolabhabhaemcibmanz

MMVJ9-FKY74-W449Y-RB79G-8GJGJ

A) Reason for Draupadi having five husbands:

1) 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 thefive Pandavas. Enraged at a jest by Parvati and the four goddesses, 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. 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.

2) Draupadi was also avatar of Goddess Shree or Wealth who was joint wife to five Indras, the Five Pandavas. She was to be born several times for imprisoning the Indras. First time was as Vedavati who cursed Ravana (who is another goddessAvatar Swaha, wife to Agni). She then came again as Maya-Sita especially to takerevenge from Ravana while Agni hid the real Sita. Third one was partial eitherDamyanti (whose husband Nala was equivalent to Dharma, Vayu, Indra just like thePandavas) and her daughter Nalayani. She married Sage Mudgala. The fifth avatarwas Draupadi herself. So we find in Draupadi, a composite avatar of Kali, Parvati, Sachi, Shyamala, Usha, Bharati, Shree, Swaha, the eight goddesses.

3) At Pandavas residence Lord Krishna took Draupadi aside and said, "This awkwa

rd situation you find yourself in is of your own making. In your previous birthyou had pleased Lord Shiva with your prayers. He granted a boon to you. You saidthat you wanted a husband and to ensure that your request was heard, you repeated it five times in all. Shiva then said that in your next life you would have five husbands."

Some sources have a slightly different narration. Draupadi made her request only once but she added a long list of qualities that she wanted in her husband. Shiva said that it would be impossible to find one man with all these qualities. Hence she would have five husbands in her next life. All of them together would posses the qualities she had enumerated.

Lord Krishna said ," You will spend one year with each husband. Others will be

forbidden to enter the chamber in which you and the husband-of-the-year are staying. If one does so, even accidentally, he would be exiled for one year."

B) Practice of Polyandry:

The polyandrous situation in which Draupadi found herself was not a normal onein the then prevalent society. In fact most mythological texts term it as an aberration, not to be taken as a precedent.

However, polygamy was acceptable and widely practised. Polygamy was allowed bec

7/28/2019 draupathi

2/3

ause it served a purpose and polyandry was discouraged because it posed a dangerto society. Ancient India was characterised by frequent wars. Men were regularly killed in battle, and hence the women outnumbered men. Polygamy was essentialbecause it provided a safety net for the extra number of women, whereas polyandry would only make the situation worse. The society at that time was patrilinealand it was essential to know who the child's father was for the continuation ofthe family. Whereas this would be possible in polygamy, it would not be possiblein polyandry. It was to ensure that the link between father and child was maintained, Krishna had imposed the one-year period for each husband.

The practice of polyandry is also known to have existed among other Asian peoples such as the folk of Tibet and Sikkim, the Jats of the Punjab, the Tiyyans ofKerala, the Todas of the Nilgiri hills and Sinhalese until fairly recent times.

The Sinhalese custom of fraternal polyandry where a wife would be shared in common by several brothers has long fascinated those interested in local society and culture. The practice euphemistically referred to as 'eka-ge-kema' or 'eatingin one house' is no longer legal, though it is possible that it may still be surviving in some remote areas.

Draupadi means daughter of King Drupada. This is not popular now a days. Draupadi's another name Panjali is still popular.

Reference 1:It was to ensure that the link between father and child was maintained, Vyasa had imposed the one-year period for each husband. In due course Draupadi had fivesons, one from each of her five husbands. Prativindhya was the son of Yudhishthir, Srutasoma of Bhim, Srutakirti of Arjuna, Satanika of Nakul, and Srutakarma of Sahadev.

Reference 2:Draupadi's other names:

Draupadi, meaning daughter of Drupad, was known by several other names as well.As the princess of the kingdom of Panchal she was known as Panchali. As the gra

nd daughter of Prushata she was known as Parsati. [ Draupadi is ayonija, not born of woman. ] Draupadi is born of fire and therefore, often referred to as Yagnyaseni. She is also called Krishnaa because she was copper skinned, fiery eyed and had long, black hair. She was gifted with blue-lotus fragrance wafting for a full krosha (2 miles) and hence was called Yojanagandha (she whose fragrance canbe felt for miles).

Reference 3:Reason for having five husbands: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 (wifeof Ashwinis) and hence married their earthly counterparts in the form of the five Pandavas. Enraged at a jest by Parvati and the four goddesses, 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. 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 tokill the evil Keechaka like Goddess Bharati would.

Draupadi was also avatar of Goddess Shree or Wealth who was joint wife to five

7/28/2019 draupathi

3/3

Indras, aka Five Pandavas. She was to be born several times for imprisoning theIndras. 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.

Reference 4:A) Vandana, on March 14th, 2008 at 8:41 am Said:

"I wuld like to point out that Draupadi was a name popular in the early part ofthe last century, atleast.Both my grandmother and my husbands grandmother were named Draupadi Devi..and no they did not have five husbands!!!"

B) Neha Viswanathan, on March 14th, 2008 at 8:48 am Said:

"............ I had a friend called Draupadi - and she was teased mercilessly about her name. My guess is that the aversion to this name is more contemporary.Its hard to come by Panchalis too, though it appears to be popular a hundred years back. Sometimes, I think it was the awful representation of Ramayana on television that ruined the subtleness of each of the characters in the Mahabharata."

Reference 5 (page 12 & 13):

"Draupadis character has been nothing if not enigmatic. It is not Vyasas Mahabharata,but the vastly popularised teleserial that puts the cheap jibe into her mouth to mock Duryodhana, ascribing his lack of sight and the fall to his father Dhritarashtras blindness.Unbecoming of her, the rude joke mars the nobility of her character. If her flowing dishevelled tresses thirsted for blood from Duhshasanasheart for his gruesome and monstrous crime against womanhood, her unparallelledmagnanimity of heart alone could forgive Ashwatthama,the killer of her five sonsin cold blood.

Completely surrendered to Krishna, in a gesture of Yatha niyuktosmitatha karomi,she was beyond conventional vice and virtue. In India, however, the common folk

possess an uncanny sense in this regard, and they worship her as a goddess in around four hundred Draupadi temples in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry alone."

Reference 6:

People believe that names can affect the way people behave and how they feel about themselves.

Or else why is no child named Duryodhana, Shakuni, Dushyashan or Draupadi (characters from the Indian epic Mahabharata), Shurpanakha (a mythological demoness),Kaikayee or Manthara (evil characters from the Indian epic Ramayana).

Maybe these names are not kept as in the epics all of them except Draupadi had

negative shades to their character. Draupadi on the other hand had five husbands. Now which parent would want a similar fate for their daughter!

During the last half-century, tentatively at first and later with a greater sense of the importance of their work, psychologists and others who study human behavior have explored the feeling that names influence their bearers, and the researchers have discovered some amazing psychological aspects of names.