Draupadi in Different Forms: Vyasa’s Mahabharata, Jagyaseni, and The Palace of Illusions

Ramayana and Mahabharata are not mere epics. These two books have shaped and influenced India and Indians in every age. The characters and events of both epics give us contexts and metaphors even today. At the core of each epic, there is a great lady getting assaulted and wronged.

In Ramayana it is Sita, kidnapped by Ravana and then had to face questions again and again about her character.

In Mahabharata, it is Draupadi. Whole her life she went through a lot. While Sita reflects any traditional ideal Indian woman, Draupadi is exactly is opposite of our idea of an “ideal” Indian woman. That’s why her character fascinates writers. Many books have been written about her apart from the original Mahabharata (written by the mythical Vyasa).

For Women’s Month of 2024, I planned on reading two of such books. But unfortunately, March was quite busy and the reading spilled over to April. These two books are:

I

Title: Jagyaseni

Writer: Pratibha Ray

Year of first publication: 1984

Language: Odia

II

Title: The Palace of Illusions

Writer: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Year of first publication: 2008

Language: English

The first book I had read in high school. A friend of my aunt (mamiji) had lent it for one night and I finished it in one night! Those were the days…. Now I can’t finish a book even in a month.

I will start by giving an outline about Draupadi as given by Vyasa. That will be followed by comparison between both books. I will round it up by giving my overall assessment of both books.

(If you are not familiar with characters and events of Mahabharata then refer to Mahaabharata I, II, and III)

DRAUPADI

Draupadi was born with the single purpose of avenging his father. She came out of holy fire (Jagya Kunda) as a beautiful young woman. She marries five brothers of Pandavas. Pandavas suffered a lot because of their evil cousins Kauravas. Everything culminates into the war of Mahabharata.

Draupadi is known by many names. Because of her birth from Jagya Kunda she is known as Jagyaseni. As King Drupada’s daughter she becomes Draupadi. She is Panchali too because of being princess of Panchal kingdom. She is Krishna because of her beautiful dusky complex.

HOW IS SHE DIFFERENT

1. She was born with a special mission

2. She was born from fire not from a woman

3. She was born as a young and it is said she remains forever young

4. Very few Indian mythical beauties have been described to have dusky complexion (as opposed to the popular fair complexion)

5. She was highly intellectual and aware of different Indian texts. She was not merely aware, she applied her intellect. She has always sat as equal with her emperor husband. Her husbands always sought her advice in important matters.

6. Of course, there is this issue of polyandry. Very few women have known to have multiple husbands.

7. She has a very close friendship with a man, Lord Krishna.

8. In spite of being a princess and a queen she spent most of her life as a common woman. She went through all the problems faced by common women, namely leers of men and SUCH.

9. The most significant character of Draupadi was she was never submissive. She can get into an argument and can utter hard truths without any hesitation.

JAGYASENI AND THE PALACE OF ILLUSIONS

Both books are in first person with Draupadi narrating her own story. In both books, the respective writers have embellished with their own imaginations. Consciously or unconsciously both writers have brought a lot from their region to the book. There are a lot of fish curries in the Palace of Illusions while the characters in Jagyaseni behave like they belong to a middle class Odia family from 20^th century.

Both writers have used their imaginations to narrate many events of their books. So it is natural few narratives differ from the original text. But in some cases, these differences change the context and characterisation from the epic all together. Is it fair to the original epic? I can’t say for all but in my opinion one must read the original epic before reading all these retellings. That way they can at least judge the retellings independently.

In the following, I have discussed few of these narratives, which are different from the original.

1. Draupadi’s birth, childhood, parents, sibling, education, and general upbringing

Original: As mentioned above Draupadi was born from fire as a young lady. Although she was born from fire king Drupad and his queen Prushati are her parents. They gave her a comfortable and affectionate environment in a beautiful palace. She has normal sibling relationship with her brother Dhrishtadyumna. Both Draupadi and Dhrishtadyumna are result of Drupad’s penance. Hence, were prize possessions of their parents. Draupadi is considered an intellectual woman, who was taught by many well known teachers of the time. She spent her time till her wedding in a happy and loving environment. From her birth, she has been always considered a gorgeous woman possessing a unique body-scent.

Jagyaseni: The narration is close to the original. Only difference is Drupad choosing Krishna as his son-in-law in the beginning. I can’t remember reading that in original. Krishna has been her friend, philosopher, and guide from the beginning.

The Palace of Illusions: This book has diverged from original text a lot. First of all, Draupadi is born as a child of five years. She is totally unwanted as Drupada had done penance only for a son. She grew up as an orphan. Being born from fire she does not have a mother. She was brought up by a nanny (dhai ma). She craves for parental love. Her father’s palace is cold and ugly. She is extremely close to her brother. As a girl she was discouraged from any kind of intellectual activities or any kind of formal lessons. She learnt everything by hiding near her brother’s lessons. Krishna visits Panchal frequently and talks to Draupadi a lot. But it comes across a little creepy as Draupadi in this book starts out as  a child.  

2. Pandavas

Original: Pandavas are combination of everything good in the world. They are good looking, intellectual, respectful to women, brave, skillful fighter, honest, sincere etc. etc. In the war between good and evil, they represent the good. Each five have special qualities. Arjun among them is rich in all kinds of good qualities. In context of Arjun one thing always comes to my mind “every body loves Arjun” (copying name of the famous sitcom).

Jagyaseni: Pandavas are depicted almost similar to the original. Arjun’s character has been enhanced by manifold. Bheema’s impatience and gluttony have been highlighted here and there much more. Thus making him a little scary and illogical.

The Palace of Illusions: Pandavas are nothing but robotic mama’s boys. They are bunch of show offs, especially Arjun. He did not accept Urvasi’s proposal only to show his greatness to the Gods. But in original text he did not accepts her to avoid an incestuous relationship (she was wife of Arjun’s forefather). In another instance, in Vyasa’s Mahabharata Arjun rejects Virat’s proposal for her daughter Uttara because he had been her teacher hence like her parent. Instead, he proposed Uttara’s marriage to his son Abhimanyu. In this book, Arjun rejects Virat’s proposal only after getting a powerful elbow from Draupadi. Otherwise, he would have married his student. Anyone who has not read the original text before reading this book would have a very bad impression on the perfect man Arjun.

Among the Pandavas, only Bheema was depicted positively.

3. Kunti

Original: Kunti never had an easy life. The mistake she did as an innocent girl haunts her, whole of her life. She lost her husband at young age. Then the struggle to maintain unity among five brothers born from different fathers starts. She had to face injustice from her husband’s relatives. They ceaselessly schemed to keep her sons getting their birth rights. It is her words, which made Draupadi the wife of five brothers. After that there is nothing extraordinary about her relationship with Draupadi. It was like she passed the baton of keeping the brothers unified to Draupadi. They shared a normal relationship shared in royal family.

Although their sons were fighting each other Kunti and Gandhari shared a good relationship. In the end, they retired to forest together too. Gandhari is a fair, honest, affectionate, dignified lady. She never approved of the actions of her brother or sons. She had always positive thoughts about Draupadi

Jagyaseni: Kunti and Gandhari both are depicted as original text. One difference is a lot of interaction between Kunti and Draupadi. Kunti was extremely affectionate towards Draupadi.

The Palace of Illusions: Here the writer has put a woman against woman. That would be Draupadi against Kunti. Kunti is depicted as the scheming mother-in-law of Indian soap operas. She is a controlling mother. Her sons are the proverbial mama’s boys. She is always jealous of Draupadi. She schemes to maintain her control over her sons. Draupadi is never happy if she is nearby. She keeps on desiring her absence. Gandhari is an insignificant worm in the background. I don’t know why the writer chose to pit women against women digressing from the original plot.   

4. Karna

Original: Karna is an odd character. He was born on the wrong side of the blanket, as they say. He was adopted by an affectionate parent belonging to non-warrior caste. He has faced one after another setbacks for his caste. He is a brave and generous person. Yet some time he acts as a bad person due to circumstances and bad company. Like many other in Mahabharata, he has been a victim of taking unbreakable oaths. Was there mention of any kind of tender emotions between Draupadi and Karna? I can’t remember that at all. Maybe there is somewhere something mentioned I have missed. So I am giving this a benefit of doubt.

Jagyaseni: His depiction is close to the original. There are few tender interactions between him and Draupadi. There has been definitely an emotional attachment. The biggest difference from the original is the relationship between Kunti and Karna. In Vyasa’s Mahabharata, there was no one to one interaction between Kunti and Karna except one occasion. But in this book, Karna is Kunti’s God son. They have close relationship although Karna is her sons’ enemy.

The Palace of Illusions: In a way he is hero of this book. Draupadi and Karna pined for each other with their unspoken love. Karna can’t do anything wrong. If he does anything wrong there is always a reason.

5. The Palace of Illusions

Original: There is beautiful description of the palace of Indraprastha. But there is nothing on personally why and how it is significant for Draupadi. One thing is there, Draupadi became a catalyst of her misfortune when she insulted Duryodhana because he could not understand the illusions of the palace.   

Jagyaseni: Not much about the palace apart from a paragraph or to. Draupadi insulting Duryodhana is not mentioned.

The Palace of Illusions: The palace is very important as it is the title of the book. Draupadi has finally a house of her own liking. She has given her own design to the architect Maya for her parts of the palace and her gardens. She is quite proud of her possession.   

6. Lord Krishna

Original: Krishna is not lead protagonist of Mahabharata but he is the chief agent in the epic. He makes everything happen. At each step he has guided the Pandavas. Middle Pandava, Arjun is his dearest friend. Both are supposed to be two bodies but one soul. Krishna has accepted Arjun’s wife Draupadi also as his friend (Sakhi). These three make a unique group, where love flows in abundance. At the same time they discuss about political, social, and religious affairs. They weigh on decisions to be taken for a better future.  

Jagyaseni: The book has explored a lot the relationship these three shares. There is a lot on matters of heart compared to other intellectual issues. Krishna is more or less same as the original.

The Palace of Illusions: This book has taken Arjun totally out of the equation. Since in this book Draupadi does not think any of the Pandavas good enough, it is improbable for her to have an intimate circle with anyone. Krishna is the man behind everything like the original.

7. Draupadi

Original: Draupadi’s character in Vyasa’s Mahabharata is already mentioned above.

Jagyaseni: Draupadi is a regressive daughter-in-law in a middle class family of a small town in this book. She is always cooking, massaging feet or head of her husbands, and such. She pines after Arjun and deeply in devotional love with Krishna. She is warm and affectionate. She loves her children, step-children, and other children. She has warm friendship with many women.

The Palace of Illusions: Draupadi is always angry and dissatisfied. She thinks she is better than everyone. She gives narration about how her choice in flower planting also better than everyone. She does not have any female friends. She has no connection with her children. She constantly thinks about her husband’s enemy Karna.

Apart from above 7 points there are many other instances, where both books have diverged from the original Mahabharata in terms of chronology, events, or characterisation. But I am letting them go because those are not significant and also in many cases writers have rights to creative independence.  

MY TWO PENNIES

In the end, I am sorry to say both the books don’t pass the Bechdel test. In spite of going through extraordinary circumstances and being an agent to change the direction of history, both books are mostly about the matters of heart of Draupadi. Both pined whole life after a man. In Jagyaseni at least towards the end the pining stops a little but in the Palace of Illusions the “love story” goes till the end, making it basically a romance.

The tone of The Palace of Illusions is quite negative. Constantly Draupadi is angry at everyone. In her eyes everyone is at fault except her (of course) and Karna. No matter, in what kind of catastrophe she is in, she can’t stop thinking about Karna. If her husbands are organising a function then she takes special interest in decorating her palace and herself because Karna is coming. He will see her and her palce. So both should spruce up. The narration goes to show how Draupadi is better than everyone. According to her, Pandavas are nothing but phony show offs.

The tone of Draupadi in Jagyaseni is passive aggressive. As if it is narrated by a helpless middleclass housewife of last century. Major chunk of the book goes in Draupadi and Arjun being passive aggressive (abhimaani) towards each other. One would think they have better things to do than playing star crossed lovers.

Pratibha Ray in the beginning of the book has given her source as Vyasa’s Mahabharata and Sarala Mahabharata (Odia adaptation of Mahabharata). But Chitra Banerjee Devakaruni has not mentioned her source anywhere (apart from a thick Mahabharata at her parent’s place). I wonder what is her source about Draupadi’s birth or characters of Kunti and Arjun. Her version has changed the premise entirely.

Personally, for me both the books don’t work out. I wanted a deeper analysis of Draupadi’s psych keeping in view her era. For instance, in her time, most royal marriages were political alliances. There was hardly any place for love, although lust was prevalent. The women as well as men were comfortable with the way their marriage works. Likewise, there are many other issues which should be seen from the era’s perspective to get a better idea about the mind of an intelligent woman who changed the course of history.  

MY TAKEAWAYS

1. Polyandry

The writers and readers assess the situation of Draupadi in terms of their sensibility. But actually, polyandry was not unheard of in ancient India. During her time with King Virat Draupadi in her disguise told the queen Sudeshna she has five husbands. Sudeshna would have been really surprised had Draupadi’s marriage had been the only instance of an aberration. Last year I read an interesting book named Women in Rgveda. There are few cases of polyandry in it too.

Apart from formal marriage we could see in Mahabharata, ladies like Kunti, Madri, Satyavati, Ambika, Ambalika etc. have children from men who are not their husbands. In case, the wives can’t have children from their husband for any reason it was convention for them to sleep with other men for the sake of children. These children have all the legal rights as any conventionally born child. For instance, Pandavas are considered Pandu Putras (Pandu’s sons) and they have rights over Hastina Puri’s throne yet technically they are not the sons of Pandu.

2. Keeping the Pandavas together

When they did not share a father not even a mother (Nakula and Sahadeva are Madri’s son) keeping them unified is a huge task. Kunti from childhood conditioned them to stay united and follow their eldest brother Yudhisthira unquestioningly. When they became young, the task becomes tougher. Draupadi by becoming their wife made this task easier. She started having influence over all five. She kept them together using her influence.

Then there is another reason too. Since Draupadi was the most desirable woman of Aryavarta (ancient India), one brother getting her might have created envy in others. There was a film named Matrubhumi (2003). It narrates the story of a dystopian age where due female foeticide women number has reduced to almost zero. It was almost impossible to get a bride for young men. One family of boys found a young girl. She was married off to all five brothers. Although married to all five, the girl was partial to one particular brother. She loved only him. This creates rift among brothers. This kind of situation might have arouse among Pandavas too.   

3. Everything happens, happens for the grand purpose

Each small to big event in Mahabharata happens for the grand purpose of helping Pandavas to win the war.  

4. Sahadeva

Nakula and Sahadeva, although part of Pandavas, end up being minor character. We hardly know anything concrete about them. After reading back to back two books on Mahabharata I specifically got intrigued by the youngest and Kunti’s favourite Pandava. He is very good looking like Nakula we already know. Apart from that he is an introvert, who is extremely fond of books. He is expert at mathematics and astronomy. He can count the star chart and foretell future accurately. I want to know more about him. I wish someone would write a book on him.

5. Yudhishtira

The eldest Pandava and the character I love to hate. No matter how many versions of Mahabharata I read he is always the same. The one who has never done anything wrong because he has never done anything. He generally does not care much about anything including disrobing of his wife publicly, to “do” anything.

6. Reading Mahabharata

Reading Mahabharata is always difficult because of its size, complexity, and also the theme. It is not the garden variety good versus evil epic. There is a blur line between good and evil, Mahabharata makes us understand that. And also, if the good is really good then after killing the evil in the war, how will it not feel earth-shatteringly guilty! How will the good go on seeing so many deaths? Mahabharata explores these difficult truths. Reading Mahabharata is an experience and a chance to understand humanity better

7. Exploring Draupadi

Like I have mentioned above, Draupadi is an exceptional lady. I want to explore more about her. More on her psych, which does not involve only pining after a man.