Originally posted by: bhas1066
just my thoughts:
see in order to not change the main event , we need to know were the events that actually occured. now its a case that almost everything - VH, Bheeshma,Karna's deaths etc - are confusing and inconsistent which gives a lot leeway for creative liberties.
still there are only 2 major game-changing events that needs clarification to deduce who was on the right side- first is the sharing of panchali and second is the VH. (readers note that both are connected to the major enigma od MB- Draupadi)
1. sharing of panchaali - the big ques whether she was forced or okay with it. the epic doesnt mention her being unhappy with the arrangement and nobody including Krishna ever rebuked the pandavs for it(leave aside Karna for now). now comes the 1-year part - is it true or not? its absolutely hard to accept drau being okay with the sharing alongwith the strict regulations of the 1-year rule (why was the story told to yudi after a year or so inbetween his marriage?). if the rule was not there or was only restricted to the bed(for paternity of the children, i think) , then i can say that drau had more power to her then any other dwapar yuga lady.👍🏼
2. the VH - did it occur or not ? now majority do agree that dragging drau happened but the Vh did not , no saviour dharma, no name calling karna. my major doubt is in those days men never came near menstrating women, so why would drau accompany her husband till hastinapur in that state? dushasan is ok to get her from women's quarters, she is bought into the court but none of the brahmins there get up and walk away?? instead after seeing that VH miracle (assuming that it did happen) all they ask unanimously is to answer her ques whetehr she is won or not???😕 the vows taken by bheem for dushi in Vh is repeated again in section LXXVI. why repeat the vows unless that is the first time he takes them?🤔
the conclusion of what i am trying to say is
if the sharing of draupadi was against her wishes then by no way can pandavas be on the side of righteousness - no matter what the norms back then. they become the sower of seeds for the VH and equally guilty.
if the VH did not actually occur , the entire name calling , the miracle of clothes etc did not occur then the kauravs are vindicted from evil blackish monsters to greyish characters(of course karna is totally vindicted) and the reason for the war solely becomes the kingdom/land.
so who is the hero nd who is the villian???? the first vindicates/ incriminates the pandavs while the second does for kauravas and both are connected to the star of the MB show - Draupadi.
if we unravel her mystery we unravel the mahabharata!!
Bhas i wont agree that pandvas shared Draupaid against her will or forced her into it.Yes she it wouldn't have been her first choice but seeing the situation i think she had accepted it and had learnt to be happy with it.There was no force from any side just like pandvas had accepted the situation so had she
Here are my reasons
1)Both KMG and CE state that panchali wasn'tt grieving by end of day and had no malice in her heart for her husbands.If they were forcing her into this situation then this statement makes no sense.
2)After this whenever panchali is talked about she is generally shown enjoying her life which does indicate towards the fact that she had a happy married life.For example when krishna ji .Arjuna,Drau and Subhi all go for a picnic
3)Even after all that happened she speaks highly of her husbands to Jaydratha.This does show that even if she had her complaints against them she did hold a very high opinion of them as well.Which she wouldn't have if they would have forced her into an unhappy situation
4)there is a beautiful paragraph in bana parva which shows pandvas deeply caring for panchali when panchali faints.It involves pressing her feet,her head etc.This shows that they were no male chauvinistic people who would force a woman to do soemthing
Though i do think pandavs failed at crucial moments as husbands but they were definately no villains who would have forced panchali to marry all five of them
Only VH can be considered as it never happened but dragging,name calling and other things did happen its there in other parvas as well.