Posted:
Draupadi was Pativrata? How come?
This is the question that is often asked in pages of Facebook, especially by Draupadi haters.
This is also a question that intrigues a lot of people, who judge women by the number of men in their lives.
How can a woman who had not 2, not 3, not even 4, but FIVE husbands, had a male best friend in the form of Lord Krishna at 3000 B.C., n was also linked to Karna, be chaste, pure and Pativrata?
Well it is said that Lord Krishna had said that Draupadi was the most Pativrati woman of her time. She is also considered to be one of the Panchkannyas, n one of the most chaste women in our Hindu mythology.
How come?
Now, I would like to put an effort, n try to explain, based on my own opinion. I hope, I won't offend anyone.
Draupadi's chastity n purity have been in question for ages. While, there are people, who question it, there have many, who have placed her among the most chaste women of Hindu mythology.
Why is she given such a high place?
Were Devi Rukmini, Devi Satyabhama, Gandhari, Subhadra not Pativrata and chaste enough?
We all know about Devi Rukmini's unflinching loyalty n devotion to the Lord.
Gandhari too, was devoted to her husband, n did not even interact much with men other than her husband.
Subhadra loved and served Arjun with full devotion.
The answer is clear. These other women had NO reason to NOT BE Pativrata.
Did Lord Krishna ever neglect his wives? No.
He may have had 8 wives, but did he stop loving n respecting Rukmini, after having 7 more wives? No.
Did Dhritarashtra, despite all his blindness n flaws, n rumoured concubines, lead Gandhari to a situation, where she was disrobed, n humiliated in publlic? No.
Did Subhadra ever get humiliated in public, n Arjun remained quiet, seeing everything? No.
But Draupadi had to go through all these.
She got divided among 5 men. N the worst part is Arjun agreed to this.
Draupadi, did have some advantages, being the wife of FIVE. But isn't it insulting for a woman, if her husband puts his unity with his brothers above her, n agrees to share her?
Arjun, may not have been very pleased, but he agreed nonetheless. And that's what matters.
N then Yudisthir. At first, he staked her, then he lost her, and then watched silently, as she got disrobed. He did not try to help her. Neither did he let his brothers, especially Bhim, to help her. Why?
Bcoz, following the rules of the game was more important to him than protecting his wife's honour.
And then after all this, he accused her of loving Arjun more.
Bhim, Nakul n Sahadev may have been caring n affectionate towards Draupadi, but they too agreed to share their brother's wife for the sake of their unity, n lust for Draupadi n remained quiet during her Vastraharan, to respect their elder brother.
N to make things easier, she also had the opportunities to escape this miserable life.
Either with Jaydrath or with Keechak.
Jaydrath tried to lure her with wealth n luxury. But did that sway her? No.
N Keechak? With him, she had the best chance,to have some fun.
During agyaatvaas, she was out of touch from all her husbands. Arjun was a eunuch. Yudisthir was probably doing some penance. Bhim, Nakul n Sahadev were away from her(although she secretly went to meet them).
She could have easily utilized that opportunity to have a great time with Keechak. Any other "characterless" or "unchaste" woman ( as Karna called her) would have done the same.
But again, this fiery woman could not be swayed. Instead of taking advantage of the situation in an obscene manner, she got Keechak killed, n once again proved her loyalty to the Pandavas.
Not even for once, did she think of cheating her husbands. No wealth, luxury or anything else could make her betray those 5 men, she considered so dear to her, despite all their mistakes.
Destiny tested her loyalty for her husbands, through men like Keechak n Jaydrath, in the most miserable days of her life. And she passed the test with flying colours.
As for the Jambu fruit incident( which is not mentioned in the epic) I don't know how people interpret that.
I personally think that it was her disappointment that made her say those things.
She was subjected to a great deal of humiliation, all bcoz she was married to 5 Pandavas.
So, maybe, she thought about how her life would have been, if she had made different choices, during her Swamvar. What if she had made diiferent choices about the man she married? Maybe her life would have been different.
It was more like analysing her own decisions. It was her disappointment that she felt about her husbands, n not love for "any other man".
Don't we all do that?
Don't we all, after going through terrible experiences, look back n try to figure out, where we went wrong?
I guess that is exactly what Draupadi did.
But then again, this my interpretation, n I don't want any debate on this topic.
Thus she is called one of the most Pativrata women of in Hindu mythology, despite her polyandrous marriage.
Thus she is included among the Pancha Kannyas, or "The Eternal Virgins".
And I believe, she deserves it.
