Draupadi II - Swayamwara

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Apr 12, 2002

Draupadi was an extraordinary woman and her father wanted to find an extraordinary husband for her. He sought the advice of Krishna, the king of Dwarka. Krishna was not only a family friend, but Draupadi looked upon him as her guide and shared her innermost thoughts with him.

It was customary to hold a swayamwara in which the bride-to-be could choose a husband from the gathering of kings and princes. However if the princess was not content to choose on the basis of good looks and fame, a contest would be held in which the winner would marry the princess. Keeping Draupadi's apprehensions in mind Krishna devised a difficult contest, which only the very best would be able to perform. He then asked Drupad to send invitations to all the kingdoms. Drupad was against sending an invitation for the princes of Hastinapur because that kingdom had supported his archrival Drona. Krishna however advised against this. He reminded Drupad of the occasion when Bheeshma had stormed the swayamwara of the princesses of Kashi and abducted Amba, Ambika and Ambalika. Even today Bheeshma was indefeasible and his pride not to be trifled with.

At that time the five sons of Pandu and their mother were thought to be dead, burnt alive in a supposedly accidental fire in "Lakshagrah" or the house of lac. Actually they had escaped and were living as brahmins in exile. This fact was known only to Vidur, the chief minister of Hastinapur, and Krishna. Krishna could foresee that the battle of Mahabharata was inevitable and wanted to cement a strong relationship between the Pandavas (sons of Pandu) and Drupad. In fact the test he had devised was suited to Arjun, who was regarded as the best archer in the world. He secretly sent word to the Pandavas to be present at the swayamwara in their disguise as brahmins.

On the appointed day the kings and princes from all over India assembled in the hall. After they had made themselves comfortable in the arena for the contestants, Drupad greeted them and thanked them for accepting his invitation. He then occupied his throne on the centre of the dais on which some dignitaries were already seated. Drishtdyumna, Drupad's son, then escorted Draupadi into the hall. Her enchanting beauty set all hearts aflutter. She sat on a vacant seat next to Drupad. She saw that Krishna was seated next to her and felt immensely relieved. Drishtdyumna then announced the details of the contest. At the centre of the hall was a pole, which had a revolving disc fixed to its top. On the outside end of the disc was the image of a fish with its eye boldly marked. The pole stood in a pan filled with a liquid, on which one could see the reflection of the rotating disc and the fish with its eye. The contestant had to lift the bow which was lying on the table, fit an arrow from the quiver next to the bow, and without looking directly at the disc, but looking down at its reflection in the liquid, he had to pierce the eye of the fish as it rotated with the disc above. Drishtdyumna then invited the royal guests to test their skill.

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