Was Draupadi the combined wife of all the five Pandavas?

 

Was Draupadi the combined wife of all the five Pandavas?

[Reproduced from Vedic Magazine by Dr. Vivek Arya]

There is a misconception that the five Pandava brothers had agreed to share Draupadi as their common wife. This falsehood is being used by proponents of Polyandry to defame Mahabharata. We need to examine this untruth in the light of interpolations in Mahabharata.

In Mahabharata Adiparva chapter 188 the Swayamvar of Draupadi is mentioned. During the Swayamvar the names, ancestry and description  of the princely candidates  present there were narrated to Draupadi by her brother. In the next chapter, 189 the futile attempt of suitors to string the bow is explained. Krishna and Balram recognized the Pandavas who had come putting on the garb of  Brahmans.   On failure of all the Rajas the mighty Karna came forward and made an attempt to string the bow. Seeing this Draupadi said aloud that she would not choose the son of a charioteer (Karna) to be her lord (Shloka 26) . Thereupon Karna, with shame, gave up the attempt. Afterwards Shishupal, king of Chedi, Jarasandha, king of Magadh (Bihar) and Shalya, king of Persia, tried but failed. Then all the Rajas gave up in despair. After the awkward position faced by the kings in their futile attempt, the illustrious Arjuna stood up  from amongst the Brahmans to bend the mighty bow and unerringly hit the target through the hole with five arrows in succession. Chapter 190 deals with the attempt of Arjuna to bend the bow and to put the said five arrows in it in order to hit the hole of the wheel successfully.  On Arjuna's successful attempt,  flowers were showered upon him, the musicians and bards began to sing, the drums and trumpets were beaten and the Brahmanas were very much delighted and blessed him and Drupada with his army appeared on the scene to welcome  Arjuna. Flowers were showered upon him, the musicians and bards began to sing, the drums and trumpets were beaten and the Brahmanas were very much delighted and blessed him. Draupadi's face glowed, she looked at Arjuna lovingly and garlanded him. 

The next two Chapters 191 to 192 deal with the fight of Arjuna and Bhima with the princes who were opposed to the marriage of Draupadi with Arjuna. Karna was defeated by Arjuna and Shalya by Bhima. In the meantime, Krishna and Balram who had recognized the Pandavas made an attempt to appease the princes and the fighting stopped.   Then Arjuna, having won Draupadi and being respected by the Brahmans, came out of the arena and Draupadi holding on to the Brahmana attire of Arjuna followed him.

 But it is astonishing to note  that when Arjuna's life was in danger, Yudhishthira with his two younger brothers left the site  and went to their lodge (sloka 27). This sloka appears to be an interpolation. Yudhishthira would be the last person to leave his brother on whom danger had befallen from the jealous kings who had lost the Swayamvara.  And if this sloka is authentic, in that case Yudhishthira with his two  brothers on reaching the lodge would have immediately informed Kunti with the good news.   On the arrival of Arjuna, Kunti  as our tradition goes would have been well prepared to receive her daughter-in-law Draupadi.  At this juncture, one cannot expect  from Kunti to have uttered words like  sharing of Draupadi amongst  the five brothers. Draupadi was not  some sort of commodity  who could be shared.   

Bhima and Arjuna accompanying Draupadi were surrounded by Brahmans and with difficulty could arrive at their lodge.  As there was a delay in coming, Kunti was very much worried about  the safety of her sons (Sloka 41, chapter 192). This shows that Yudhishthira did not return home as mentioned earlier and hence it can be inferred that the above Shloka pertaining to early return of Yudhishtra to the lodge is interpolated. There is inconsistency in the chain of events and some of the shlokas are missing due to the  duplicity of mischief mongers.

In the first five Slokas of Chapter 193  it is mentioned that Bhima and Arjuna took Draupadi along with them to the potter's house and approaching their mother, telling her that they had brought alms. Kunti, being then in her cottage without seeing her sons, told them all to share jointly.  However, after seeing Draupadi, said that she had uttered improper words. On pondering over the matter as a God fearing person who followed Dharma  while holding  the virtuous Draupadi by her hands, went to Yudhishthira and uttered these words, "O King, my son! When your two brothers brought the daughter of king Drupada to my presence, I carelessly told them all to eat. O, the best of the Kurus! tell me how my words will not be untrue, how the daughter of the king of Panchals will not be displeased and how sin will not be committed by Draupadi"?

These lines will show that Kunti, as every mother will do, unknowingly ordered her sons to jointly partake of the food brought by them. But they did not bring food. The question arises whether the sons were bound to obey such order, if the thing brought by them was not food. No sane man will obey such order given by mistake. The Vedas and the Shastras, as well as the writings of the learned men of all ages and countries explicitly forbid a man to obey such instructions.   Mahabharat clearly teaches us to disobey such false directions which are unrighteous in nature.  

Kunti also knew that her instructions , if enforced, are sinful/unrighteous and against the laws of morality and dharma.   Hence she goes to Yudhishthira and asks him what should be done in the matter but the beauty is that Yudhishthira does not answer her. This also goes to show that these slokas are interpolations later additions and accretions.   Yudhishthira did not consider it worthwhile to answer such a foolish question knowing that Kunti's order was with respect to food and certainly not with respect to the bride -Draupadi.

Slokas 6 and 7 say that Yudhishthira hearing his mother and pondering over the matter, consoled Kunti and told Arjuna for celebration of marriage as per the Vedic rites in the presence of Agni.

It is important to point out here that if Kunti's words were final  and if her sons were bound to obey them implicitly, unmindful of all consequences, against all the laws of morality and Dharma then why did Yudhishthira ask Arjuna to go for a proper marriage ceremony with Draupadi ? Can my critics give any reason for such words of Yudhishthira? This clearly shows that Yudhishthira disregarded her mother's initial words pertaining to the joint marriage of her sons with Draupadi. 

Slokas 8 to 10 deal with Arjuna reply to Yudhishthira. He says, "O king, do not order me to commit sin; this is not proper, your marriage should take place first, then of Bhima, then mine, then of Nakula and Sahdeva. 0, king! Bhima, I, the twins and this girl (Draupadi) are entirely under your kind control and are duty bound to follow your orders. Taking into consideration the welfare of the king of Panchal, (Drupada) and having regard to duty, dharma and morality, order us what should be done; we are entirely under your control".

These words go to show that Arjuna declines to marry saying that the elder should be first married. Accordingly Yudhishthira is married to Draupadi. Arjuna, though having won Draupadi in Swayamvar, wishes that his elder brother should be married first.  Slokas 11 to 16 say that, hearing the words of Arjuna, the Pandavas began to look at Draupadi and fell in love with her? Yudhishthira, in order to avoid any conflict amongst the brothers, said that Draupadi would be the joint wife of the Pandavas?. Now the falling in love of the Pandavas with Draupadi is inconsistent with Arjuna's statement that Yudhishthira should marry Draupadi and that they would abide by his decision. 

The rest of chapter 193 Adiparva deals with the visit of Krishna and Balaram. It was most natural that Kunti and Yudhishthira would ask advice from them with respect to the marriage of Draupadi but we find nothing of the sort. In Chapter 197 in Slokas 23-26. Yudhishthira said, “ O king ! Draupadi shall be the queen of all of us ; O king ! such has been said before by my mother. Specially Bhimsena and I are unmarried, and this jewel-like your daughter has been won by Arjuna. O king! we are under a pledge to share all things in common.   O the best of kings, we do not want to contravene (break) that vow. Therefore Draupadi, shall, by Dharma, be the queen of all of us; let her, in presence of fire, marry all of us in the order of seniority.”

These Shlokas are clearly interpolations, as we do not expect such rubbish from Yudhishthira, an embodiment of virtues. They are the compilations of the most debauched and degraded persons. Bhimsena had already married Hidimba, so the statement that he was unmarried is utterly false. One can not imagine Yudhishthira saying that Draupadi is a jewel to be enjoyed by all the brothers. If Yudhishthira is capable of speaking such nonsense, he can not be Dharma Raja. This proves that these slokas are also interpolations. 

 Adiparva with the exception of a few slokas appears to be an interpolation for the following reasons :-

(1) Kunti being one of the most accomplished ladies of the age and well-versed in the Vedas and the Shastras is not likely to ask her sons to make Draupadi a prostitute. 

(2) If she unknowingly told Bhima and Arjuna to divide the alms equally with all the brothers, she would not have pressed her sons to be joint husbands of Draupadi. Draupadi was not a thing to be shared. The sons said that they had brought (Bhiksha) alms and Kunti knowing it to be some food asked them to divide it amongst five brothers.

(3) Even if Kunti was a woman devoid of any sense, the sons were not bound to obey her in commission of sinful acts. 

(4) Vedas nowhere support Polygamy and Polyandry. In Ramayana King Dasrath broke this rule and faced the consequences. In Mahabharata Pandu broke this rule and faced untimely death. Thus in the case of Yudhishthira, who was a  great saint and Vedic scholar, It is quite improbable  to believe that, he contravened the injunctions of the Vedas which neither support polygamy nor polyandry. Thus the passages supporting Polyandry in Mahabharata are interpolated and false.