Won in a contest she had no say in, married to five men on a careless word, and the only person in the hall who asks a question of law.
Appears in
Draupadi's svayamvara — An archery test won by a supposed dead man in disguise, and a mother's careless word that binds five brothers to one wife.
The Rajasuya sacrifice — Yudhishthira's consecration as emperor — the height of the Pandavas' fortune, and the sight that decides Duryodhana to act.
The game of dice — A king who cannot refuse a challenge plays against a loaded opponent, and stakes his brothers, his wife and himself.
Draupadi in the assembly — Dragged into a full court, the queen puts a question of law to the elders — and every one of them declines to answer it.
The night attack on the sleeping camp — The war has been won and the winners are asleep; three survivors of the losing side walk into their camp in the dark
Embodies
Dice and dispossession — A kingdom, a wife and a man's own self staked on a rigged game — and an assembly that let the wager stand.
The impossible choice — Not good against evil, but duty against duty — every open course breaks an obligation the chooser also owes.
Questions to explore
Draupadi asks whether a man who has already lost himself can stake his wife — why does no elder in the hall answer her?
Is Draupadi consulted anywhere in the account of her own marriage?
The endless-cloth rescue is the best-known moment of her story and is absent from the constituted Critical Edition — what does the constituted text say happens instead?
