द्रौपदीdraupadīN. of the daughter of Drupada, king of the Pāñchālas. [She was won by Arjuna at her Svayaṁvara ceremony, and…
[द्रुपदस्यापत्यं स्त्री-अण् ङीप्]
Name of the daughter of Drupada, king of the Pāñchālas. [She was won by Arjuna at her Svayaṁvara ceremony, and when he and his brothers returned home they told their mother that they had that day made a great acquisition. Whereupon the mother said, "Well, then, my dear children, divide it amongst yourselves." As her words once uttered could not be changed, she became the common wife of the five brothers. When Yudhiṣṭhira lost his kingdom and even himself and Draupadī in gambling, she was grossly insulted by Duhśāsana (quod vide, which see) and by Duryodhana's wife. But these and the like insults she bore with uncommon patience and endurance, and on several occasions, when she and her husbands were put to the test, she saved their credit (as on the occasion of Durvāsas begging food at night for his 6, pupils). At last, however, her patience was exhausted, and she taunted her husbands for the very tame way in which they put up with the insults and injuries inflicted upon them by their enemies (see. Ki.1.29-46). It was then that the Pāṇḍavas resolved to enter upon the great Bhāratī war. She is one of the five very chaste women whose names one is recommended to repeat; see अहल्या.)
