​Why did Draupadi not protest when she was told to marry five husbands instead of one?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
point over here, it is her dependence on Krishna that is the key point. Question, why did Draupadi not protest when she was offered five husbands instead of one? She had got married to Arjuna, so why did she not protest? Answer, Draupadi is at one level a very fiery lady, but on another level she is still a part of a patriarchal culture and in front of her elders, she was submissive.
So when she came back as a new bride with Arjuna having won her, so at that time Yudhishthir, he told his mother, just see what we have brought today. Now they were in the guise of Brahmins and as Brahmins they would daily get some alms, so Kunti thought that he must have brought some alms and she by her normal habitual manner, she said that actually whatever you have got, you share it equally. And in her words, she just spoke casually, but they were greeted with a deathly silence and she turned around and then she saw a beautiful girl, Draupadi, beautiful woman who was clearly in a bridal groom.
They understood that they had won the hand of a bride and how could a bride be shared? She was herself taken aback, but he said, I have spoken these words, what to do about these words? He said, such words would not have come through my mouth also. And Yudhishthir, he also said that actually Yudhishthir was quite pure hearted and he said, normally I would not even contemplate sin, but somehow when I am contemplating your words, I am not feeling as if there is anything wrong in it. And then they decided that it would be that they would all marry Draupadi together.
Now actually, they had planned, Arjuna had won their hand and it was expected that Arjuna would marry, that’s what others were thinking, but then Arjuna was thinking that how can I marry before Yudhishthir marries? So then maybe she can get, she can become the bride of Yudhishthir. Basically, there was that vague unspoken concern, but there was no specific resolution, solution they had thought to it. So Kunti’s words became like a solution.
And for Draupadi, eventually when she recognized that these are the Pandavas, she was delighted. And then in fact, her father had, when the Yajna had been performed to get Dhristadyumna to help him take revenge against Drona, so he had also asked for a daughter who would become the bride of Arjuna. So that was her prophecy and Arjuna was a great hero and she was delighted.
And then later on, so of course, to have a husband was a bit overwhelming for her, but then she just waited. And then when Drupada heard about this, he was also taken aback, Vyasadeva came and Vyasadeva told that actually this has been ordained by Mahadeva. In her previous life, your daughter Draupadi, she had performed austerity to please Lord Shiva in order to get a husband.
And when she finally, Lord Shiva came in front of her, she was so anxious that she said five times, I want a husband, I want a husband, I want a husband, I want a husband, I want a husband. And she said five times, so Lord Shiva smiled and he said that because you have, you have desired, you asked five times, therefore you will have five husbands in your next life. Now she was amused by that, but then that was, it was Lord Shiva’s arrangement that why this was happening.
And then Vyasadeva also gave the example that although it’s unusual for one woman to have any husbands, but it’s not entirely unprecedented. So in the past, there has been, in the past, there is the Prachetas, the ten Prachetas who had one woman as their wife. So that was, in one sense, even more difficult than one, than five men having one wife.
For ten women to have one wife is even more difficult, but they worked it out. So there were, although unusual, it was not unprecedented and this was not just arbitrary or whimsical. It was actually with the sanction of the elders and of the higher beings.
So Indrapati saw everybody, her mother-in-law speaking this, her husband’s consenting to it, her sage’s sanctioning it and finally her husband, her father also consenting to it. So naturally after that, she did not oppose it. She happily accepted it and then she expertly learned how to serve all her five husbands in a way that they were all pleased.
And she, of course, in a sense, got five protectors. It was her privilege also by that way. So because it was arranged by higher beings and because it was sanctioned by her elders, Indrapati accepted it.
Thank you. Hare Krishna.