Is Draupadi overrated in Mahabharata ???

Tywin Lannister

Draupadi is over-rated ???

Absolutely NOT !!!

Draupadi (& her beauty) is the reason why the Pandavas won the war, in fact managed to bring together 7 akshauni soldiers to stand a chance against Kaurava’s 11.

In fact, there is a reason why Draupadi was married to Arjuna (& his brothers).

Remember, after Guru Dronacharya’s teaching was complete, he asked the princes (both pandavas & kauravas) to do what?

To bring King Drupad to the knees.

Who was Drupad? The King of Panchala, a rival of the Kurus.

And, although Duryodhana led the 1st charge & failed, the Pandavas led by Bhima & Arjuna slaughtered the Panchala forces.

They brought Drupad in chains to Hastinapur & even made Ashwatthama (Drona’s son), the ruler of Kampilya (a major city of Panchal kingdom).

After that, a formal truce was made between Drona & Drupad, but the later remembered his insult & swore to avenge it.

This resulted in the birth of Dhristadumna & Draupadi (actually by means of niyog pratha, because Drupad had no child till then).

Now tell me.

What can be the sweeter revenge than making the best disciple (Arjuna) of the enemy (Drona), your own son-in-law, so that he would fight for you against his former teacher???

The Pandavas had conflicts with Duryodhana over occupying the throne, it’s true. But Drupad took advantage of the situation to take his revenge.

And Draupadi was is LYNCH PIN.

soothsayer

Not sure about the ratings. But let us concede, the events described in the epic are completely hinged to this one character!at least the latter half.
Would the punishment meted out to the Pandavas be so severe?
Would the Pandavas have sworn to the kind of death they would award to the chief villans?would keechaka have died in this manner?
would the war and deaths which followed been so gruesome?
No , it is doubtful

themaskeditor

Dunno about the real Draupadi, but the one in B. R. Chopra's Mahabharata (Rupali Ganguli) was sexy

Meself

When I read the title, I swear I was ready to blow this post with arsenal. But then I read the whole post and had to smack myself. Sorry!
Draupadi....to me this woman is an enigma. I have grown up admiring her and the sheer strength of her character. She was born of fire and fire she truly was. I have seen a lot of people who convinientlu dump the blame of those wretched 18 days on her. Which is so untrue when you begin to examine every action in Mahabharat from close quarters.




Draupadi was an incarnation of five goddess and Adi-Shakti Parvati herself. The reason behind her birth was to re-establish the Dharma that had eroded from the society's all thanks to the malicious and corruption of humans of that era. She was born for destruction of the old order and establiment of new order of ethical codes and morality. I don't find her to be overrated or overhyped. Infact I personally feel that no matter how many choruses are sung in her praises it will always fall short to match the glory that she was.




At the end of every cycle Vishnu is born in an Avatar and to assist him in setting things right his cosmic sibling Parvati, too, is born. Towards the end of Dwapar Yug, Vishnu was born as Krishna and Parvati formed a part of Draupadi. A woman who was born of divine can never be overrated.




The war of Mahabharat was basically rooted in the long standing dispute between the two wings of Kuru clan and the inaction of the elders namely, Bheeshma, Dronacharya, Vidur and Dhritrashtra. To dump the blame of all that wrong on Draupadi is basically making her a scapegoat. She was humiliated in the court of Hastinapur and those who were supposed to protect the ethical codes stayed mum. It was enough to throw light on the fact that no woman or man was safe under an order as dilapidated as the one that governed Aryavarta. Hence she took the vow of destruction and that destruction set things right for next generation until Kali corrupted man again.




I feel Draupadi is one of the central figures, if not the only one. Her appearance is what takes the entire narrative to its decisive and concrete conclusion. Therefore she can never be overrated. She was the necessity that era, that society and those Pandavas needed. Without her the great change would have never taken place. She is one the Panchmahakanya, the Nityasumangali and teh Dharmasyajanani. She is that complete woman who turned the course of Aryavarta. If anything, I believe the characters of Mahabharat should thank her for she immortalized them forever.

Meself

Shalsilk 16-4-2018 08:31 PM
I think role of Draupadi in Mahabharata is overrated. I feel that Draupadi was more a pawn used firs ...

Draupadi was, firstly never born because she was asked by Drupad. She was instead gifted by the divine to mortals to set about a chain reaction that would eventually lead to change in the ethical codes. It was prophecised upon her brother that she would destroy the Kuru clan and the old order of ethics, in due course of Mahabharat we do see that happening.




Also it is a false notion that Draupadi was inclined towards Karna during her swayamvar. I don't really understand how people claim she loved Karna when she had only two interaction with him in the entire canon. Karna was the king of a vessel kingdom of Kuru. It was Kuru that was invited to the swayamvar and not Anga. Karna came along with Duryodhan not that he was invited. Yet he was allowed to show his skills, because Panchal like Magadha practiced equality. Had that been any other kingdom, Karna would have been arrested for participating in a swayamvar in which he was not invited to. Add to this Karna had failed to hit the target, and was disqualified.


About Draupadi being a pawn, I find that statement a little vague given she had political powers and exercised them too. She was trained in warfare and administration and as the empress of Aryavarta she played major role in policy making of the empire. She was the one who chose Arjun and not the other way round. Swayamvar was not a competition that had the woman as a trophy. It was designed as a competition so the prospective groom could obtain the consent of the royal family. The ultimate discretionary power of choosing or rejecting lay with the woman whose swayamvar it was.




There are numerous other examples from Mahabharat that shows her political powers and command. So calling her a political pawn would be incorrect.

Shalsilk

I think role of Draupadi in Mahabharata is overrated. I feel that Draupadi was more a pawn used first by Draupad and Krishna, and then by Kunti. During her Swayamvar, Draupadi was more inclined towards Karna but before he could lift the bow was taunted and told to go back to his kingdom. This was done by Krishna. And when Arjuna won Draupadi's hand in Marriage, Kunti very deliberately asked him to share the prize (draupadi) with his brothers, this even though Kunti was aware that Arjuna had set out that day to win Draupadi's hand.  Kunti did not want jealousy between the brothers not when she had set her sights on the Kaurava Kingdom for her sons.

Draupadi is more a woman caught between the various characters of Mahabharata each of whom used her for their own gains

Tywin Lannister

themaskeditor 20-4-2018 12:56 PM
Dunno about the real Draupadi, but the one in B. R. Chopra's Mahabharata (Rupali Ganguli) was sexy

The real one was one the greatest beauties in Mahabharata & yes, she was dark-skinned !!

Tywin Lannister

Shalsilk 16-4-2018 08:31 PM
I think role of Draupadi in Mahabharata is overrated. I feel that Draupadi was more a pawn used firs ...

Draupadi was a weapon, dude...a WEAPON !!!

Tywin Lannister

soothsayer 20-4-2018 07:19 PM
Not sure about the ratings. But let us concede, the events described in the epic are completely hing ...

Good Point, bro !!!

she was the real cause of Mahabharata...these were her words "Andha ka beta Andha" which fumed hatred in  Durodhyna mind towards her.