Week 7 Story: Draupadi's Swayamwara
Draupadi's Swayamwara
 |
| Drawing of Draupadi Source: Google Image |
Draupadi was dreading the day of her swayamwara. She had wanted to learn how to be a warrior, but her father insisted that was no life for a woman, and her role was as a wife and mother and a wife and mother only.
Growing up, Draupadi rebelled against her father's traditional ways as much as she could. She would sneak away during classes to watch the boys fights, practice battle moves instead of practicing dances, and the worst of them all, kiss as many boys as she could.
In her community, the worst thing a girl could be was promiscuous. Draupadi knew the best way to embarrass her father, the King of Panchala, was to kiss every boy she could and be labeled the community whore.
Draupadi's reputation began to spread and soon the king found out about his daughter's extra-curricular activities. He locked her away in their kingdom vowing to not let her out until she has been wed to a man. Although her swayamwara meant she would finally be free from her father, her freedom was simply being won by another man.
On the day of her swayamwara, all of the men in the community came out to win Draupadi. Draupadi sat on the stage in a throne bored as can be as each man performed their best talent in front of the king. She knew she had no say in the matter so she didn't feel the need to pay attention until a group of young men caught her eye. The men were all gorgeous and strong, but that isn't what caught her attention. They each, one-by-one performed their talents in front of Draupadi instead of the king as if to demonstrate this is her decision and not his.
The king was obviously annoyed by this gesture, but he couldn't deny the god-like talents of these five men. He dismissed all of the other contenders and turned towards his daughter and said, "Draupadi, I know how much choosing your own husband means to you. In order to prove to you that I care about what you want and I am not controlling you, I will let you choose from these five men. You have until dawn to decide."
Draupadi was surprised at this gesture. Although not ultimate freedom, she got to choose from the group of men she was most impressed with. She had five hours to decide and decided to make all six gentlemen wait until the very last minute.
During those five hours, Draupadi got all dolled up, packed up her room, and said goodbye to all of the kingdom staff. When she arrived back at the stage, she told the royal messenger to gather the town as she has made her decision.
Once the whole town arrive, Draupadi made the following announcement:
"My people. Thank you for joining us at this early hour. I have made you all wait long enough. My father has been oh so generous as to let me pick my own husband from this group of pre-selected men. After some long, hard thinking, I have decided."
She paused and then turned to her father.
While staring the king straight in his eyes, she said confidently and with a smirk, "I choose all of them."
Author's Notes
This story is a recreation of The Lives of Draupadi, a story within the Mahabharata. This is probably the most controversial story in the Mahabharata as it explains how one woman came to be married to five men. Because only men were allowed to have multiple partners at this time, this marriage was viewed as unnatural and un-holy. The way she became married to all fine brothers never sat right with me because she had no say what-so-ever. Her father decided which one of the brother's won her, and the brother's mother inadvertently decided she was to be shared by all five. Not once did she get to make her own decision. In my version, Draupadi finally gets back at her father by deciding to marry all five brothers when he expected her to only pick one. Although she didn't get to pick the men her father approved of, she got to decide who she was getting married to and get revenge on her father for locking her up all of those years.
Bibliography: The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic, R.K. Narayan
Jasmine,
ReplyDeleteI absolutely loved your telling of Draupadi's swayamwara. I thought you did a good job at putting perception on societal standards in regard to women. I think every women should be free to live her life as she pleases. Your story brought insight as to how a woman in society can easily be labeled by harmless actions. I also appreciates how you emphasized her marriage would not necessarily allow her to live the life she wants, because she would just be under another male's restrictions. Great story! I look forward to reading more.
I really enjoyed this telling of Draupadi's story. I like how feisty you made her, kissing boys just to get back at her dad. I also appreciate how you made her dad an almost-sympathetic character, by having him specifically point out that he "cares about her and is not controlling her" even as he forces her to marry against her will. I do like your formatting, for whatever I found this one really pleasing to the eye and very easy to read.
ReplyDeleteHey Jasmine,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your version of how Draupadi got the give Pandava brothers as her husband than the original story. Your story has a more modern take to it. Also I enjoyed the humor in the story such as when you mentioned Draupadi's extra-curricular activities. Draupadi's defiance to the societal norms were interesting aspects of the story as well.
Your classmate,
Joanna
Hi Jasmine,
ReplyDeleteWow! I loved the picture you chose for this story. I think it does a great job of representing her independence and strength. I really loved how you retold this story because I agree with you, I didn't like the original version very much. I find that happens a lot in some of these stories and I always finding myself wanting to change some things around. You did a great job while still staying true to the main story line! Great job!
Hi Jasmine,
ReplyDeleteThe picture you chose fro your story is so captivating. It was one of the reason I clicked on it. I like that you wrote your story on breaking the glass ceiling. Your story was fun to read and follow along. I like the twist that Draupadi was able to chose her husband in this story and the twist that instead of choosing one husband she chose all of them! Overall, great story to read!