Draupadi's Honour Is Saved

Duryodhana sent a servant to bring Draupadi to the hall. Draupadi asked him a question: 'Go and ask: did Yudhishthira lose himself first, or me? How can one who has already lost himself stake anyone else?' Hearing this, Duryodhana grew angry and sent his brother Dushasana.

Dushasana dragged Draupadi by her hair into the crowded hall. Draupadi asked the assembly, 'Bhishma is here, Drona is here, Vidura is here. Will anyone tell me whether this is dharma or adharma?' Bhishma said, 'The way of dharma is very subtle; I cannot give a certain answer.' Only Duryodhana's younger brother Vikarna stood up and said, 'Draupadi was never truly won.' But Karna silenced him.

Karna insulted Draupadi with harsh words and told Dushasana to strip the Pandavas and Draupadi of their garments. The Pandavas took off their upper cloths. Then Dushasana began to pull at Draupadi's sari. Her husbands sat with heads bowed; the elders were silent. Draupadi understood that no human being would protect her now.

Draupadi joined her hands, closed her eyes and called with her whole heart, 'O Govinda! O Krishna who dwells in Dwarka! Protect me!' In the well-loved telling, a miracle happened by Krishna's grace. However much of the sari Dushasana pulled, more cloth kept appearing. A mountain of cloth piled up in the hall, yet Draupadi was never uncovered. Exhausted, Dushasana sat down.

Then Bhima rose with a roar: 'I vow that in battle I will tear open Dushasana's chest and drink his blood.' When Duryodhana bared his thigh to Draupadi, Bhima said, 'That thigh I will break with my mace.' Just then evil omens appeared and jackals howled. Frightened, Dhritarashtra told Draupadi to ask for boons. With the first she freed Yudhishthira from slavery; with the second, the other brothers along with their weapons. A third boon she refused to take.