The sage Narada warns the Pandava brothers of conflict that can destroy their bond. Did the husbands fight over Draupadi? The epic does not explicitly discuss this,but the possibility of jealously tearing the brothers apart is repeatedly alluded to. One hears of co-wives fighting over their husband's affection. Draupadi with her five husbands and an entire epic revolving around her stirs the imagination - makes us think of things that we otherwise dare not think.How did she rate her husbands? Did she have preferences ? By what criteria? Nakula was the handsomest but Bhima was the most passionate and Arjuna,he was skilled but insecure.Women writers who write on Draupadi flirt with the possibilities but only at a psychological level.Last month,a Telugu writer,Rajya Sabha MP Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad's fiction dared explore the physical aspect of Draupadi's intimacy with her husbands.The novel was chosen for a Sahitya Akademi award.Not surprisingly this has led to outrage and protests calling for the book to be banned.The RSS newspaper,Organiser,said that the author had taken undue licence with Draupadi's character and was guilty of "semi porn and derision". The idea of the Goddess with more than one husband is unacceptable. Usually her doorkeepers, such as Kala Bhairav and Gora Bhairava, are described as her sons or servants. But there are no images of the Goddess with multiple husbands. This is either accepted matter-of-factly or explained using metaphysics. In temples,one does see gods with many wives: Shiva with Gauri and Ganga Vishnu with Bhoo-devi and Sri-devi Muruga with Valli and Sena. But polygamy had benefits too - sharing a wife assured sharing of property and no division of the land. This is one of the reasons why women were usually kept away in seclusion and safety, a practice that eventually led to the throttling of women rights. When a man had many wives,the family could have more children than when a woman had many husbands. In early societies with high infant mortality rates and short lifespans,polygamy was preferred to polyandry. The scriptures refer to other women who had many husbands: Marisha, who married the ten pracheta brothers and Jatila,who was the wife of seven sages. And they did not really count as they were not husbands, just child providers. It was whispered in corridors, not announced in courts. But unlike Draupadi, her association with the gods was not public knowledge. But Draupadi is not the only polyandrous woman in Indian mythology.Her mother-in-law,Kunti,knew many men: four gods (Surya,Yama,Vayu and Indra) besides her husband, Pandu. She is, in many parts of India, a goddess, worthy of sacrifice. The idea of one woman having many husbands makes most men feel inadequate,not least her husbands.Little wonder then Draupadi is one of the most popular and controversial heroines of Hindu mythology.A woman who knows her mind, speaks her mind,refuses to be cowered by her husbands, asserts her will and admonishes them when they fail her.
Beautiful,brave and controversial,the heroine of the Mahabharat continues to fascinate.