Chapter Twenty Eight: Reading Notes - The Mahabharata, Part B (PDE Version)

 The specific story I’d like to take notes on today is about Draupadi. My reasoning for this is because she is one of the characters I will be writing about for my project. 

What I thought was the most interesting was that Draupadi and her brother both came from ashes during a sacrificial rite. A couple of questions I had while listening to the audio recording were, were these children born fully grown from the ashes? If so, why were they already fully grown? How did that benefit anyone? I understand that Drupada wanted a son to avenge him, but I was under the impressions that he was willing to wait for his son to grow up. 

I noticed that when Draupadi was “born” the skies spoke and said that she would be the chief of all women. I thought this was interesting, but then they said that people will suffer and Kshatriyas will die. I feel this has already painted a negative outcome for her, and she has yet to say a word. I also noticed how she was seen more as a prize because of her physical appearance. 

The story is titled Birth of Draupadi and was written by Donald A. Mackenzie. 

I thought this was such a beautiful photo. The situation is heinous for Draupadi, but she was saved, thankfully.

(Image is titled Dhritarashtra tries to disrobe Draupadi and she is saved by Krishna, it was uploaded by A108.net on Flickr.)