Nowadays, when filmmakers make the Mahabharata, they see Draupadi’s disrobing by Dushasana and re-robing by Krishna as the central theme of the epic. They even make the whole Mahabharata sound like an act of vengeance, with Draupadi playing the central role, the climax being Bhima washing her hair with Dushasana’s blood.

However, when we study the history of the story, we realise that Draupadi’s disrobing and rerobing by Krishna was never part of the earliest layers of the epic.

Internal evidence

The epic was written down in its near-final form about 2,000 years ago. In the oldest layers of the epic, we find the story of Draupadi being dragged into the gambling hall by the hair — at this time she’s menstruating and covered with a single cloth. This itself is a terrible event, and is seen as the collapse of civilised behaviour.

We are told this is followed by Draupadi’s disrobing and re-robing by Krishna’s magical intervention, following helpless Draupadi’s piteous pleas and prayers. However, neither is referred to in later conversations within the epic itself in subsequent chapters — during exile, peace negotiations or during the war. Neither Pandavas, nor Kauravas, nor Krishna, Drona, Bhisma, Karna or even Draupadi refer to either of the events. All they speak about is her being dragged by the hair while she was menstruating.

It is later authors who embellished the story to make it even more upsetting to the audience, provoking them like the modern media to bay for blood.

They speak of how Draupadi raises both her hands in despair, how Krishna manifests cloth from thin air, how Bhima vows to drink Dusshana’s blood and break Duryodhana’s thigh, and how Draupadi refuses to tie her hair till it has been washed with Dusshana’s blood. None of these make it to the critical Sanskrit addition of the great epic.

Artwork, plays and Puranas

The earliest artworks to display the abuse of Draupadi are found in the Hoysala temples in Karnataka, carved around the 10th century CE, almost 1,000 years after the final version of the epic was written. Here Dushasana is shown pulling her hair and tugging the single robe that covers her, but there is no indicator of Krishna coming to her rescue.

There are images showing Draupadi watching Bhima killing a man, but it seems more like the killing of Kichaka (during the days in Virata palace) than the killing of Dushasana on the battlefield. Even the famous Mahabharata panel of Kailasanatha temple, Ellora, dated to the 8th century CE, does not depict this scene.

In Sanskrit plays of Bhasha such as Dutavakyam, Urubhangam and Duta Ghatotkacha, written around 100 CE, we hear references of Draupadi being dragged by the hair, while menstruating, dressed in a single robe by her hair, but there is no reference to any disrobing or re-robing.

The story is not found in the 4th century Harivamsa, 5th century Vishnu Purana, 8th century Devi Bhagavata Purana or 10th century Bhagavata Purana.

In the 12th century Shiva Purana we are told Draupadi was re-robed by Rishi Durvasa, who repaid his debt to Draupadi since she had offered him clothes to cover himself when his own clothes got washed away in a river.

In the 15th century Ayyanappilla Asan’s Malayali Bharatam Pattu, the people in the assembly, out of decency, motivated by dharma, remove their upper garments and give it to the Draupadi’s to cover herself. In the 15th century, Saraladas Mahabharat in Odia, Krishna reminds Surya to repay his debt to Draupadi, who in a previous life had given robes as gifts during the wedding of Surya’s son, Shani. So Surya dispatches his wives Chaya and Maya to robe her.

The story of Draupadi washing her hair with blood and tying it is first mentioned in the 8th century Sanskrit play called Venisamhara (the braiding of Draupadi’s hair) by Bhatta Narayana, a Sanskrit playwright, who was invited by the king of Bengal to his court. And who, as per legend, was an ancestor to the illustrious Tagore family.

Bhakti and Tantra

As tales of abuse and rescue of Draupadi emerged, these were attributed to karmic forces. She is disrobed because she had laughed and abused Duryodhana when he fell into a pool of water at Indraprastha — an incident highlighted by modern television serials, thus blaming the entire war on a woman.

She is re-robed because she had torn her garment and stopped the bleeding of Krishna’s hand when he released the Sudarshan chakra to kill Shishupala during the coronation of Yudhishthira. Thus, bad things happen because of karma and good things also happen because of karma. Nothing happens simply by the grace of god. It is difficult to know when these tales emerged, but they must have emerged before bhakti became a dominant force in India, so before the 13th century.

During the tantric period between 10th and 15th century CE, Draupadi came to be increasingly associated with Kali while Bhima started being associated with Bhairava. Therefore Bhima, like Bhairava, drinks the blood of those who dare abuse Kali, and Kali demands satisfaction through the blood of her abusers. In Nepal, since the 17th century, there have been images of Bhima as a guardian god on temple walls, bearing a mace, ripping out the bowels of Dushasana, while Draupadi watches in delight.

Early references to Draupadi praying to Krishna and being rescued by grace of God come from bhakti texts such as the 12th century Mumukshuppadi by Pillai Lokacharya of the Tamil Sri Vaishnava school that advocated ‘devotion in the mode of cats’ (manjara bhakti). Devotees are asked to be like kittens who trust the mother cat to take care of them. The example given was of Draupadi who stopped struggling, and raised both her arms in surrender to the lord, and was rescued by him, as Vishnu rescued the elephant Gajendra from the crocodile. These ideas of Vaishanva Bhakti were taken to the people through street performances such as Yakshagana in Karnataka and Therukoothu in Tamil Nadu as well as temple performances such as Kathakali of Kerala.

Continuity in the modern era

In Karnataka (Bengaluru) and Tamil Nadu (Arcot) there are about 400 temples where Draupadi is worshipped as Parashakti, or the mothergoddess. Here bhakti beliefs and tantric practices mingle. Draupadi is seen as Kali who demands blood of those who dare abuse her. While in North India, during Ramleela celebrations, we see the burning of Ravana, in Tamil Nadu sand images of Duryodhan are created on the ground and people jump and destroy his thighs as part of the ritual to please Draupadi, who is seen as a form of Kali. In Bengaluru, there is a local legend of how Draupadi returns to earth to fight demons for three days each year, and is joined by her spiritual sons, the Veerakumaras.

The story of disrobing, re-robing, hair untying and re-tying after being washed with blood, has now captured the public imagination and is an integral part of the Mahabharata narrative. Draupadi is not merely a woman abused; she is now the protagonist of the epic, and a form of the earth-goddess who drinks the blood of those who abused her.