Karna in Mahabharat is depicted as one of the most complex characters. Which manuscript is it then? Karna (Sanskrit: कर्ण, IAST: Karṇa), also known as Vasusena, Anga-raja, and Radheya, is one of the major characters of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. No record of Kunti crying for them. from which it has been kindled, his destruction will come from the O bull among the Did Karna Really Call Draupadi A Vaishya – Prostitute? One verse later we are told: “Seeing that the Kauravas were not giving a clear response to this question, the people [in the assembly] began censuring Dhritarashtra, shouting at him in loud voices.” [Sabha 68.57] This is one verse after Dushshasana has sat down quietly, exhausted and shamed, after his long drawn attempt to disrobe Draupadi, after cloth after cloth miraculously appeared on Draupadi to protect her honour, after a huge heap of cloths lay on the ground, all just pulled away from Draupadi! In this chapter, after the Pandavas have left for the jungle, Sanjaya sees Dhritarashtra very worried and asks him why he is not happy even after obtaining from the Pandavas their rich land and driving them away from the country. ~00~ The internal evidence strongly shows the stripping episode is an interpolation. A literary work could also be the creation of an entire culture, particularly in a culture like ours where storytelling has been one of the most revered and one of the most common art forms, practiced by professionals born to families who practice it across millennia and amateurs in their thousands across the country every day. The twelfth chapter of the Vanaparva is an unusually long one, with one hundred and thirty-six verses in it. I think it's blessed to be able to enquire into sacred text while remaining crystal clear of the 'bigger-picture'. @AkshayS. Which would mean that the same cloth remained on her the whole day – the cloth she was wearing in the morning was not removed by Dushshasana, another did not miraculously appear in its place! fire he has created. You do not know the reality of [Draupadi prashnamuktvaivam roraveeti hyanathavat; na cha vibroota tam prashnam sabhya dharmo’tra peedyate – Sabha 68.59] Instead, he calls him a wicked sinner and a shame on the Bharatas and then takes that vow. As for external evidence, that again mostly supports the view that the stripping episode is a later interpolation, as Mr Bhattacharya points out. Then Karna asks Dushshasana to take Draupadi to the Kaurava residences. In heart-wrenching words Drauapdi here rejects Bheema’s strength and Arjuna’s Gandiva [Dhig balam bheemasenasya, dhik parthasya cha gandeevam – Vana 12.67], for neither could protect her on that day. we have noticed similar imports in their hindi translation of jaimini's ashvamedha parva. A good write up. The Mahabharata certainly is the creation of an entire culture. Again, it is as though the attempt to disrobe her has not taken place at all! the eldest Pandava staked everything he possessed. I find the Mahabharata beautiful, and unsurpassed as an epic – with all its inconsistencies. I would ask you a question and it is a reflection of my ignorance. brought into the sabha in a single garment, or even if she is naked. Droupadi was mentioned in the speech and the Pandava When the noise died down, Radheya, who was almost senseless with There is no mention of any appeal from Draupadi reaching him — telepathically or otherwise. Where is criticism for Karna for asking Dushshasana to do it? Two shlokas later, in shloka 37, Draupadi asks Dushshasana not to disrobe her, not to drag her –ma ma vivastram kuru, ma vikarsheeh. And then he speaks of how all his women, including Gandhari, wailed heartrendingly in loud voices, filling the atmosphere with anguish and terror when Draupadi was brought to the assembly, of how the brahmanas refused to do the sandhya rituals in their homes that day angry at Draupadi being dragged about. Karna was a master archer, on par with Arjuna himself, but his circumstances didn’t allow him to reach his potential. Your post which is entirely based on Critical edition,that removes Naham varayami sootam,still you believe Karna called her a whore for the words which she never spoke.Scholars like you should be unbiased not hypocrites? What I did was to look closely into the part of the Sabha Parva dealing with the dice game and its aftermath – Chapters 59 to 81 in the Gita Press edition. Draupadi as we all know was the wife of the Pandavas and Karna, belonged to the enemy clan as he was basically the right hand of Duryodhana. Even at the end, when Yudhishthira provokes Duryodhana to emerge from Dvaipayana lake, he refers to Panchali being dragged into the court, not being stripped. Perhaps here too, in spite of Dushshasana's earlier words to her that he does not care whether she is in a single cloth or in no cloth at all [ekambara vapyathava vivastra – Sabha 67.34], the disrobing Draupadi is talking about seems to be accidental. This answer is not useful. Krishna has been won in accordance with dharma, how can you think she Even at the end, when Yudhishthira provokes Duryodhana to emerge from Dvaipayana lake, he refers to Panchali being dragged into the court, not being stripped. Thank you. in conclusion in my opinion THIS ARTICLE SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN ANY IMPORTANCE as it shows only ignorance of our scriptures and same as the other modern articles which tries to pick apart various parts of our scriptures and CRITICAL STUDYING THEM in the name of MODERN SCHOLARSHIP which is pure GARBAGE. But seeing Karna, Draupadi loudly said, 'I WILL NOT SELECT A SUTA FOR MY LORD' Then Karna, laughing in vexation and casting a glance at the Sun, threw aside the bow already drawn to a circle. There are scores of other occasions in the Mahabharata where the incidents of the Dice Hall on that day are mentioned, but none of them refers to the stripping of Draupadi. However, she submits to many and it is therefore certain that she is a only a child, though he speaks words of wisdom. ... All the time, he nourished bitterness within himself about his so-called low birth. In shloka 79.32 too there is mention of what happened in the Dice Hall – Vaishampayana tells that the Dhartarashtra women wailed aloud after they learned of what happened there. He is not censured because Dushshasana just attempted to strip in public the wife of the Pandavas. Strip away the ~00~ Yes, he did. clad in only a single garment is against dharma, listen to the words I Knowing dharma is different from implementing dharma..... Karna may know all dharma, but he did not implement He might be good in doing some dharma..... Just because one does bad action we can't say they don't know dharma. Ah ok interseting. Have you checked the Critical Edition? Arjuna wasnt even seduced by queen of all apsaras Urvashi whom even great rishis cant resist..Arjuna has an unmatched control of lust & respect for women which draupadi & krishna themselves praised!But what karna did-Karna encouraged cheer haran of draupadi & called drapadi A PROSTITUTE(VAISHYA)..god krishna doesnt like anybody without any reason! It is difficult to imagine the epic without that haunting scene. have to say in response. In this sabha, The scene ends with Bheema taking the vow to tear open Dushshasana's chest and drink his blood [Sabha 68/53]. As Mr Bhattacharya points out, Draupadi herself never refers to the stripping. Firstly, she was an unwanted princess borne out of fire to king Drupad. There is no statement to that effect in the Mahabharata. Show activity on this post. Which means she was present there. In all the chapters here dealing with the Dice Hall, nowhere is there any reference to the attempt to disrobe Draupadi except in the shlokas describing it themselves! How did I reach this conclusion, he had the guts to oppose and talk back to Karna and Duryodhana even in public. 13). Draupadi does not thank Krishna for saving her honour in the Dice Hall through the miracle. elders. However, this is not the only instance when such powerful and seminal details have been added to either the text of the Mahabharata or to the Mahabharata Katha by later narrators/writers. She also said that she dislikes and stays away from all those who are ill-wishers or enemies of her husbands. In the Dice Hall, which had been constructed specifically for this game of dice, Karna tells Vikarna and the kings present in the assembly that it has been ordained by the gods that a woman can have only one husband but Draupadi is subject to many men [anekavashaga] and for that reason is certainly a whore [bandhakeeti vinishchita]. They would choose to become a Vaishya, then the cycle makes them become a Sudra later on, then a barber, then a Brahmana, then a Kshatriya. Did Karna really used inappropriate words for Draupadi in dice game? [In the Gita Press edition, this is Shalya 59.10.] While it is possible that Draupadi changed her cloth since her disrobing and the new cloth too got stained by blood, I believe it is more likely that she was wearing the same cloth on her way to the jungle as she was wearing that morning. re-read and was as entranced as the 1st time. So she rejected him. For a Kshatriya woman (Draupadi), any man whose varna is other than Kshatriya or Brahmana is Pratiloma. Draupadi was born along with her brother, Dhrishtadyumna, from a yajna organised by King Drupada of Panchala. Here, again, the Hindi translation of shloka 9 refers to Draupadi’s cloth being pulled away. alright guys,its a big #misconception that draupadi called karna a #sutputra and stopped him from participatng. In its power the scene is equal to most electrifying pictures in world literature. Dharma is being injured here." The mahabharata on scared-texts is not the critical edition? Like fire destroys the block Recreate them? And, after all, the Mahabharata is India's book of life. I read in many books that Draupadi had crush on Karna. Thank you so much for such a well-written and insightful article. What the Sanskrit verses do is speak of Draupadi’s “parikarsha” – her being dragged about, pulled about, and not her cloth being pulled away. Whenever Yudhishthira recounts the sufferings they have undergone, it is Draupadi being pulled by her hair that he mentions, never any attempt to strip her. In the face of such strong, overwhelming internal evidence that tells us that the disrobing incident is a later interpolation, I believe this verse should not be given more importance than the other occasions in later works where the disrobing is mentioned. It was a desperate effort by Karna to save Draupadi by instigating Pandavas and thereby propelling them to take action,but that did not happen and Karna was branded as a person who was jealous and was blind with anger for Draupadi’s refusal at the swayamvara. Draupadi never lived a normal woman’s life. Krishna has not been won, when she has been won. I saw one program where they talked about the Lakshman Rekha episode from Ramayana that is apparently not even present in popular versions (Valmiki, Tulasi, etc.). It is in the next chapter, Chapter 68, that Karna asks Dushshasana to remove the clothes of the Pandavas as well as of Draupadi [Pandavanam cha vasansi draupadyashchapyupahara – Sabha 68.38]. O descendant of the Kuru lineage! Stack Exchange network consists of 176 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. Very nicely written and very convincing article. Karna appolizes to Krishan for calling Draupadi vashiya due to conditions , its conditions that makes a person follow the day . He talks of the other incidents that followed Draupadi being so ill-treated – of how a terrible storm began blowing violently all on a sudden, of how loud furious thunders shook the world, how the sky suddenly started showering meteors and how a surprise eclipse darkened the world, how a roaring fire erupted in the rathashala all on a sudden and how the flags of the chariots so inauspiciously were reduced to ashes, how in Duryodhana’s agnihotra hall jackals began howling, and how donkeys began answering them from all around and so on. And he made unforgettable use of it, creating not only what is one of the Mahabharata’s most haunting pictures but one of the most haunting scenes in all of Indian literature. Instead, he is referring back to the questions asked by Drauapdi earlier – seeking clarification about whether she has been won or not, whether she is a slave or not! What is the response sloka (if any) of Karna in Draupadi's Swayambar when she said, "Naham Varayami Sootam"? Note:  In that version, Draipadi is disrobed exactly as you described, but there is absolutely no mention of Krishna in that scene. This shows that the attempt of striping her is later addition. No part of this Internet site may 99% world's atrocities today are because of people who rejected dharma despite knowing it than who does adharma without awareness. Draupadi herself, furious at everyone favouring peace, lists her sufferings but does not mention any stripping (5.82. Why Draupadi is called Indrani might merit an ‘easy’ explanation considering the myth that all Pandavas are Indra incarnates. In accordance with dharma, Soubala has won all the riches the Pandavas By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Cookie Policy, Privacy Policy, and our Terms of Service. !and none of them later mentioned it anywhere..even in bheeshma and drona parv when karna was crying at bheeshma's feet and bheeshma was explaining to him that why he was so much harsh to him throughtout his life..he mentioned that karna always spoke harsh to pandavas so bheeshma wanted to dump his energy ...but there also he did not mentioned his order to dusshan to disrobe draupadi.... how this is possible ???? Dushshasana once again begins dragging Draupadi. :) I'm delighted to have read you. made them sit up straight vs. made them sit upright. Perhaps this suggested to him the immense dramatic possibilities of a deliberate stripping attempt. She mentions here two occasions when this has happened. Why were early 3D games so full of muted colours? How does difficulty affect the game in Cyberpunk 2077? To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. Again in Chapter 77, after the second game of dice, when Nakula takes the vow to dispose off the Dhartarashtras, it is for their cruel words to her in the Sabha – not for disrobing her [Suteyam yajnasenasya dyoote’smin dhrtarashtrajair yairvachah shravita rookshah – Sabha 77.43]. I'm moved by reading this article. What fraction of the larger semicircle is filled? Dhritarashtra is censured because the Kauravas have not yet answered Draupadi’s question as to whether she is a slave or not. Did Shri Krishna point out wrong actions of Yudhisthira to Pandavas at any point of time in Mahabharata? But in all three cases I found that the Sanskrit original does not speak of the stripping. Another is the arrangement among the Pandavas regarding sharing Draupadi by annual turns. Karna wasn't drunk in Ghoshyatra still he was defeated by Gandharvas. Hinduism Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for followers of the Hindu religion and those interested in learning more about Hinduism. And, the story goes, as her incomparably perfect body stood naked before them, taking away the breath of the assembly, the honourable gentlemen gave their verdict – no, a form as perfect as this cannot be home to a sinful soul. Why Krishna wanted to support Pandavas even when both Pandavas and Karuavas were wrong in dice game? Bibek Debroy uses 'courtesan' in his translation of that verse. garments from the Pandavas and Droupadi.”, Debroy, Bibek. Does a parabolic trajectory really exist in nature? In fact, the Sanskrit shloka [quoted above] gives one the feeling that the question has just been asked – that there hasn’t been much time lapse between Draupadi’s question and Vidura’s reminder of the question, that nothing much has happened in between. It is very unlikely that this powerful, assertive, outspoken, fearless woman would have remained silent if an attempt had been made to disrobe Draupadi in her presence. One other such instance that comes readily to the mind is the vow taken by Draupadi that she will tie up her hair only after Dushshasana has been killed – after his chest has been torn open and his hot blood had been applied to her hair. And no disrobing took place in the Dice Hall! Clearly the blood is menstrual blood. A weeping, helpless Draupadi calls out to Krishna for help and a miracle saves Draupadi’s honour. Its all just pure imagination put forward by people. Still no one responds. Karna hated Draupadi because she denied him entry into the swayamvara competition because she thought he was low caste (soota). Is Thursday a “party” day in Spain or Germany? If you think that bringing her into the sabha when she is has not been won? O son of the Kuru race, the gods have ordained only one husband for one woman. Later we are told she was heavily bleeding at that time. When Krishna criticises Karna, facing death, for his misdeeds, he refers to Draupadi being dragged into court, but does not refer to the stripping and his instigating it. Hindu apologists consider the Manusmriti as the divine code of conduct and, accordingly, the status of women as … She certainly was not afraid of Duryodhana, her son, even assuming the others kept quiet because of fear for him. Karna didn't protested in Draupadi's humiliation. Or is there any proof at all in these chapters that the stripping was there in the text from the very beginning? This bitterness made a wonderful human being into such a nasty and ugly character in the Mahabharata. Bharata lineage! The attack on Krishna, perhaps, instigated Arjuna so much that he cut off Karna’s head-gear, ‘as also his earrings’, with his winged arrows. O Dhritarashtra’s oh man! As to your other question: Was he right to say so? Conclusion: See here, Karna did not answer back; he just smiled and looked at The Sun. The context however tells us it was not deliberate disrobing, but a result of being dragged by Dushshasana. All we find in these words of the assembled kings is an urgency that her question should be answered, a despair that it has not been answered yet. Our Draupadi of course was not brought to the Dice Hall assembly of Hastinapura by Dushshasana for any crime of her own, though Karna does call her a whore for being the wife of many men and was perhaps punishing her, at least in part, for her shouting at him in her swayamvara hall those words that must have haunted him all his life: Naham varayami sootam – “I shall not wed a soota.” She had been lost to the Dhartarashtras by Yudhishthira who, in an act that should shame even a common gambler, as Draupadi puts it, had wagered her after he had lost all his wealth, his kingdom, his brothers and himself. And then he asks Dushshasana, the Mahabharata tells us, to remove the clothes of the Pandavas and to disrobe Draupadi. And the other, when he appeared “in the form of cloths in the assembly” [vastraroopee sabhamadhye – Jaimini 2/62]. Any man whose varna is other than Kshatriya or Brahmana is pratiloma speech that follows forward by people was along! Game itself begins in chapter 60, Draupadi is a courtesan a number of additional times the stripping,... Reason do you then think that she should have done earlier – paying respects... His subsequent speech that follows that the Sanskrit original does not thank for! Many unrighteous deeds his destruction will come from the fire he has created Vaishampayana mentions the incidents of Kuru... Integral involved the distance function of people who have the Pandavas as their enemies can not not... Because they were bound by “ dharma ” that effect in the footnote fault??!, referring to her did not answer back ; he just smiled and looked the. 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