The Draupadī rule and Arjuna's twelve-year exile

Classical

Soon after the Pāṇḍavas settled in Indraprastha, the sage Nārada visited Yudhiṣṭhira. He was welcomed with the arghya and a seat. Draupadī came to honour him, then left, and Nārada told the five brothers privately that she was wife to them all and they should make a rule among themselves to prevent a quarrel. To explain why, he told them the story of the Asura brothers Sunda and Upasunda. Sunda and Upasunda were two Daitya brothers, so united that they did everything together. They won the three worlds with a boon from Brahmā that only they could kill each other. They fell in love with the celestial woman Tilottamā, who came to them in the Vindhya hills.

Each claimed her; Sunda said she was his wife, and Upasunda that she was his brother's. They struck each other with maces and both died. Nārada said: do not let that happen to you over Draupadī. The Pāṇḍavas then agreed on a rule. If one of them was alone with Draupadī, and another saw them, that brother must go to the forest for twelve years as a celibate student. Nārada left satisfied and the brothers kept the rule for a long time, with no quarrels. Then robbers stole a Brahmin's cattle. He ran to the palace and reproached the Pāṇḍavas: a king who takes a share of the produce but does not protect his subjects is a sinner.

Arjuna promised to help, but his weapons were in the room where Yudhiṣṭhira was sitting with Draupadī. Arjuna weighed it: protecting the Brahmin mattered more than the rule, and if he must go into exile, or even die in the forest, dharma outlasts the body. He went in, took his bow, chased the thieves, killed them and returned the cattle. Arjuna then told Yudhiṣṭhira he must go into exile for twelve years. Yudhiṣṭhira said there was no fault: a younger brother may enter an elder brother's room. Arjuna replied, "Truth is my weapon, and I cannot waver from it." Reluctantly the eldest brother gave permission, and Arjuna set out. This exile gave the epic Ulūpī, Citrāṅgadā, Subhadrā and a pilgrimage across India, and also reminds readers that Arjuna chose a rule over a king's wishes.

Nārada's counsel shows an interesting side of the epic: the brothers' unity is not left to chance. Faced with a woman shared by five men, the Pāṇḍavas ask what would stop a quarrel, and come up with a rule that punishes whoever breaks it, whatever his motive. The first to break it is Arjuna, and his motive is a duty to protect a Brahmin, so that the rule and dharma are set against each other. He chooses to keep both: he breaks the rule to save the cattle and keeps the penalty. The result is a long journey, in which he meets Ulūpī, Citrāṅgadā and the Apsarases, and finally Subhadrā, the sister of Kṛṣṇa.

Told by Vaiśampāyana → Janamejaya

Who: Nārada, Yudhiṣṭhira, Draupadī, Arjuna, A Brahmin, Sunda, Upasunda, Tilottamā

Bound to

Sunda-Upasunda mirror

Narada's questions to Yudhishthira mirror

Ulupi drags Arjuna underwater origin

Founding of Indraprastha origin

Arjuna frees the five Apsarases cursed as crocodiles origin

Places: Indraprastha

Where this comes from

read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (mahabharataonline.com) Adi Parva, Section CCX (Nārada advises the brothers)
read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (mahabharataonline.com) Adi Parva, Section CCXII (Sunda and Upasunda conquer the worlds)
read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (mahabharataonline.com) Adi Parva, Section CCXIV (Tilottamā; the Pāṇḍavas' rule)
read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (mahabharataonline.com) Adi Parva, Section CCXV (the Brahmin's cattle; Arjuna departs)

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