Scene 1
Karna is furious, reminiscing Draupadi's words humiliating his birth and his family. He is angry and sorrowful that his god-like parents should be insulted thus. He swears he will not rest till he bridles Draupadi's vanity and make her repent her mistake. Duryodhan promises his support to Karna. Karna says no matter how hard he tries, the tumult in his heart refuses to quieten.
Duryodhana says Karna should have killed the Brahmin (Arjuna) at the marriage site itself. Karna says he has already been cursed by a Brahmin, and he didn't want to risk another. Duryodhana is surprised, and Karna recounts the story of how he got cursed by a Brahmin.
Once Karna was returning from a hunting expedition when he saw two children playing on the street. Suddenly he noticed a snake about to bite the boy and he aims an arrow at the snake, but hits the boy by mistake. The boy's father, a Brahmana, doesn't believe Karna's explanation. He accuses Karna of mindless cruelty. Karna pleads and asks for his pardon, but the Brahmin says Karna must face the consequences of his action. Right in the middle of a war, his chariot will sink in the muddy earth and be unable to get up just like his own son, the Brahmin curses Karna.
Karna
: I am already afflicted with Brahmahatti dosha (the sin of killing a Brahmin). That is why I did not fight the Brahmin on the marriage venue.
Shakuni
: It is all right if he was truly a Brahmin, but...Duryodhana pounces at this pause in Shakuni's words and tells him to spell it out. Shakuni says the way the Brahmin held his bow and his confident demeanour has raised a cyclone of doubt in his mind that it could be Arjuna. Dushasana also echoes this fear. Shakuni then reveals he has already sent spies who would follow the Brahmin and report on the findings.
Scene 2
Draupadi asks Kunti what would happen to her chastity if she married all her sons. Kunti says she never uttered any word without thinking. So if she still uttered the words 'share', it must be that destiny has played a part.
Kunti
: I have only one answer to all your questions. Chastity is nothing but the purity of one's mind. Kshatriya girls are sometimes forced to deal with such situations. Draupadi, do you know something? I too have faced similar challenging situations. My husband Pandu was cursed by Sage Kindama. But I had received a mantra from Sage Durvasa to get a progeny by invoking a god of my choice. Do you know all the five Pandavas were born through gods' intervention? Dritarashtra, Pandu and Vidura were all born of sage Vyasa. For a kshatriya woman, chastity means thinking and acting for the welfare of the country. There is no personal likes and dislikes. The objective of her birth is to get and maintain the custody of her own country. Like it or not, you have to accept this, Draupadi.Scene 3
Drupada asks Vyasa to fix a date for his daughter's marriage. He tells him how delighted he is that Draupadi would be marrying Arjuna. His brother Satyajit barges into the room with the news that Draupadi will be marrying all the five Pandavas.
Drupada doesn't like it and is angry. Vyasa tells him that Draupadi will marry all the Pandavas as per the will of God, and Drupada couldn't change it.
Scene 4
Draupadi is crying in a solitary place and Krishna appears there.
Draupadi
: Krishna, you told me you would come whenever I am distressed, yet you pushed me into the path of distress!
Krishna
: I have come to wipe away your distress.
Draupadi
: The womenkind all through the ages would fault me. You are the cause for all my misery.
Krishna
: Is it right to accuse your brother who has come to help you? I am not the cause for this. It is you who asked for this. Not in this birth, though. You asked for this in your previous birth.Krishna tells Draupadi about her previous birth, and at the same time, Vyasa explains to Drupada the same story to explain why Draupadi had to marry the Pandavas.
In her previous birth Draupadi was Nalayini, the wife Sage Moudgalya. She was a chaste woman. Moudgalya want to test her chastity and one day he turned himself into an old man, and that too afflicted with leprosy. Nalayini was very sad to see her husband in such a bad state. Yet she served him with devotion. Moudgalya started being too hard on her, always finding fault and scolding her without reason. One day as he was eating the food, one of his fingers covered with pus fell into the food. The sage left his food and got up. As usual, Nalayini ate away the rest of the food without revulsion.
Moudgalya was touched by her pure devotion and restored himself to his young form. Only then did Nalayini realize that her husband was merely testing her. Moudgalya felt sorry that he had deprived his wife of conjugal pleasure for five years. So he decided to please his wife and did so by assuming five different forms.
Nalayini died and in her next birth she was reborn as Indrasena. She then went in search of Moudgalya and pleaded with him to marry her. Moudgalya said the tie between them as husband and wife ended with the previous birth. Indrasena said her longing for conjugal relations wasn't satisfied, and asked him to find a way for that. Moudgalya advised her to pray to Lord Shiva. Indrasena went to Kailasa and undertook a severe penance which lasted for several years.
Satisfied with her devotion, Lord Shiva appeared before her and asked what she wanted. Indrasena said she hadn't enjoyed marital relations in full measure. Hence she wanted a husband who was equal to Indra in handsomeness and valor. The Lord said, "Here, I grant you." Indrasena then said she wanted a husband who excelled in dharma. The Lord said, "Here, I grant you." Indrasena then said she wanted a husband as strong as vayu or wind. The Lord said, "Here, I grant you." Indrasena continued to add further qualities such as thorough knowledge of shastras and excellence fine arts, and each of the time, the Lord said, "Here, I grant you."
Then Shiva said she could now enjoy her life with five husbands and Indrasena was alarmed. She protested she wanted a single husband who had all the five qualities she had expressed. The Lord said such a person did not exist. Indrasena was confused. How could she, being a chaste woman, marry five men? The Lord said she would be born of fire or Agni and as such, would be beyond purity and impurity. People would worship her as a chaste person.
Draupadi is still anxious and protests she had asked very innocently and why she was being punished thus. Krishna assures it is not a punishment, it is a blessing.
Krishna takes Draupadi to the Pandavas and tells them He has cleared Draupadi's doubts. Yudhishtra says they still have doubts. When Arjuna marries Draupadi, she would become his brother's wife. How could he have marital relations with her? Similar doubts are expressed by others as well. Krishna clarifies that Draupadi is no ordinary woman. She is made of 'Pancha bhootas', and not of blood, sinews and bones. Then He shows Draupadi and others her true form.
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