Draupadi Asks The Kuru Elders Scathing Questions : Episode 85

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Recap of Previous Episode :

The dice game turns brutal as Yudhishtra, pushed by taunts, stakes his own brothers and loses them. He then loses himself. Karna urges him to wager Draupadi, and Bhima is forced to kneel. Vidura explodes in outrage and begs Dhritarashtra to stop the disgrace, but Duryodhana silences him. The court stands paralyzed as the unthinkable approaches.

Vidura Pleads for Dharma

When Yudhishtra loses the dice game after staking himself, Vidura rises in anguish. He begs King Dhritarashtra to stop the game and free the Pandavas before irreversible damage is done.

Duryodhana interrupts with scorn. He orders Vidura to keep silent like Bhishma, Drona, and Kripacharya—or leave the assembly altogether.

Karna seizes the moment and suggests that Yudhishtra stake Draupadi. Vidura is enraged. He pleads once more with the king, warning that this single act will destroy the Kuru dynasty.

Duryodhana laughs and reminds the assembly that the game is being played according to rules declared at the start. The game can be stopped only by him or Yudhishtra — and since Yudhishtra has become a slave, only Duryodhana holds power over the decision.

Yudhishtra Stakes Draupadi

The elders watch in silent horror as Yudhishtra, shaken and bound by his word, stakes Draupadi—and loses.

Duryodhana commands Vidura to go and fetch Draupadi, declaring that she now belongs to him and must live in his palace. Vidura shouts a prophecy of doom, but Duryodhana turns his back on him.

Drona intervenes with a discourse on dharma, but Duryodhana questions his loyalty and dismisses his words as too late. Bhishma too faces humiliation when Dhritarashtra stays silent. Bhishma murmurs that Duryodhana is like the flower on a bamboo—beautiful yet fatal, heralding the end of the tree itself.

Draupadi Sends Her First Question

Duryodhana sends his messenger Pratikami to bring Draupadi. Hearing what has occurred, Draupadi is stunned that Yudhishtra has lost his brothers and himself. Fury rises when she learns he has lost her as well.

She sends Pratikami back with a question: “Did Yudhishtra lose himself first and then stake me, or did he stake me before he lost himself?”

Pratikami carries her message into the court. Yudhishtra stands silent. Duryodhana insists that Draupadi come to the assembly and ask the question herself.

Draupadi Questions Dharma

Draupadi sends Pratikami again, asking the elders — Bhishma, Vidura, Drona, Kripa—whether her being summoned to the court aligns with dharma.

Bhishma objects that the rule stated at the beginning forbade women from entering the gambling hall. He is silenced instantly when Duryodhana sneers that Draupadi is now only a dasi, and dasis may enter.

Dushasana Drags Draupadi

Following Duryodhana’s order, Dushasana storms into Draupadi’s chamber. She warns him not to dishonor his sister-in-law, and reminds him she is like a mother to him.

Dushasana spits venom, calling her a woman shared by five men. Even when Draupadi reveals she is in menstruation and must not appear before elders, he mocks her claim of dignity and calls her a slave fit for no respect.

He drags her by her hair into the assembly and throws her to the floor. Karna ridicules her further, reminding her that she once called him sootaputra and now she must answer what her children should be called—a slave’s children.

Draupadi Appeals to the Elders

Draupadi turns to Bhishma and implores him to look at her, not lower his eyes. She fires question after question: “Is a woman property to be wagered? Can a slave who has lost himself lay claim over another’s existence?”

Bhishma trembles and weeps, helpless. She turns to Drona and Vidura, but nobody answers.

Her words fall into a silence thick with shame.