Jayadratha

Jayadratha, king of the Sindhus, traveling through the Kamyaka forest to marry another woman, sees Draupadi standing alone at the hermitage gate. Struck by her beauty, he tells his companion Kotikashya that he no longer wishes to marry — he will take this woman instead — and sends him to find out who she is and who protects her.

A group of kings, hunting in the forest, comes upon a lone woman of extraordinary beauty standing in a hermitage, holding a kadamba branch. Their leader, Kotikashya, demands to know who she is, whose wife or daughter she is — and introduces the powerful kings who stand with him, including Jayadratha of Souvira.

While travelling through the forest, Jayadratha of Sindhu catches a glimpse of Draupadi and is instantly besotted — all other women seem like monkeys to him. Despite his companion Kotikashya identifying her as the queen of the five Pandavas, Jayadratha insists on going to see her and enters the empty hermitage like a wolf entering a den of lions.

While the Pandavas are away hunting, the king of Sindhu enters their hermitage and propositions Draupadi, urging her to abandon her exiled husbands for him. She rebukes him with a deep frown, tells him not to speak that way again, and begins to distract him with words — stalling for time until her husbands return.

Draupadi sees Jayadratha is about to seize her and cries out in fear, seeking help from the priest Dhoumya. Jayadratha grasps her by her upper garment; she pushes him away, causing him to fall, but he seizes her again with great force and forces her onto the chariot. Dhoumya follows on foot, warning that Jayadratha will face the Pandavas.

Jayadratha insults the Pandavas and attempts to abduct Draupadi. Her face crimson with rage, she delivers a scathing rebuke — comparing him to a man who wakes a sleeping lion or kicks a serpent — and warns him of the wrath of Bhima and Arjuna. Jayadratha dismisses her, asserting his noble lineage and ordering her to ascend the chariot.

Jayadratha dismisses Draupadi's warnings, insisting she cannot dissuade him with words alone. She declares she is not weak — that both Krishnas will follow her footsteps on a single chariot, that Indra himself cannot abduct her, and that she will see him bound and dragged by the sons of Pritha.

The Pandavas follow the fresh trail of Jayadratha's army, seeing the dust raised by the hooves of his horses. Dhoumya urges Bhima to attack. When they see Draupadi standing on Jayadratha's chariot, their rage flares — and they call out to the king of Sindhu to stop.

The Pandavas return from their hunt to find their hermitage empty and their maid weeping. A jackal howls on their left — an omen of disaster. When Indrasena questions the maid, she learns the truth: Jayadratha has abducted Draupadi while they were away, and the trail is still fresh.

Jayadratha, having abducted Draupadi, sees five chariots approaching and his courage drains away. He asks Draupadi to identify her husbands — and she does, describing each Pandava in detail, warning him of the doom that is about to descend upon him.

Draupadi has finished speaking. The five Pandavas, equal to five Indras, ignore the terrified infantry and turn their fury on Jayadratha's chariot army, unleashing dark showers of arrows from all sides.

Jayadratha has fled only one krosha when Bhima and Arjuna catch up. Arjuna kills his horses from a distance with divine weapons, leaving the king of Sindhu stranded and terrified. Jayadratha tries to flee into the forest on foot, and Arjuna taunts him — but when Bhima rushes at him shouting for blood, it is Arjuna who holds him back.

Seeing his army destroyed, Jayadratha frees Draupadi and flees into the forest. Yudhishthira orders Nakula to pick her up, and Bhima wants to slaughter the remaining soldiers — but Arjuna stops him. Bhima vows to kill Jayadratha even if he escapes to the nether regions. Yudhishthira objects, citing Duhshala and Gandhari. But Draupadi, angry and unashamed, demands the wretch's death.

Jayadratha orders his allied kings to stand firm and attack. The warriors from Shibi, Sindhu, Trigarta, and Souvira face the five Pandavas — and are decimated. Bhima kills Kotikashya with a javelin. Arjuna slays twelve from Souvira with his arrows. Nakula cuts off an elephant's trunk and tusks with his sword. Headless torsos litter the battlefield, and the survivors are routed.

Jayadratha, having been defeated by the Pandava brothers, flees for his life. But Bhima chases him down on foot, seizes him by the hair, thrashes him unconscious, kicks him in the head, and shaves his head into five tufts. He binds him and presents him as a slave to Yudhishthira — who, moved by compassion, orders him freed.

Stricken with grief and shame after his humiliation, Jayadratha goes to Gangadvara and performs great austerities to please Shiva. When the god grants him a boon, he asks to be able to vanquish all five Pandavas in battle. Shiva grants a modified version: Jayadratha will be able to restrain all of them — except Arjuna, who is invincible and protected by Krishna.

After rescuing Draupadi from Jayadratha's abduction, Yudhishthira sits among the sages and unburdens himself to Markandeya. He cannot understand how a woman who has always followed dharma could be touched by such dishonor — and he asks whether the sage has ever seen or heard of anyone more unfortunate than himself.

Yudhishthira sits in the forest, weighed down by exile and loss, when the ancient sage Markandeya finds him. Instead of empty comfort, Markandeya offers a series of comparisons — Rama’s endurance in the wilderness, Indra’s victories won through allies, and the Pandavas’ own recent rescue of Draupadi from Jayadratha — to argue that Yudhishthira has no reason to despair.