Dhrishtadyumna Reports the Swayamvara Events to Drupada

Dhrishtadyumna stood before his father, King Drupada of Panchala, and was asked to report everything that had happened at the swayamvara. Cheerfully, the prince began his account. He described the winner: a handsome youth with long, red eyes, dressed in black deerskin, his form like that of a god. This stranger had strung the supreme bow that had defeated all the kings and brought down the target to the ground. Then, without a care, he had left hurriedly. A crowd of Brahmanas had immediately surrounded him, offering homage, and he strode away as if he were a god victorious over demons. And like a female elephant following her mate, Draupadi had followed him, holding onto his deerskin. The sight was too much for the assembled kings to bear. Enraged, they advanced to fight. That was when a second hero arose in the assembly. He uprooted a gigantic tree and, wielding it like a club, drove away the masses of kings as easily as Yama, the god of death, strikes down living creatures. The kings could only watch, powerless, as the two foremost men—radiant as the sun and moon—took Draupadi and left. Dhrishtadyumna had followed them. They went to a potter’s house outside the city. Inside sat a lady, radiant as a flame of fire, and around her sat three other men, each one like a fire himself. Dhrishtadyumna believed she was their mother. The two heroes who had won Draupadi came to this woman and paid homage at her feet, then asked Draupadi to do the same. After leaving her there, the two men went out to beg for alms. It was Draupadi who took the alms they brought back. She offered a share to the gods and another to a Brahmana, then served a portion to the old lady and to the five heroes, and ate herself. Then, O king, they all lay down to sleep together. Their bed was the bare ground, spread with darbha grass and deerskins. Draupadi lay like a foot pillow at their feet. As they rested, they conversed in voices as deep as dark clouds, telling wonderful tales. They did not speak the tales of Vaishyas (merchants) or Shudras (laborers), nor even the tales of Brahmanas. The stories they told were about wars. “O king,” Dhrishtadyumna concluded, “there is no doubt that they are foremost among Kshatriyas (warriors). Our hopes have clearly been fulfilled. We have all heard that Pritha’s sons escaped from the lacquer house fire. From the way that bow was strung and the target brought down with sheer strength, from the way they conversed with each other, it is certain. They are Pritha’s sons, living in disguise.” Hearing his son’s detailed report, King Drupada was extremely happy.