Vyasa privately explains the dharma of the marriage to Drupada
After the public debate, the sage Vyasa takes King Drupada by the hand and leads him into the palace alone. Behind closed doors, he reveals the secret, eternal reasons that make this marriage lawful, while the others wait outside, uncertain.
The public debate was over. Vyasa had declared Yudhishthira's view — grounded in ancient precedent and a mother's command — to be in accordance with dharma. But the full explanation, the reason why this was not a sin, was not for everyone's ears.
The illustrious sage Dvaipayana Vyasa stood up. He took hold of King Drupada's hand. Without another word to the assembled family, he led the king into the inner chambers of the palace.
The others were left behind. The Pandavas, Kunti, and Dhrishtadyumna remained where they were. They did not follow. They could only wait despondently for the two to return, shut out from the conversation that would decide the fate of the marriage and the woman at its center.
Inside the palace, in private, Vyasa explained to the great-souled king. He laid out how it came to be that the marriage of these five men to a single wife was in conformity with dharma. The explanation was not recorded for the others. It was given solely to Drupada, the father whose consent and peace of mind were essential. The sage revealed the eternal nature of the practice, the hidden logic that made an apparent transgression into a lawful act. He resolved the king's doubts not with a public decree, but with a private truth.