Draupadi Answers Kotikashya's Question and Reveals Her Identity
Kotikashya, the foremost of the Shibis, arrives at the hermitage and asks a question — but finds only Draupadi there, alone in the forest. With no one else to reply, she must speak for herself, revealing who she is, naming her five husbands, and explaining where they have gone.
Kotikashya, the son of Suratha and foremost of the Shibis, arrived at the hermitage and asked his question. But the only person there to answer was Draupadi.
She was alone. The Pandavas had left that morning to hunt, scattering in four directions — Yudhishthira east, Bhima south, Arjuna west, the twins north. The leaf cottage stood empty except for her. There was no man present to receive the guest, no one to speak on her behalf.
She let go of the branch she had been holding. She gathered her silken upper garment. And she replied.
"I know in my heart that it is not proper for someone like me to address you thus," she said. "But there is no other man or woman here who can reply to your question. O fortunate one! I am alone here and must therefore give my own reply."
She told him who she was: the daughter of King Drupada, known as Krishna. She told him she had chosen five men to be her husbands — Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, and the two brave sons of Madri, Nakula and Sahadeva. She named the directions each had taken to hunt. And she told him the time had come for those great charioteers to return.
"Depart after they have honoured you," she said. "Descend and unyoke your steeds. The great-souled son of Dharma loves guests and will be delighted to see you here."
Having spoken, Drupada's moon-faced daughter thought of the dharma of attending to guests and entered the cottage made of leaves. Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 547