Jayadratha Propositions Draupadi in the Hermitage
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.
Jayadratha, king of Sindhu and Souvira, entered the hermitage and found Draupadi alone. He spoke to her directly.
"O one with the beautiful thighs! Are you well? Are your husbands in good health? Are those whose welfare you desire in good health?"
Draupadi answered him with composure. "Kouravya King Yudhishthira, Kunti's son, is well. So am I, his brothers, and the others you have asked about. O son of a king! Accept this seat and water to wash your feet. Let me give you fifty deer for your breakfast. Kunti's son, Yudhishthira, will himself give you black antelopes, spotted antelopes, deer, fawn, sharabhas, rabbits, white-footed antelopes, ruru, shambara, oxen, many deer, boar, buffaloes and many others of the deer species."
She was offering hospitality — the duty of a hostess to a guest, even an uninvited one. She was also telling him, plainly, that her husbands would return.
Jayadratha ignored the meaning of her words.
"You have already done everything to ensure a good breakfast for me. Come. Ascend my chariot and discover complete happiness. The Parthas are wretched and live in the forest. They have lost their fortune and have been dislodged from their kingdom. They have lost their intelligence. You should not serve them. It is not wise to be devoted to husbands who have lost their fortune. One should be united with a husband when he is united with prosperity, but no longer reside with him when the fortune is destroyed. The sons of Pandu are without fortune. Their kingdom has been destroyed for an eternal period. Out of affection towards them, you should not suffer that misery. O one with the beautiful hips! Be my wife. Abandon them and obtain happiness. With me, share the kingdoms of Sindhu and Souvira."
Draupadi heard him out. Then she left the spot where she had been standing, a deep frown on her face. She was slender-waisted, unarmed, alone in the hermitage — but she did not flee. She ignored his words with contempt and told the king of Sindhu: "Do not speak in this way again. Are you not ashamed?"
She expected her husbands to return soon. So she began to distract him with words — mingled with more words — keeping him talking, keeping him there, waiting for the moment when the Pandavas would walk back into their own hermitage and find the intruder. Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 548