Karna insults Draupadi and declares her a slave
Karna addresses Draupadi in the assembly. He declares that as the wife of a slave, she is herself property with no lord of her own, and must now serve the Kauravas. He tells her to choose a new husband and mocks the defeated Pandavas.
Karna spoke to Draupadi. His words were not a question but a pronouncement.
There are three who can own no property, he said—a slave, a student, and a woman. O fortunate one, you are the wife of a slave and have nothing of your own. You have no lord and are like the property of slaves. Enter and serve us. That is the task for you in this household.
He told her all the sons of Dhritarashtra were now her masters, not the sons of Pritha. He advised the beautiful princess to choose another husband, one who would not make her a slave through gambling. He reminded her of the eternal rule among slaves: sexual acts with one’s masters are never censured.
Then he turned his scorn on the Pandavas. Nakula, Bhimasena, Yudhishthira, Sahadeva, and Arjuna have been won over. O Yajnaseni, enter as a slave. The ones who have been won over can no longer be your husbands. Valour and virility are of no use to Partha now. In the middle of the sabha (assembly hall), he has gambled away the daughter of Drupada, the king of Panchala.
The speech was a public stripping, reducing a queen to chattel and her husbands to irrelevance. It hung in the air, a spark thrown into dry tinder.