Draupadi

Dewi Draupadi ... eldest daughter of Prabu Drupada

Title	Draupadi - (Dewi) - Mahabharata
Other names	Drupadaputri, Kresni, Panduputra-dawita, Putri Campala, Sairandi
Size	60 cm
Personal data	Dewi Draupadi or Dewi Kresna and also known as Pancali (Mahabharata) is the eldest daughter of Prabu Drupada, king of the land of Pancala, with consort Dewi Gandawati, daughter of Prabu Gandabayu and Dewi Gandini. Dewi Draupadi has two younger siblings named: Dewi Rikandi and Arya Drestadyumna. Dewi Draupadi is always devoted to her husband. According to Javanese puppetry, Dewi Draupadi is married to Prabu Yudhistira/Puntadewa, the king of Amarta, and has the son of Pancawala. Meanwhile, according to the Mahabharata, Dewi Draupadi married five Pandawa warriors: Yudhistira, Bima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadewa. From this marriage she had five sons, namely; 1.Partawindya from Yudhistira. 2. Srutasoma from Bima. 3. Srutakirti of Arjuna 4. Srutanika from Nakula 5. Srutawarman from Sahadeva.
Appearance	Dewi Draupadi has a very beautiful face, noble, wise, patient, conscientious and loyal. She was a modest person and always thought about the fate of the Pendawa.
Collection	Private collection

Draupadi – (Dewi) – Mahabharata

Unlike other puppet characters, Goddess Droupadi did not have a childhood. Droupadi was born from the sacred fire of the Putrakarma Ceremony performed by King Drupada of the Panchala kingdom because of his grudge against his friend Drouna who had humiliated him. The deep hurt and grudge made King Drupada hold a sacred putrakarma ceremony begging the gods to grant him a perfect child who would avenge his heartache for Drauna's treatment of him who had captivated him and humiliated him in front of his students.

Drupada's request was granted, from within the sacred fire of the sacrifice came two personal figures bestowed upon him by the gods. A handsome man complete with a mighty war suit and given the name Drestadyumna, he is the one who will later avenge Drupada who killed Drouna. And a beautiful woman with blackish skin and bluish hair is Draupadi. She is Khrisna because her skin is blackish, she is Panchali because she is the daughter of Panchala and she is Draupadi because she is the daughter of King Drupada. Drestadyumna is a figure who was born to avenge his father's heartache for killing Drouna. While Draupadi is a figure who was born from the complexity of the soul and destiny that humans must go through.

After growing up, Draupadi’s father, Prabu Drupada, held a competition to find a match for his daughter.
There are two versions of this Draupadi competition. According to the Mahabharata version, in the contest it was announced that whoever could challenge the Gendewa Pusaka, a bow belonging to the Pancala kingdom, would be married to Dewi Drupadi.
In the contest, Adipati Karna actually managed to challenge the Gandewa Pusaka, but before Karna used it to shoot the target, Dewi Drupadi immediately refused by saying: "I am a king's daughter. How could I possibly marry a suta blood?" Hearing that, Karna immediately left the Palace. So, Arjuna was the one who had the right to take Dropadi to be married, because he also managed to challenge the Gandewa Pusaka and shoot the target correctly.

According to the Javanese puppet version, whoever managed to defeat Patih Gandamana, then he had the right to marry Dewi Drupadi. Many participants failed, Bima finally went down to the arena and managed to defeat Patih Gandamana. Before his death, Gandamana bequeathed Aji Wungkal Bener and Bandung Bandawasa to Bima. At that time, Bima actually appeared on behalf of his eldest brother, Yudhistira.

Dewi Draupadi was finally taken by the Pandavas to be married to Yudhistira. The Pandavas immediately went to Dewi Kunti, their mother, and said that they had brought a gift. Without turning around and asking what was meant by the gift they brought, Kunti immediately answered, "Thank God, just divide the gift fairly among the five of you."
Hearing Dewi Kunti's words, Dewi Draupadi finally became the fifth wife of the Pandavas.

Although she was a royal princess, after becoming the wife of the Pandavas, Draupadi followed her husband wherever he went, both in joy and sorrow. Dewi Draupadi was a loyal woman who could endure all kinds of suffering, but had a sharp tongue.

In addition to rejecting Karna because of his Suta blood, Draupadi also humiliated Duryudana and the Kauravas. The incident occurred when the Pandavas had finished carrying out the Sesaji Rajasuya ceremony.
After the Pandavas succeeded in building the country of Amarta, and Yudhistira was appointed king of Amarta, Yudhistira carried out the Rajasuya ceremony which was attended by all the knights in the corners of Bharatawarsha who were invited, including Doryudana. Doryudana and Dursasana were amazed by the beauty of the Indraprastha palace. Duryudana once hit a glass door, which he thought was an open door. The King of Astina also fell into a pool which he thought was a smooth, shiny floor. Witnessing what happened to Duryodhana, Draupadi laughed at him and said, "No wonder, his son is blind, .. his behavior is also like a blind person, unable to distinguish between water and a slippery floor." Draupadi's words clearly made him blush, embarrassed and angry.

Duryodhana was hurt by Draupadi's insult, he told his uncle, Sengkuni. So at Sengkuni's suggestion, Duryodhana invited Yudhistira to play dice. Yudhistira who did like to play dice, without suspecting anything he accepted his cousin's invitation. In the dice game, at first Yudhistira won, but with Sengkuni's cunning and cleverness, Yudhistira lost until he finally had to bet his wealth, palace and kingdom. Until finally after all the wealth, palace and kingdom were successfully taken by the Kurawa, Yudhistira was forced to bet his brothers. Yudhistira also still lost, until finally Draupadi was asked to attend the gambling arena.
Draupadi refused the request, but Dursasana forcibly dragged Draupadi to the gambling arena. Duke Karna, who also felt hurt, provoked Dursasana to strip Draupadi naked.

In front of the Pandavas, Draupadi was humiliated. Dursasana tried to strip Draupadi by pulling the cloth she was wearing. However, with the help of Bathara Darma, every time Dursasana pulled the cloth that Draupadi was wearing, a new cloth always appeared to cover her body. Dursasana did this repeatedly, but the cloth never ran out. At that time, Dewi Draupadi swore that she would not tie her hair up before washing it with Dursasana's blood.
Dewi Draupadi's oath and her curse on Dursasana were finally fulfilled. In the Baratayuda war Bima managed to kill Dursasana, then tore his mouth. Bima also brought Dursasana's blood and then gave it to Dewi Draupadi to wash her hair.

Here it is proven, how strong a woman's heart is in keeping the promise she once made. A woman defending her husband's death is considered the main act in the customs. Considering how sad the heart of a woman who has lost her husband, her willingness to defend her husband's death is a great sacrifice. In fact, it is mentioned in the wayang story, that a princess who defends is also followed in her actions by her maids who with that want to show their loyalty.

Because they lost the dice game, the Pandavas and Draupadi underwent a 12-year exile and a one-year disguise. At first, the Kauravas wanted to detain Draupadi, not allowing her to follow her husband. They wanted to be satisfied in venting their revenge on Puntadewa's wife. But fortunately, Resi Bisma immediately acted. Bisma asked Duryodhana whether he could enjoy the gambling victory of the Kurawas. Immediately, Duryodhana, who was drunk with victory, answered, "Grandpa Resi Bisma can choose anything from all our victories. Whether the country of Amarta, whether its colonies, or the wealth of the Pandavas that we won".
Resi Bisma finally chose Draupadi. And because of that, the Kauravas handed over Draupadi to Resi Bisma. Then Resi Bisma said, "Because Draupadi is mine, of course I can do anything with her". The Kauravas agreed. "Well, if that's the case, I will give Draupadi to Puntadewa, her husband." With Bisma's decision, Bisma was finally able to reunite with the Pandavas.

At the beginning of the exile, Dewi Draupadi was kidnapped by Jayadrata, one of the Kauravas' allies. However, the kidnapping was discovered by Arjuna and Bima. As punishment for his actions, Draupadi and the Pandavas humiliated Jayadratha by shaving his hair. This caused Jayadratha to resent her.

When the Pandavas were in disguise in Wirata, Draupadi disguised herself as a servant of the queen of King Wirata.
After the end of the Bharatayuda war, Parikshit was appointed as the successor to the Kuru kingdom and Dewi Draupadi followed the five Pandawa knights on a holy journey to meet death.

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Source: History of Wayang Purwa - Hardjowirogo - PN Balai Pustaka – 1982
Blog: Hadisukirno – Yogyakarta – 2012