PART II. and is received ence. Declares that Draupadi must brethren. Dhrishta-dyum na. HISTORY OF daughter in marriage to Arjuna?" And Yudhishthira INDIA. replied:-"We must ask counsel of the sage Vyása in this matter." Now on that day the sage Vyása had come to Vyasa appears the city, and he was received by Raja Drupada with all with great rever- honour and reverence, and seated upon a golden throne; and all the princes and chieftains stood before him with clasped hands. Then the sage Vyása bade each one to take his seat, and they began to take counsel together respecting the marriage of Draupadí. And Raja Drupada said :— Arjuna has won my daughter at her Swayamvara, and it is for the elder brother Yudhishthira to say what shall be done." Vyása replied:-"The destiny of Draupadí has already been declared by the gods; Let her become the marry the five wife of all the brethren." Dhrishta-dyumna then said :Objections of "It is not for me to speak in the presence of a great sage, but it seems to me that according to the rule of the Swayamvara, my sister Draupadí is already the wife of Arjuna, and it is not permitted for the elder brother to interfere in Yudhishthira's her marriage." Yudhishthira replied:-"Your words may be true, but what Vyása has said is just, and my conscience condemns it not; and moreover we hold our mother's word to be right and true, that we should all share the prize that Arjuna had won." The sage Vyása then explained to Raja Drupada, that it was ordained by a divine mystery that his daughter Draupadí should be married to the five five Pandavas. brethren, and the Raja gave his consent. And Draupadí was arrayed in fine garments, and adorned with five jewels, and married first to the elder brother Yudhishthira, and then to the others according to their respective ages; and the Raja gave large gifts to his sons-in-law, and also to the Bráhmans; and Kuntí blessed her daughter-in-law, and prayed that she might become the mother of many sons. Then the Pándavas were no longer afraid lest they should be discovered by the Kauravas, and they dwelt for many days in much joy and tranquillity in the city of Kámpilya. appeal to his conscience. Marriage of Alarm of the Meantime the Kauravas heard that the Pándavas were alive and had married the daughter of Raja Drupada, and they began to be afraid. And a Council was held in the Hall of INDIA. PART II. the palace, and all the elders spoke in favour of peace, whilst HISTORY OF the young men were clamorous for war. Then Bhishma urged that the Raj should be divided between the Kauravas and the Pándavas, and his counsel prevailed. And Vidura went forth to the city of Kámpilya and brought back the Return of the Pándavas to the city of Hastinapur; and all the people of Hastinapur and the Raj rejoiced greatly at the return of the sons of Raja Raj. Pándu. Pandavas to division of the foregoing tradi The foregoing legend of the Swayamvara of Review of the Draupadí is perhaps one of the most valuable, as it tion. certainly is one of the most remarkable, which have been preserved in the Mahá Bhárata. The event to The marriage of which it refers belongs to the very earliest period of red to the earli Hindú history; and illustrates to a very suggestive Hindú history. degree the rude civilization which prevailed amongst Draupadi refer est period in scured by myth the earliest Aryan settlers in India. In the narrative Tradition obalready before the reader, a considerable amount of ical additions. mythical rubbish, respecting which there could not possibly be two opinions, has already been eliminated; and now it remains to clear away with a more delicate hand those further details which still encumber the authentic tradition, but which could not have been excluded from the text without impairing the significance of the legend as it appears in the Mahá Bhárata. of the real inci chála gives a The event which forms the germ of the later Probable details narrative was probably of the following character. dent. Panchála was a little Raj at no great distance from the Raj of Bharata. The Raja of Panchála had a The Raja of Pánmarriageable daughter whom he determined to give feast, at which to the best archer who might compete for her hand. Accordingly he gave a feast to a number of young men from the neighbouring families, in some pleasant spot which was adorned for the occasion with gay he intends mar rying his daugh ter to the best archer. INDIA. PART II. HISTORY OF flags and flowers. When the feast was over the priests chaunted their mystic hymns to the gods; after which the damsel was duly presented to the assembly by her brother, and the young men were invited to try their skill with the bow. Here there was a significant pause. No one liked to shoot first lest he should be laughed at by the others; for every man who missed the mark lost all chance of the damsel, and would thus become the natural butt of Simplicity of the a rude and boisterous crowd. At length the young Rude merri. ment of the occasion. Raja's daughter in moving amongst her suitors. men took heart and began to shoot; and meantime the damsel moved amongst them in a very simple fashion, carrying in her hand the garland of flowers which she was to throw round the neck of the successful bowman. Probably she knew most of the young men, and took not unnaturally an interest in their performances. Nor was she altogether a pasing an unwel sive spectator; for whilst womanly pride would lead her to accept the victor as her future husband, she evidently possessed the right of rejecting an objectionable suitor, a right which she exercised in the case of Karna. Exercises the right of exclud come suitor from the trial. Self-possessed demeanour of dication of poly Modest appear ance of damsels Here it may be remarked that the cool and selfDraupadi an in- possessed demeanour of Draupadí on this occasion andry. is precisely what might have been expected in a state of society where polyandry was a recognized institution, and where the woman was to a great extent the master. In Swayamvaras of a later date the conduct of the damsel seems to have been more in accordance with the idea of one wife being married to one husband; and pictures are presented of a timid maiden moving modestly round a circle of young men, accompanied by a nurse or a father, to assist her in the delicate task of choosing a husband. in later Swa yamvaras. INDIA. PART II. prize by an ap man the main tradition. cient disdain in mans were held yas. The main incident in the story, and the one HISTORY OF which may have served to perpetuate the memory of the Swayamvara, was not so much the fact that winning of the Arjuna won the hand of Draupadí by hitting the parent Bráhmark, as the fact that the people all supposed him to incident in the be the son of a Bráhman. The disdain with which the ancient Kshatriyas regarded the mendicant Bráhmans, presents so extraordinary a contrast to the superstitious respect with which the modern Bráhman caste is universally regarded, as to necessitate an inquiry into its cause. Originally the father cause of the anof a family, or the Chieftain of a tribe, appear to have which the Brahacted as priest at the family or tribal sacrifices; by the Kshatrijust as Noah, Abraham, and Melchizedek offered up sacrifices to Jehovah with their own hands. Under The priest ori. such circumstances, when priests were first engaged engaged to act to act for the father or the Chieftain, it would be in or Chieftain. the capacity of hired servants; and a lengthened period would elapse before the mercenary priests could obtain such a superstitious hold upon the people, as to be considered of a higher grade than their royal masters. At the same time, it would seem that the Brahmans had already formed themselves into a separate community, who never practised the use of arms, and whose lives were already considered as sacred by the Kshatriyas. ginally a hireling for the patriarch tion excited at mendicant Brahman when had all failed. The surprise of the multitude at seeing a Bráh- General commoman attempt to compete at a Swayamvara, the fears the success of a of the obsequious Bráhmans lest the Kshatriyas the Kshatriyas should be offended at the presumption of one of their order, the exultant delight of the Bráhmans when Arjuna struck the golden fish, and the violent wrath of the Kshatriyas at seeing themselves distanced by a mendicant priest who lived upon their bounty, are INDIA. PART II. HISTORY OF incidents in the authentic tradition which can now be realized with ease. But the Kshatriyas had another cause for exasperation. They suspected that Raja Drupada had invited them for the express purpose of humiliating them in the eyes of the people; and in this exasperated mood they threatened to slay the whole house of Drupada and to burn his daughter alive upon the funeral pile. The mythical interposition of Krishna upon this occasion will be considered hereafter. For the present it will be sufficient to note the circumstances that followed, and inquire how far they bear out the view that polyandry was a recognized institution, and that the marriage of Draupadi was not such an exceptional case as the Brahmanical compilers have induced the Hindús to believe. The Swayamva ra and polyan According to the law of the later Swayamvara, dry compared. the man who gained the day became the husband of the damsel. According to the institution of poly andry, the eldest brother married the damsel, who thereupon became the joint wife of all the brethren. Plain indica- It will now be observed that the remaining portion dry as an insti- of the narrative of the marriage of Draupadí is tions of polyan tution in the narrative of events immedi. unintelligible, unless the theory be accepted that the Swayamva- polyandry was a recognized institution, and that all ately succeeding ra. representations to the contrary are to be regarded as mythical interpolations of a later date. In the story of the Swayamvara only glimpses are to be obtained of the authentic tradition; but in the narrative of events between the Swayamvara and the marriage, scenes are described so natural in their character, and so precisely in accord with the institution of polyandry, that it is impossible to doubt the existence of the institution. |