Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part B
In Wife of the Five Pandavas by Donald A. Mackenzie, Shiva granted Draupadi five husbands because in her previous life she was a pious woman named Nalayani who prayed to him for a husband. She prayed five times to Shiva about a husband so he gave her five husbands. Her five husbands were the five Pandava princes. This is so weird to me. It kind of reminds me of the show 'Sister Wives', but I guess it would be called 'Brother Husbands' for this story. As the story continues on, they made a pact that only one of them should be with Draupadi at a time. However Arjuna broke this pact and he was sent to exile for twelve years. He goes on and finds different women. I feel like there are a lot of gaps in this story so I would retell this story by filling in these gaps.
A recurring theme in the this part of the stories is the unique births. In the Birth of Draupadi by Donald A. Mackenzie, Drupada wanted children so he performed a sacrificial rite. Dhrishtadyumna came forth from the flames of the fire. He was born with full armor. Draupadi came next from the flames. In The Pandavas Victorious by Donald A. Mackenzie Jarasandha came from a unique birth. He was born from two mothers. They ate a mantra-charmed mango. This fruit fell into a man's lap who would be his father. Also another theme that caught my eyes was gaining back virginity. In The Story of Nalayani by V. Venkatachellam Iyer, Nalayani has five husbands, the Prandava princes. She is granted virginity for every husband. In Part A of Mahabharata Kunti gets her virginity restored after she gives birth to her son Karna. I would like to go more in depth of this "virginity". I know that once you lose your virginity you can not get it back so I am curious what may be different so that they can get their virginity restored.
A recurring theme in the this part of the stories is the unique births. In the Birth of Draupadi by Donald A. Mackenzie, Drupada wanted children so he performed a sacrificial rite. Dhrishtadyumna came forth from the flames of the fire. He was born with full armor. Draupadi came next from the flames. In The Pandavas Victorious by Donald A. Mackenzie Jarasandha came from a unique birth. He was born from two mothers. They ate a mantra-charmed mango. This fruit fell into a man's lap who would be his father. Also another theme that caught my eyes was gaining back virginity. In The Story of Nalayani by V. Venkatachellam Iyer, Nalayani has five husbands, the Prandava princes. She is granted virginity for every husband. In Part A of Mahabharata Kunti gets her virginity restored after she gives birth to her son Karna. I would like to go more in depth of this "virginity". I know that once you lose your virginity you can not get it back so I am curious what may be different so that they can get their virginity restored.
(Picture of Draupadi and the Five Pavanas Wiki)
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