Studies in the Mahabharata. Wilfried Huchzermeyer

      1.

      Arjuna’s Marriages

      Arjuna is well-known as an excellent archer, champion fighter and close confidant of Kṛṣṇa, but a little less known as lover. Epic heroes are as a rule not subject to very strict moral laws, and so Arjuna too has some escapades, though of an innocent nature and not without discrimination. We perceive here even in seeming licence an element of culture, of high-mindedness. It is for this reason that a special chapter is devoted to this subject.

      Arjuna had won Draupadī, the common wife of the five Pāṇḍavas, in a special competition of archery, which was arranged by king Drupada with the very purpose of attracting Arjuna whom he considered the ideal partner of his daughter. The Pāṇḍavas had come in disguise (they were still in hiding after the burning of the lacquer palace) and Arjuna won Draupadī as an unknown Brāhmin. The beautiful princess did not hesitate to give herself to the powerful competitor, but this unexpected turn of events provoked the kings and princes present at the svayaṁvara to attack king Drupada and the Pāṇḍavas – giving away this precious prize to an unidentified Brāhmin was too big a shame for the assembled kṣatriya-chieftains.

Arjuna and Bhīma repelled the attack in a quick battle, making sure that Draupadī was theirs for good. However, some intricate problem came up when the Pāṇḍavas returned ‘home’ to the potter’s hut in which they were staying with Kuntī. The Pāṇḍavas said joyfully to their mother, “look what we found!”, and she answered spontaneously, “now you share that together.”8 Yudhiṣṭhira as the eldest brother was asked to resolve the problem. His decision was as noble as Arjuna’s reaction: he ruled that Arjuna should marry Draupadī since he had won her in the contest. But Arjuna considered this adharma. He proposed that Yudhiṣṭhira as the eldest brother should marry first, taking Draupadī for himself. Thus Arjuna shows considerable strength of character in this scene by surrendering to the family law. Draupadī is a very attractive woman and his proposal is a real sacrifice.

      But Yudhiṣṭhira does not want to claim her for himself alone, because it did not escape him that all of the brothers were deeply enchanted with Draupadī’s beauty. He therefore makes a very wise decision that she would be their common wife. This is in fact the only way to save the unity of the family and at the same time a gesture of obedience to Kuntī’s word. Even while one problem has been solved now, another has been created, because the father of the bride objects with persistence against this uncommon polyandrous alliance.

      Finally, Vyāsa himself enters the scene, talking to Drupada in private and giving him some mythological background which justifies this whole development. Thus, he wins over the king for the marriage of his daughter to the five Pāṇḍavas. We are not concerned here with those mythological stories of the five Indras etc. nor do we consider it purposeful to examine various speculations on polyandrous precedents in the ancient Indian society. It appears more fruitful in the context of the Mahābhārata to draw attention to the spirit of sacrifice and brotherly love and unity which becomes evident in this scene. The epic is often setting examples, even some rare examples which ordinary humans will not be able to follow and are not expected to follow. If five well-built men can share one highly attractive woman, then it is certainly a psychological miracle, a great conquest of envy and jealousy.

      Soon after the wedding Nārada, the messenger of the Gods, came to give the Pāṇḍavas the clue for the perfect functioning of the marriage. In this way the poet also assures the audience that everything is all right with the unusual marriage, as evidently it is sanctioned by the Gods. Nārada advises the brothers to lay down a rule so that there is no strife over Draupadī. He tells them the story of Sunda and Upasunda, two immensely powerful asuras who lived together in perfect harmony until Brahmā sent the apsarā Tilottamā on earth to estrange them. Promptly they fell into the trap, killing each other in their desire for Tilottamā.

      To prevent a similar disaster among themselves, Nārada advises the Pāṇḍavas not to disturb each other when anyone of them is intimate with Draupadī. If anyone should enter the room and break this rule, the offender would have to stay in the forest like a hermit for twelve months. In this way the Pāṇḍavas were able to live happily with Draupadī:

And Kṛṣṇā9 attended to the wishes of all the five lion-like men of immeasurable energy, the sons of Pṛthā. As they took great delight in her, so she took great delight in her five heroic husbands, as does the river Sarasvatī in her elephants. 10

The poet adds that they lived in accordance with the dharma and that all the Kurus prospered. In fact, nobody objected to the special type of marriage any more after Vyāsa’s intervention except Karṇa, much later in a scene after the dice game, where he argues that a polyandrous liaison is unlawful and that Draupadī therefore does not deserve respectful treatment.11 This will be discussed in another chapter.

      While the Pāṇḍavas were thus living in harmony together with Draupadī, a certain Brāhmin approached them one night with a problem. His cattle were being stolen by robbers and he pleaded for help. Arjuna was present to receive the visitor and was facing a great dharma conflict now: under the kṣatriya code he was obliged to help the Brāhmin, but his weapons happened to be in the chamber where Yudhiṣṭhira was alone with Draupadī. Under the special family rule he was not allowed to enter it. So whatever he would do now, he would break a rule and become guilty. He quickly ponders over this dilemma, weighing the respective consequences of his decision. Finally he concludes:

Either a great breach of dharma [by not helping the Brāhmin], or death in the forest [due to the dangers of exile]. But dharma has the greater priority, even if the body dies.12

      Arjuna is somewhat dramatizing the situation in his inner arguments. Breaking the family rule would indeed result in a twelve months’ exile in the forest, but we know from many other stories that there were good chances to survive such an exile. Anyhow, Arjuna decides that neglecting his kṣatriya-dharma would be the greater sin, as he had also to protect the reputation of Yudhiṣṭhira as king and head of the family. Thus, from his viewpoint, he makes an unselfish decision, accepting the possibility of his loss of life in the forest. He enters the chamber, collects the weapons and defeats the robbers. The thought that this action too might be dangerous, does not enter his mind, his superiority as a professionally trained champion fighter is beyond doubt.

      When returning to his family, he finds Yudhiṣṭhira entirely undisturbed by the intrusion into the chamber. But Arjuna insists on being ‘punished’ according to the rule. Therefore, with his brother’s consent he goes to the forest where he is supposed to live as a hermit for twelve months. As it is, he was to fulfil only one part of the vow, namely to stay in exile, but his life was not that of a hermit. This can be easily excused, for when the rule of conduct was made between the Pāṇḍavas, it was understood that any interference of one of the brothers with another brother would be actuated by a lack of self-discipline and not by an urge to protect the dharma as was the case with Arjuna, an occurrence that could not be foreseen.

      So we observe Arjuna now spending his life happily in exile and having many experiences with women. Perhaps they provide an outlet for feelings which may not always have found full satisfaction