‘Having said this, the suta’s son grasped her by the right hand. Having been thus seized, she threw Kichaka down on the floor. She rushed to the assembly hall where King Yudhishthira was seated and sought protection.
(BORI CE, Chapter 611)
If Dusshasan had tried to drag her to the assembly, she could have pushed him too and ran to the assembly expecting safety. But she didn't need to do that, as she was already in the assembly!
Those who have read BORI CE would know that Draupadi was mentioned to reach the assembly herself after Yudhishthir sent his messenger to summon her. But, those who have read the non-critical versions of Mahabharat (Gita press, KMG) would not be aware of this, and the TV shows have also depicted Dusshasan doing so, firmly nailing this act in public perception, as intended by the interpolators.
Let me clarify that I do not invent any theory, but only interpret and state what is mentioned in the text. This is what BORI mentions –
On hearing of Duryodhana’s intentions, Yudhishthira sent a trusted messenger to Droupadi. Panchali was going through her menses then. She was weeping and clad in a single garment tied below the navel, she went to the sabha and stood before her father-in-law.
(BORI CE, Chapter 285)
This is mistranslated by Gita Press and KMG as ‘Yudhishthir asked Draupadi to come to the assembly and stand before her father-in-law’, hiding the incident!
I haven't read BORI fully (will have to read it now), and my analysis are mostly based on KMG and Gita Press (I realised too late that Gita Press version is full of interpolations from southern recensions). I used to think that how come Dusshasan was the only evil one amongst the Kauravs (I have covered Suyodhan in detail in a separate answer), whereas all other Ājmidhs were noble and virtuous. And the idea of dragging a woman (even if slave) from her palace (room) to the gamble assembly, pulling her by the hair, seems too cruel physically! And the king, queen, elders (including Bhishma) and her five husbands watch all this silently! And Draupadi keeps lamenting and speaking while being dragged by her hair, her sari (only garment) almost falling off!
But this was not the case! It was just another interpolation (like the interpolation of slapping/showing thigh by Suyodhan, getting cursed by Bheem). And, it is not just me who is saying that, but BORI scholars feel the same!
An example of an interpolation revealed due to contradiction in two conseutive stanzas occurs in the Sabhaparvan. After the game of dice, Duryodhana sent his messenger to Draupadi to take her to the dash of the Kauravas to do menial work. When Draupadi refused and instead raised the question about her status as a dasi, Duryodhana asked the same messenger to go to her again this time to bring her to the sabha to get the answer to her question. The messenger accordingly went to her and told her Duryodhana’s message. Draupadi apparently was in no mood to act according to Duryodhana’s wish. Now instead of hearing about a clear refusal by Draupadi and the messenger’s return to the sabha without her, what we actually hear in a couple of stanzas is that Yudhisthira having come to know what Duryodhana desired, sent a messenger, acceptable to Draupadi, and she, without hesitation, came to the assembly and stood before her father-in-law. And in spite of the fact that Draupadi was then already present in the assembly, to our surprise, we are informed once again that Duryodhana asked his messenger to go to Draupadi to get her to the sabha. There is thus a contadiction between two passages. If the one has place in the text, the other should not. And yet the editor has admitted both the passages of contradictory reports in the constituted text since they occur uniformly in all the versions of the epic.
(Annals BORI, 82: 2001)
The interpolation of vow/curse to break Duryodhan's thigh is mentioned next, with three pages of arguments (the first few lines are posted below) –
One example of such interpolation is related to the famous incident of the vow of Bhima to break the thigh of Duryodhana in the great war (2. 63. 14) and the curse of the sage Maitreya to the same effect (3. 11. 34). They, no doubt, occur in all the versions, but their spurious nature is revealed by the fact that in the entire account of the great war, no one, not even Bhima and Duryodhana, at any stage shows any awareness of either the vow or the curse!
I have already mentioned about this interpolation in my answer on Suyodhan. Similar to this vow, Arjun's vow to kill Karn was an interpolation, as none of Arjun, Bheem and Yudhishthir displayed any awareness of this vow ever, with Bheem wanting to kill Karn on several instances!
Coming back to the question, this is the sequence of events on the day as per BORI (which removes the incidents not mentioned consistently across all manuscripts) –
- Yudhishthir lost all property, all five brothers and finally Draupadi, ‘blinded by dice’.
- Suyodhan sent Pratikami (after Vidur refused and reprimanded) to summon Draupadi to the assembly ‘to mop the floor’
- Pratikami was returned by Draupadi, telling to question Yudhishthir what right he had to stake her after losing himself?
- Nobody answered to the question raised by Draupadi, and Suyodhan sent Pratikami back to ask Draupadi to come to the assembly and ask Yudhishthir herself.
- Pratikami delivered the message to Draupadi in a sorry state. Draupadi seemed to have left things on destiny then saying –
“The one who determines everything has destined thus. Both the young and the old are touched thus. It has been said that dharma is supreme in the worlds. If it is sustained, peace will be brought.”
(BORI CE, Chapter 285)
- Yudhishthir too sent a trusted messenger to Draupadi meanwhile to ask her to present in the assembly. Draupadi would not disobey the emperor.
- Draupadi then went to assembly weeping and stood before Dhritrashtra, in her menses, clad only in a single garment (saree without blouse).
- Suyodhan then asked Pratikami to bring her in front of them (Dhritrashtra was not playing and would be seated in a separate section from the gambling table), so that they can talk to her.
“Looking at the faces of the assembly, King Duryodhana delightedly told the suta, “O Pratikamin! Bring her here. Let her be in front of us, so that the Kouravas can speak to her.”
- Pratikami got afraid, and said how could he say that to her. He was reluctant to obey Suyodhan any further.
- Suyodhan then asked Dusshasan to get Draupadi himself. Dusshasan then pulled/dragged Draupadi to the middle, her half-garment (pallu) becoming loose, making Draupadi burn with shame (this was not done intentionally by him). Draupadi was standing and not lying on the floor. Dusshasan might have grabbed her hair while pulling.
- An interpolation was inserted here in the text (in the parent manuscript itself, hence appearing in all manuscripts) mentioning Dusshasan entering the room of Draupadi, suggesting that he dragged Draupadi by her hair all the way from her room to the assembly, abusing her on the way –
- Draupadi then warned Dusshasan, ashamed and taunted all Kurus in the assembly, directly questioned Bhishma-Drona and threw angry glances on her husbands. Bhishma answered and a debate began. Rest events have been stated by me before.
Thus, Dusshasan could have only pulled a standing Draupadi, grabbing her hair, from the assembly section to the gambling table, though the interpolation depicted an exaggerated scenario of him pulling her with her hair all the way from her palace. If the latter was the case, Bheem would have stood up to vow against him right upon seeing this, and not wait till he attempted to disrobe later.
BORI scholars have only commented that there are ‘two versions’ of how Draupadi reached the assembly (reporting herself after Yudhishthir sent his messenger, and being dragged by her hair cruelly by Dusshasan) and one of them has to be an interpolation. They did not recognise the possible scenario of Pratikami being asked to bring her to the gambling section the third time. I can say with certainty that the Dusshasan version was the interpolated one, based on the following arguments –
- Why would Draupadi bear such an inhuman behaviour from Dusshasan? If she could throw down Kichak and run to Virat's assembly for safety, she could have thrown down Dusshasan and run to Dhritrashtra’s assembly in presence of her husbands. Kichak was much mightier than Dusshasan.
- The whole idea of a woman being dragged through the corridors by her hair seems gross and unlikely to happen. Bheem (and even Vidur and elders) would certainly get angry upon Dusshasan seeing this, but Bheem only got angry on Yudhishthir (saying to burn his hands for staking Draupadi), that too after the dragging and Bhishma-Draupadi dialogue was over. It is clear that Draupadi was not hurt or molested till this point (only her ‘pallu’ was slipping accidentally; grabbing hair is an insult, but might not be construed as physical violence).
- Yudhishthir had sent his messenger for a purpose - to make Draupadi report to the assembly without any further objections or questions. Draupadi would never disobey Yudhishthir and refuse to come even after his message. In the interpolated version, the Y’thir’s messenger has no role and rather appears as an interpolation!
- In all cross-references about Dusshasan's misdeeds later in Mahabharat, he was never mentioned to ‘drag her to assembly by hair’. He was only mentioned to mouth bad words for Draupadi and touch/grab hair of the ‘ekvastra’ and ‘rajaswala’ Draupadi.
We have been reading and watching (on TV) a heavily interpolated version of Mahabharat that vilifies the Dhartrashtras and glorifies the Pandavs, particularly the landmark events such as the Great Gamble and War Killings. Krishna always cited the Great Gamble to establish the ‘adharm’ of Kauravs in his arguments, but if we remove the following interpolations of the Gamble, then things would not remain so black and white –
- Yudhishthir being forced to gamble (he was an addict of gamble, and played voluntarily)
- Yudhishthir being forced to stake everything, including Draupadi (he continued to play as his own decision, and staked Draupadi eagerly, describing her beauty in great details)
- Dusshasan dragging Draupadi by her hair to the casino (she came herself, in a single cloth, and was only pulled to stand in front of them)
- Duryodhan showing his thigh suggestively to Draupadi (clear interpolation; Suyodhan was rather trying to free Draupadi by asking her husbands to declare her stake by Yudhishthir invalid, again and again)
- Krishna saving Draupadi from disrobement (already rejected by BORI)
If so many interpolations were done in a single event, one can imagine what would have been done to the 18-day war!
To conclude, Draupadi did not save herself from being dragged by Dusshasan because she was already in the assembly, and expected no excesses to be done to her in the presence of her husbands and elders. Dusshasan dragging her by hair to the assembly was a cruel interpolation, probably inserted to compensate for the interpolation of Draupadi's modesty being saved by magical layers of clothes.
