Editing Drupada

{{short description|Ruler of Panchala Kingdom}}
{{About|a mythological character|a form of Indian classical music|Dhrupad}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox character
| info-hdr = Information
| series = 
| image = Drupada and Pandavas.jpg
| alt = 
| caption = an 18th-century [[Kangra painting]] of Drupada with the [[Pandavas]]
| weapon = [[Gada (mace)|Gada]], [[Bow and Arrow]]
| family = Prishata (father)<br>
Suchitra (brother)
| spouse = [[Prishati]] (chief queen)
| children = [[Dhrishtadyumna]], [[Shikhandi]], [[Satyajit]]a, [[Uttamaujas and Yudhamanyu|Uttamaujas, Yudhamanyu]] and 6 other sons<br>[[Draupadi]] (daughter)
}}
'''Drupada''' ({{langx|sa|द्रुपद|lit=firm footed or pillar}}<ref name="spokensanskrit">{{cite web|url=http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?script=HK&beginning=0+&tinput=+drupada&trans=Translate&direction=AU|title=Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit|publisher=spokensanskrit.de|access-date=2015-05-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015205444/http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?script=HK&beginning=0+&tinput=+drupada&trans=Translate&direction=AU|archive-date=15 October 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>), also known as '''Yajnasena''' ({{langx|sa|यज्ञसेन|lit=he whose army is sacrificial}}, {{IAST3|Yajñasena}}),<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hiltebeitel|first=Alf|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U4NF8pYxdvIC&q=yaj%C3%B1asen%C4%AB&pg=PA490|title=Dharma: Its Early History in Law, Religion, and Narrative|date=2011-08-17|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|isbn=978-0-19-539423-8|language=en}}</ref> is the king of the southern part of [[Panchala (Mahabharata)|Panchala Kingdom]], in the Hindu epic ''[[Mahabharata]]''. He is the father of [[Draupadi]], the epic's lead female character. In the [[Kurukshetra War]] as the head of 1 [[akshauhini]] army, Drupada fought from the side of his sons-in-law, the [[Pandavas]], and was killed by his childhood friend and rival, [[Drona]].

==Early life and family==
[[File:Drona and the Fire of Friendship.png|thumb|An illustration depicting a young Drupada (left) with Drona]]
According to the ''[[Mahabharata]]'', Drupada is the son of Prishata, the king of [[Panchala Kingdom (Mahabharata)|Panchala Kingdom]] and his birth name was Yajnasena. Some [[Puranas|Puranic scriptures]] provide a contradictory genealogy, according to which Drupada is the son of Somaka and Prishata is Somaka’s great grandfather.<ref name = "VM" >Puranic Encyclopedia: a comprehensive dictionary with special reference to the epic and Puranic literature, Vettam Mani, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1975, [https://archive.org/stream/puranicencyclopa00maniuoft#page/251/mode/2up 251]</ref>

Drupada's early life is narrated in the ''[[Adi Parva]]'' of the epic, according to which he goes to the hermitage of the sage [[Bharadvaja]] for education and befriends [[Drona]], his classmate and Bhardwaja's son. Drupada assures Drona that once he becomes the king, he would share half of his kingdom with Drona. After completing his education, Drupada returns to Panchala.<ref name = "VM" />

The wife of Drupada is addressed as Prishati (lit. 'daughter-in-law of Prishata') in the ''Mahabharata''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Karve |first=Irawati |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uJz4ZWsRcsAC&q=Prishati |title=Yuganta: The End of an Epoch |date=July 2006 |publisher=Orient Longman |isbn=978-81-250-1424-9 |language=en}}</ref> The epic also records Drupada praying to the god [[Shiva]], after which [[Shikhandi]]—the reincarnation of princess [[Amba (Mahabharata)|Amba]]—is born. Shikhandi is the biological child of Drupada, while [[Dhristadyumna]] and [[Draupadi]] are born from a fire sacrifice organised by him. (See [[#Kingship]] for details) In some versions, [[Uttamaujas]] and [[Yudhamanyu]], the two princes who protected  the hero [[Arjuna]] during the [[Kurukshetra War]], are mentioned as two other sons of Drupada. The Critical Edition mentions that Drupada has eleven sons, naming in addition to the aforementioned children: [[Characters in the Mahabharata#Satyajit|Satyajita]], Kumara, Vrika, Panchalya, Suratha, Shatrunjaya and Janmejaya.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Buitenen |first=J. A. B. van |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/The_Mahabharata_Volume_3/wFtXBGNn0aUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=cekitana&pg=PA322&printsec=frontcover |title=The Mahabharata, Volume 3: Book 4: The Book of the Virata; Book 5: The Book of the Effort |last2=Fitzgerald |first2=James L. |date=1973 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-84665-1 |language=en}}</ref>

==Kingship==
Drupada becomes the king of Panchala after the death of Prishata. According to the Adi Parva of the epic, his capital was known as [[Kampilya]].<ref name="urday">{{cite web |url=http://www.urday.in/swayamvar.htm |title=Mahabharat - Draupadi'S Swayamvar |publisher=urday.in |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140310002431/http://www.urday.in/swayamvar.htm |archive-date=10 March 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Meanwhile, Drona lives a life of poverty but after his son, [[Ashvatthama]], is teased for being so poor that he is unable to afford milk, he approaches Drupada for help. Drupada, now conscious of the difference of status between them, refuses to acknowledge their friendship and shuns Drona, and calls him a beggar.<ref name = "VM" />
{{Blockquote|"O Brahmana ([[Drona]]), thy intelligence is scarcely of a high order, inasmuch as thou sayest unto me, all on a sudden, that thou art my friend! O thou of dull apprehension, great kings can never be friends with such luckless and indigent wights as thou! It is true there had been friendship between thee and me before, for we were then both equally circumstanced. But Time that impaireth everything in its course, impaireth friendship also. In this world, friendship never endureth for ever in any heart. Time weareth it off and anger destroyeth it too. Do not stick, therefore, to that worn-off friendship. Think not of it any longer. The friendship I had with thee, O first of Brahmanas, was for a particular purpose. Friendship can never subsist between a poor man and a rich man, between a man of letters and an unlettered mind, between a hero and a coward. Why dost thou desire the continuance of our former friendship?
 
There may be friendship or hostility between persons equally situated as to wealth or might. The indigent and the affluent can neither be friends nor quarrel with each other. One of impure birth can never be a friend to one of pure birth; one who is not a car-warrior can never be a friend to one who is so; and one who is not a king never have a king for his friend. Therefore, why dost thou desire the continuance of our former friendship?"|Drupada (''Mahabharata, [[Adi Parva]], Section CXXXII'')<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01133.htm | title=The Mahabharata, Book 1: Adi Parva: Sambhava Parva: Section CXXXII }}</ref>}}

Drona becomes infuriated and vows to avenge the insult. After leaving the palace, he wanders about in search of disciples who are capable of confronting Drupada. He is later employed by [[Bhishma]] to train the [[Kuru Kingdom|Kuru]] princes—the [[Pandava]] brothers and the [[Kaurava]] brothers. After their military education ends, Drona asks them to defeat and capture Drupada as his ''[[gurudakshina]]'' (fees). The princes attack Drupada, but the latter is able to defeat all the Kauravas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01141.htm|title=The Mahabharata, Book 1: Adi Parva: Sambhava Parva: Section CXL|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2018-01-15}}</ref> Then the Pandavas, led by [[Arjuna]], capture Drupada, binding him in ropes and bringing him to Drona. Upon Drupada's request, Drona agrees to maintain friendly relations in future. He is set free, but the country of Panchala is divided into two parts, giving its one part to Drupada, and the other part to Drona.<ref name = "VM" /><ref name="sacred-texts">{{cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01132.htm |title=The Mahabharata, Book 1: Adi Parva: Sambhava Parva: Section CXXXI|publisher=sacred-texts.com|access-date=2015-05-20}}</ref>
[[File:Bith of Draupadi from Holy fire.jpg|thumb|A 1940s print depicting the birth of Draupadi from the yajna; Drupada (seated near the altar with his wife) celebrates her birth.]]
Though both the kingdoms are on friendly terms, Drupada does not forget his insult at the hands of Drona. Realising that neither he nor his children are capable enough to defeat Drona, Drupada desires to have a son powerful enough to take revenge on Drona. He consults several seers and eventually approaches Yaja and Upayaja, two sage brothers, to help him obtain a powerful son. Initially they refuse, but after Drupada serves them for a year, they agree to perform a [[Putrakameshti|''yajna'']] (fire-sacrifice). After its completion, they instruct Prishati—the wife of Drupada—to consume the sacrificial offering, but she refuses as she had saffron paste in her mouth and asks them to wait till she washed herself. Criticising her untimely request, Yaja pours the offering into the altar of the sacrifice. A boy and a girl emerge from it, who accept Drupada and Prishati as their parents. They are named [[Dhrishtadyumna]] and Krishnā ([[Draupadi]]) respectively, and their birth is followed by divine prophecy that Dhrishtadyumna would kill Drona and Draupadi would bring the end of the Kauravas.<ref name = "VM" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Sargeant|first1=Winthrop|last2=Smith|first2=Huston|title=The Bhagavad Gītā|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=COuy5CDAqt4C&pg=PA16|year=2009|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-1-4384-2841-3|page=16}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Bonnefoy|first=Yves|title=Asian Mythologies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r4I-FsZCzJEC&pg=PA56|year=1993|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-06456-7|page=56}}</ref>

== Svayamvara of Draupadi ==

Drupada, being earlier defeated by [[Arjuna]], is greatly impressed by his skills and intends to wed him to Draupadi. However, at this time the Pandavas are thought to be dead after the burning of [[Lakshagraha]], so he arranges a ''[[svayamvara]]'' (self-choice ceremony) for Draupadi to choose her husband. To win Draupadi's hand, the participants have to string an enormous bow and shoot an arrow through the eye of a revolving fish while looking into its reflection in the water. All the kings including [[Shalya]], [[Jarasandha]], [[Karna]], and [[Duryodhana]] fail to even string the bow.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/mbs/mbs01179.htm|title=The Mahabharata in Sanskrit: Book 1: Chapter 179|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2018-01-15}}</ref> However Karna's participation is a subject to debate as in some renditions it is said that Draupadi refused to marry Karna and did not allow him to participate on the account of him being the son of a suta. The [[Pandavas]], disguised as [[brahmins]], are present at the ''svayamvara'' and with no other prince left to participate, [[Arjuna]] completes the task. With Arjuna's identity unknown to him, Drupada  reluctantly gives his permission, but is attacked by other kings for humiliating them by giving Draupadi to a brahmin. Arjuna then saves him and takes Draupadi with him. When the brothers and Draupadi  are about to greet their mother [[Kunti]], they decide to play a prank on her by announcing that they had brought some alms. Kunti asks her sons to share whatever had been brought. The imperative of acting on their mother's words and the propriety of marriage to five husbands is discussed at Drupada's palace, with Drupada and [[Dhristadyumna]] fiercely opposed to Draupadi marrying anyone other than Arjuna. However, sage [[Vyasa]] and Lord [[Krishna]] support Kunti's proposal and sanction the marriage, assuaging Drupada's fears.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kapoor|first=Subodh|title=The Indian Encyclopaedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Ukyp-gbtHcC&pg=PA6894|year=2002|publisher=Cosmo Publications|isbn=978-81-7755-257-7|page=6894}}</ref>

== Role in Kurukshetra War ==
Drupada fights on the side of the [[Pandavas]] in the [[Kurukshetra War]]. Bhishma names him a ''Maharathi''. On the first day, he fights Jayadaratha. After a long drawn duel, Drupada is finally defeated and flees. During the night of the 14th day, he is defeated by [[Vrishasena]] and is rendered unconscious. After he is taken away, Vrishasena massacres most of his army as well.<ref name="urday2">{{cite web |url=http://www.urday.in/mpermission.htm |title=MAHABHARATA - Yudhistra's Permission |publisher=urday.in |access-date=2015-05-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531041757/http://www.urday.in/mpermission.htm |archive-date=31 May 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> He along with [[Virata]] fought and were killed by Drona on the 15th day of the war. He was badly injured and killed by Drona after a long sword fight. After his death, Drona salutes his body saying with tears in his eyes that he had to kill his friend.<ref name="google">{{cite book|title=The Mahabharata, Book 7: Drona Parva|author=Ganguli, K.M.|date=2014|publisher=Netlancers Inc|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HLLrAgAAQBAJ}}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Characters in the Mahabharata]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Mahābhārata}}
{{HinduMythology}}

[[Category:Characters in the Mahabharata]]
[[Category:Mythological kings of Pañcāla]]