While her father and the five brothers speak amongst themselves about the marriage proposal between them and their soon-to-be-wedded wife, Draupadi sits on the sidelines listening and watching. She is startled and confused as to why they have not spoken to her yet, considering it will affect the rest of her life. She thinks to herself and contemplates whether it’s worth throwing away her own happiness and succumbing to the will of her five husbands. She decides that this is not what she had envisioned and she interrupts the conversation,
“What about me, do I not get a say in this proposal?
The room gets quiet, it throws the father off for a bit, it wasn’t normal for a woman to have a say when the conversations were between men. He acknowledges her, interested to hear what she has to say, lets her speak in the discussion.
“Let us hear your thoughts on this proposal,” signaling her to speak her mind to the room.
Draupadi stares at the brothers, “What about my happiness, what does my future hold for me if the marriage does become a reality?” She goes on: “ It’s selfish to only think for yourselves, going directly to my father to talk about this rather than me.” She looks to her father, “Do you really think this is acceptable, to let your daughter be wedded to five men?”
The king pauses for a moment, looks at his own daughter and faces the men before him. He takes a minute to collect his thoughts. The room is silent for a minute, until the king finally speaks:
“I have to admit I did not expect your input, but I’m glad that you have brought it to my attention.” He turns his attention to the brothers standing before him, “I must agree, as I have stated before, it has not been approved that one women should be shared by many men, therefore I give you an ultimatum.” He clears his throat. “She will either get married to the man that has won the event to be chosen as her husband, or you relinquish the right to marry her.”
The brothers look at each other in awe and back at Draupadi, they turn to each other to speak to each other in privacy before turning to the king.
“We have taken this under consideration and have decided to relinquish the right to marry your daughter.” Yudhistira speaks on, “According to our law, we have shared everything amongst ourselves in order to avoid jealousy between each other, if we alter our law it could cause problems for us in the future.”
This being said and done, the brothers leave the chambers and the daughter thanks the king for allowing her to have a voice in her own future. The king dismisses her and reinstates the event in order to find her a suitable husband.