Passage 2

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In plain words

When the Pāṇḍavas reached home, bringing Draupadī with them, their mother was inside with the doors shut. ‘Mother! We have brought a great fruit, precious and sweet,’ they said. Then Kuntīdevī said, ‘My sons! Share so great a fruit equally, all five of you.’ Those sons, who would never go against their mother's word whatever the circumstance, went in, bowed to their mother and said, ‘Mother! We bow our heads to your command.’ In this way the five Pāṇḍavas came to wed Draupadī. But how would the world accept this? Whether the world accepted it or not, the Pāṇḍavas held it their duty to bow their heads to their mother's command. Those who recognised the close bond of kinship between them went on upholding it. But some questioned Kṛṣṇa: ‘How can Draupadī, who has five husbands, be a pativratā?’ Kṛṣṇa said,

“She never answers back her husbands' many words, never says she cannot spare the time to serve them, she stays content with what she has; there is no pativratā to equal Draupadī.”

To understand her husband's circumstances and act accordingly is the mark of a pativratā. If her husband earns a salary of a hundred rupees, she will not ask for a sari of two hundred rupees. She is content with what she has.

Dharmaja clearly recognised Draupadī's exemplary conduct and her virtues: ‘Draupadī! You are an embodiment of Śakti, with the power to govern Prakṛti. You have brought under control the five senses and the five elements within you. Only those like you can truly understand the state of this world and set it right,’ he said, extolling her.