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Some answers on this site say that Draupadi did agni-pravesha before meeting each husband. Those answers don't provide any citations from the Mahabharata.

The first answer says he "heard in an upanyasam", and the second answer doesn't even provide a source.

Regardless, this is contrary to what is normally said of Draupadi being an exceptional case of polyandry. For example, in this section of the Mahabharata, Yudhishthira justifies his marriage of Draupadi by citing previous examples of polyandry, as well as following polyandry on the order of his mother:

"Yudhishthira then spoke, saying, 'My tongue never uttereth an untruth and my heart never inclineth to what is sinful. When my heart approveth of it, it can never be sinful. I have heard in the Purana that a lady of name Jatila, the foremost of all virtuous women belonging to the race of Gotama had married seven Rishis. So also an ascetic's daughter, born of a tree, had in former times united herself in marriage with ten brothers all bearing the same name of Prachetas and who were all of souls exalted by asceticism. O foremost of all that are acquainted with the rules of morality, it is said that obedience to superior is ever meritorious. Amongst all superiors, it is well-known that the mother is the foremost. Even she hath commanded us to enjoy Draupadi as we do anything obtained as alms. It is for this, O best of Brahmanas, that I regard the (proposed) act as virtuous.'

Pandu in the Mahabharata even says that polyandry was permitted at one time.

Does the Mahabharata actually say that she did agni-pravesha before meeting each husband every year?

Ikshvaku
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  • Yes, I heard it in Tamil Upanyasam from a revered scholar. They are the only reliable source of info on shastras, English sources/translations are only for cursory introduction. There is also a commentary about "marriage" to sapta rishis (in case of constellation and an accompanying star, if u attend any vedic marriage, purohit will tell the bride to look at that nakshatra) - it doesn't mean wife, it just means service. Just as a woman married to a husband who has 2 brothers, cooks for all 3, washes all 3's clothes etc., in that sense it is one family. – ram May 08 '21 at 17:33
  • @mar Did the Swami mention where he got this information from? I want to know if this is mentioned in the MB itself or a purana at least. Because why would Draupadi need to do agni-pravesha when she is already married to the 5 pandavas? Did she also do the marriage ritual ever year with each of them? – Ikshvaku May 08 '21 at 19:11
  • It was in Mahabharat upanyasam - they get their source from either Vyasa Bharatam, or Villiputtur Bharatam (Tamil version with equal footing, just as Kamba Ramayan has equal footing with Valmiki's), or Divya Prabandha Pasurams. They are available for purchase/download online, but have to understand Tamil to get their sources. Agni Pravesh purifies the body, so it's like getting a new body each time, hence no blemish about a different husband. She could do that without dying cos she herself was born from fire as a 16-year old. – ram May 08 '21 at 19:20
  • @mar But she's already legally married to 5 different husbands, so what's the point of the agni pravesha for sex, she already transgressed a major rule of being married to one husband? And if she is so supernaturally powerful that she can acquire a new body every year, then no "blemish" would even stick to her from the sex. So that's why I'm skeptical, among other reasons, like it's not mentioned by Kumarila Bhatta in his justification of Draupadi's polyandry. – Ikshvaku May 08 '21 at 19:50
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    @mar Kumarila Bhatta cited this verse from the MB to show that Draupadi is superhuman, and hence, not tainted by sex with many men: "Draupadi appeared, in full bloom of youth, out of the sacrificial altar, and as such she is Lakshmi herself, consequently, she does not become tainted by her intercourse with many owners." - it doesn't say anything about her entering the fire each time. It seems to be a myth based on this verse. Also, I'm sorry to say but Valmiki's ramayana is more authoritative than any other ramayana. Same from Vyasa's MB. – Ikshvaku May 08 '21 at 20:04
  • Valmiki's ramayana is more authoritative - according to whom ? Out of Shata-Koti-Pravistaram (100 crore verses of Ramayana available in Brahma Loka), only 24,000 are available in Bhuloka. So, there could be many incidents that are only visible to certain rishis. – ram May 09 '21 at 02:40
  • @mar I've never heard that 100 crore verses reside in brahma loka. Either way, Kambar wasn't a rishi and his ramayana was written millions of years later (1k years ago) based on the valmiki ramayana. And he added a local and poetic twist, so it's not a historical work like Valmiki who saw the events of the Ramayana. – Ikshvaku May 09 '21 at 17:52
  • "I've never heard that" - well, u can check with ramayan scholars :). "Kambar wasn't a rishi" - how do you know ? "his ramayana was written millions of years later" - so ? For his Ramayana Arangetram, when challenged by scholars about its authenticity and dare to compare with Valmiki version, he wrote one verse in his olaichuvadi (manuscript), and threw it in kaveri, and it floated. and scholars accepted his work. Sanjaya was sitting miles away from Kurukshetra, yet he saw the events of war. Nathamunigal was born 1000 years after Nammazhwar, yet he heard the Divya Prabandhams. – ram May 09 '21 at 20:44
  • for human works, the closer an event is to historical timeline, the higher the authenticity. but the authenticity of a spiritual work is not decided by when it was written. – ram May 09 '21 at 20:50
  • @mar Doesn't kambar's ramayana contradict valmiki's in some places though? – Ikshvaku May 09 '21 at 20:52
  • yes, it does. probably Ramcharitmanas does too. that's why upanyasakar's start by saying Shata Koti Pravistaram Ramayanam (100 crore). Just as they start with Sapada-Laksha-Grantham Bharatam (1.25 lakh). Even though many of these are not available in Bhuloka. There is even story about who taught which version to whom (Vishnu to Shiva to Parvati to Indra to Rishi to humans), and how each person distilled the verses to a more manageable number for limited brain/time humans. – ram May 09 '21 at 20:55
  • @mar So then how can the contradictions be explained? – Ikshvaku May 09 '21 at 20:56
  • different kalpas, different ramayanas, different rishis get visions of different events. for e.g. the story of Maya Sita, while very popular in North, isn't popular in South. Even though it exists in Valmiki Version I think. – ram May 09 '21 at 20:57
  • similar apparent contradictions exist with Daksha Prajapati's story too. Janamejaya himself asks this question to Vaishampayana (how the same Daksha can be both the grandfather and grandson, or something along those lines), and he explains that these are belonging to different kalpas, or the same person is reborn much later. – ram May 09 '21 at 21:01
  • @mar And these Ramayana scholars say that Kamba received divine vision of some Ramayana's events? – Ikshvaku May 09 '21 at 22:01
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    the scholars of ancient times accepted that his version was divine because his manuscript floated on kaveri. they had the same doubts whether Tamil version of Prabandhas could equal the divinity of Sanskrit Vedas, and their doubts were cleared by supernatural events, just as supernatural voices foretold Kamsa's death by Krishna. – ram May 10 '21 at 01:17
  • @mar But did kambar himself explain the contradictions? I mean his ramayana could definitely be just as divine as valmiki's, but he may not be claiming it to be historical. People write lots of stories based on a true story that differ from the original story a little bit, so kambar's might just be another one like that. I don't think it's reasonable to infer that he saw a ramayana of another kalpa, when simpler and more likely explanations are available. – Ikshvaku May 10 '21 at 13:26

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