Draupadi
Draupadi (draupadī), also referred to as Krishnaa, Panchali, and Yagyaseni is the main female protagonist of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, and the common consort of the five Pandava brothers—Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva. She is noted for her beauty, courage, and polyandrous marriage. In Mahabharata, Draupadi and her brother, Dhrishtadyumna, were born from a yajna (fire sacrifice) organized by King Drupad of Panchal. Arjuna won her hand in marriage, but she had to marry the five brothers because of her mother-in-law's misunderstanding. Later, she became an empress, as Yudhishthira performed the Rajasuya ritual and achieved the status of the emperor. She had five sons, one from each Pandava, who were collectively addressed as the Upapandavas. The most notable incident in Draupadi's life is the game of dice at Hastinapura where Yudhishthira loses his possessions and wife, and she is humiliated by the Kaurava brothers and Karna. An attempt is made by Dushasana to disrobe her, but she is saved by the divine intervention of Krishna. Following the subsequent episodes, Draupadi and the Pandavas are exiled for 13 years. Significant events during this period include an attempted kidnapping by Jayadratha and the death of Kichaka. The exile is followed by the Kurukshetra War, where Draupadi loses her father, brothers, and her five children. After the war, she resumes her role as the empress for 36 years, after which she retires to the Himalayas along with her husbands. Draupadi's story has been an inspiration for various arts, performances and secondary literature. In Hinduism, she is extolled as one of the panchakanya (five virgins), archetypes of female chastity whose names are believed to dispel sin when recited. In some parts of the sub-continent, a sect of Draupadi exists, where she is worshipped as a goddess. The word Draupadī (lit. 'daughter of Drupada') is a patronymic, derived from the word Drupada, which means 'pillar'. Like other epic characters, she is referred to by multiple names in the Mahabharata.