Draupadi sprang full-grown from the fire, but no other heroine in Hindu mythology was earthier than she.

Her birth, sought by King Drupada, presaged a purpose. Her steely will, which often gleamed through her hapless married life, was shaped by the power and plenty she knew as the beloved daughter of the wealthy king of Panchala. Draupadi was the complete woman, complex yet feminine, and her fiery personality lent a glow to everything that she did.

It was Arjuna who won her hand at her swayamvara, but she was to be the wife of all the five Pandava brothers. Her success as a devoted wife was notable enough to bring Satyabhama seeking her counsel on marital happiness.

When dragged into the assembly of gaming men at Hastinapura, her query on jurisprudence left the grave elders speechless. As a dutiful wife, she followed her husbands into exile and kept house for them in the forest. An intelligent woman, she often plied Yudhishthira with questions on morality. When Subhadra came as Arjuna’s second wife, Draupadi was jealous, but she controlled her emotions under her regal bearing. Later, although she knew that Keechaka was dead, her wrath would not be quelled until she saw that his corpse was well on its way to be burnt.