Draupadi sprang furl grown from the fire but noother heroine in Hindu mythology was as earthy asshe. .Her birth. sought by King Drupada presaged apurpose. Her steely will. which often gleams throughher hapless married life, was shaped by the powerand plenty that she knew as the beloved daughterof the wealthy king of Panchala. · But for this. hertale would have been as passive as that of any otherwoman of that era, which was less than kind towomen.' Even as she lived as a woman typical ofher times, her fiery personality lent a glow to everything that she did.Though won by Arjuna she had to be the wife toall the five Pandavas. Her success in this task wasnotable enough to bring Satyabhama . seekingcounsel on married happiness.When dragged into the assembly of gaming men, at _Hastinapura her query in jurisprudence left the graveelders there speechless.A dutiful wife, she followed her husbands in exileand kept house for them in the forest. An intelligentwoman, she plied Yudhishthira with questions onmorality.When Subhadra came in, as Arjuna's wife, Draupadiwas jealous. But she controlled it under her regalbearing.She knew that Keechaka was dead. But her livewrath would not be satisfied till she watched the. .corpse on its way to be burnt.Draupadi was the total woman; complex and yetfeminine.AMAR CHITRAKOver 366 tiTHA means good reading.les are novv on sale.© India Book House Pvt. Ltd .. Bombay 400 026.All rights reserved 1986Publishi>-d by H. G. Mlrchandanl for India Book HOUSi>- Pvt. Ltd., M",halaxml Chamber!22, Bhulabhal Desai Road, Bombay 400 026 and printed by him at ISH Printers. MarcNaka. Mat~uradas VISSanjl Road, Andherl (East). Bombay 400 059 .Edilor: Ananl Pai. Retold by: Kamlll Chandrilklnt Artwork: Pratilp Mulick