Lord Krishna is well known for His epic association with the Pandavas. They were five brothers born to King Pandu of Hastinapur and his two queens, Kunti and Madri. Yudhishthir, Bheem and Arjun were Kunti’s sons. Nakul and Sahadev were Madri’s sons. Lord Krishna’s father, Vasudev, was Kunti’s brother. So, the Pandavas were His first cousins.
Before her wedding to King Pandu, Kunti had a boon from Sage Durvasa that she could chant a mantra and she would be blessed with a son. Out of curiosity, Kunti chanted the mantra, remembering the Sun-god. He blessed her with a son, Karna. Frightened to have a child before her marriage, Kunti put Karna in a basket and left it in River Ganges. Adirath, a charioteer, raised Karna.
King Pandu’s elder brother was Dhritrashtra. He was wise but blind. Gandhari was his loyal wife who had blindfolded her eyes intentionally. She chose not to see the world which her husband could not see.
Dhritrashtra was made the king of Hastinapur when Pandu went into exile with his wives. King Dhritrashtra and Queen Gandhari had a hundred sons. Duryodhan was the eldest of them. They were known as the Kauravas. Yudhishthir and his four brothers were made the rulers of Indraprastha under the sovereignty of King Dhritrashtra after Pandu’s death. Duryodhan was always jealous of his Pandava cousins under the evil influence of his maternal uncle, Shakuni who was Gandhari’s elder brother.
Shakuni provoked Duryodhan, “Yudhishthir loves the dice game, although he doesn’t know how to play. Ask him to gamble with me as there is no gambler who is my equal in the three worlds. I will put him to shame and win his kingdom for you.”
Duryodhan liked Shakuni’s gambling plan and requested his father Dhritrashtra to invite Yudhishthir. However, when Dhritrashtra hesitated, Duryodhan narrated an incident about how the Pandavas’ wife Draupadi had once insulted him and had called him a blind man’s son. Hearing this, Dhritrashtra agreed to invite the Pandavas.
Yudhishthir gave his consent and came with Draupadi and his brothers to play the dice game. Duryodhan had built a vast assembly hall to hold the gambling contest, and he had invited many kings to attend except Lord Krishna.
Uncle Shakuni used his charmed dice and defeated Yudhishthir many times, forcing him to lose his wealth, his kingdom Indraprastha and his brothers. At last, Yudhishthir put Draupadi at stake and lost her, too. Duryodhan then ordered his brother, Dushasan, to bring Draupadi to the assembly hall.
Lord Krishna considered Draupadi His friend and sister. When He had cut His finger while beheading Shishupal, Draupadi immediately tore off a piece of her saree and bandaged His finger. Lord Krishna had said that with this loving act, she wrapped Him in debt and He would repay each ‘thread’ when the time arrived. Indeed, the time had come when Draupadi needed Lord Krishna’s protection. Duryodhan ordered Dushasan to disrobe Draupadi after the Pandavas had lost her to unfair gambling. Seeing that her husbands, the Pandavas, were unable to help her, Draupadi prayed to Lord Krishna to protect her.
A miracle happened! As Draupadi prayed for Krishna’s help, He came to her rescue and gave her unlimited cloth. Dushasan unwrapped layers and layers of Draupadi’s saree. As her saree kept getting extended, Dushasan was forced to stop due to exhaustion.
The assembly of the kings was stunned at the miracle where Dushasan failed to disrobe Draupadi. Bheem declared, “I take an oath that I will tear open the Dushasan’s heart and drink his blood. I will break Duryodhan’s thigh as he tauntingly invited Draupadi to sit on it.” However, Dhritrashtra was frightened by the divine inference for Draupadi and Bheem’s oath.
So, he apologised to Draupadi and released Draupadi and the Pandavas but put a condition for them to live in exile. The Pandavas had to go into exile for twelve years. Also in the thirteenth year, they had to live in disguise without being identified. If they were identified during the period of disguise, they had to go again for twelve years of exile and the thirteenth year in disguise.
