Draupadi

Draupadi is the main protagonist of Mahabharata along with her husbands, the Pandavas. She is the daughter of King Drupada of Panchala. She is one among the Panchakanyas.

Birth
Drupada wanted to take revenge on his friend, Dronacharya for insulting him. So, he prays for a son who would kill Dronacharya and a daughter who would marry the Pandavas as he was impressed by their bravery and valour. He does a ritual where he prays to god of his wish and a man and a woman emerges from the fire. He names the woman as Draupadi and the man as Drushtadyumna.

Marriage
Drupada planned to arrange a svayamwara for Draupadi where she can choose her own groom. He gives a task to the princes who assembled there. He kept a bowl of water and a toy bird which was flying above the bowl, so, the princes must hit the eye of the toy bird with the arrow, by looking at the shadow of the bird in the water bowl. All the princes tried their best but failed. That's when, Arjuna, the valiant among Pandavas come, he finds this task to be rather easy and correctly hits the eye of the bird. All the princes are amused and Draupadi marries Arjuna.

Marriage life
After, marriage the Pandavas quarrel among themselves about who should be Draupadi's husband. So they decide to approach their mother, Kunti. Kunti who was never turning to see the new bride thinks that the Pandavas are quarreling for a piece of sweet and tells them to share it among them. The Pandavas starts to laugh and when she turned, she is astonished to find a bride! Through this, the 5 Pandavas become Draupadi's husband.

Often, Draupadi deeply loved her husbands. Serving them like her own.

Humiliation
Once Duryodhana, falls into a pool, he comes out drenched wet. Draupadi, who was watching all these mocks him, saying that the son of a blind man is blind too. Insulted, he plans his revenge on her. This key incident is often considered to mark a definitive moment in the story of Mahabharata. It is one of the driving reasons that ultimately led to the Kurukshetra War. Together with his maternal uncle Shakuni, Duryodhana conspired to call on the Pandavas to Hastinapur and win their kingdoms in a game of gambling. There is famous folklore that the plan's architect, Shakuni had magic dice that would never disobey his will, as they were made from the bones of Shakuni's father. This story, however, is non-existent in the Sanskrit epic. As the game proceeds, Yudhishthira loses everything at first. In the second round, Yudhishthira's brother Nakula is at stake, and Yudhishthira loses him. Yudhisthira subsequently gambles away Sahadeva, Arjuna and Bheema. Finally, Yudhishthira puts himself at stake, and loses again. For Duryodhana, the humiliation of the Pandavas was not complete. He prods Yudhishthira that he has not lost everything yet; Yudhishthira still has Draupadi with him and if he wishes he can win everything back by putting Draupadi at stake. Inebriated by the game, Yudhishthira, to the horror of everybody present, puts Draupadi up as a bet for the next round. Playing the next round, Shakuni wins. Draupadi was horrified after hearing that she was staked in the game and now is a slave for Duryodhana. Draupadi questions Yudhishthira's right on her as he had lost himself first and she was still the queen. Duryodhana, angry with Draupadi's questions, commands his younger brother Dushyasana to bring her into the court, forcefully if he must. Vikarna and Yuyutsu extremely denies this.

Saved by Krishna
Dushyasana brings her by her hair and Duryodhana orders him to remove her garments. Alarmed by this, Draupadi prays for Krishna to help her. Miraculously, she is saved by Krishna.

Durvasa's Visit
One day, sage Durvasa came to visit the Pandavas with this pupils. He was sent by Duryodhana in order to the curse the Pandavas. Durvasa demands for a grand feast but thre was no food left. Draupadi worried of being cursed by the sage. She prays to Krishna who appears and eat a single grain of rice from the pot. Suddenly, Durvasa realises that he was eating a grand feast and returns with satisfaction.

Abducted by Jayadrata
When the Pandavas were in Kamyaka Forest, they often when hunting, leaving, Draupadi alone. At this time, Jayadrata, the husband of the kaurava sister Dusshala met Draupadi and asked her to come over with him to Salva Desa. Draupadi objects this who says that it is her duty to be faithful to her husband. She also said that if he abducts her, the Pandavas would surely, punish him. Failed by words, Jayadrata forcefully abducts her. When the Pandavas returned, they find out what happened and sets off to save Draupadi. They fight Jayadrata, however, Arjuna urges Bheema to spare his life for the sake of Gandhari and Dusshala. Eventually, they save Draupadi.

Unknown living (Agyatvas)
On the year they had to go into exile, the Pandavas chose to stay in the Matsya Kingdom. Draupadi became the maid of Sudeshna, queen of Matsya, and served her. One day Keechaka, Sudeshna's brother and the commander of king Virata's forces, happened to see Draupadi. He falls in love with her and requests her hand of marriage. Draupadi denies saying she is already married to the Gandharvas and they will punish him. Unable to bear this, he kicks Draupadi in the assembly in front of others, (Including her husbands). Later that night, Arjuna consoled Draupadi, and with Bhima, they hatched a plan to kill Kichaka. Draupadi meets with Kichaka, pretending to actually love him and agreeing to marry him on the condition that none of his friends or brothers would know about their relationship. Kichaka accepted her condition. Draupadi asked Kichaka to come to the dancing hall at night. Bhima (in the guise of Draupadi), fights with Kichaka and kills him.

Later Life and Death
Draupadi and Yudhishthira performed the Ashvamedha and ruled for 36 years. When her husbands retired from the world and went on their journey towards the Himalayas and heaven, she accompanied them and was the first to fall on the journey. When Bhima asked Yudhishthira why Draupadi had fallen, Yudhishthira replied,

"O best of men, though we were all equal unto her she had a great partiality for Dhananjaya. She obtains the fruit of that conduct today, O best of men."

Etymology and Epithets
Like other epic characters, Draupadi is referred to by multiple names in the Mahabharata. Her names are as follows:


 * Draupadī – (Sanskrit: द्रौपदी) – daughter of Drupada Maharaj


 * Panchalī – (Sanskrit: पाञ्चाली) – one from the land of Panchala.
 * Yajñasenī – (Sanskrit: याज्ञसेनी) or Yajñasenā (याज्ञसेना) – daughter of Yajnasena, another name of Drupada. Alternately, one born from a Yajña or sacrificial fire. Of the two variants of the name, the effeminate former is preferred over the more classical latter in Puranic texts.
 * Drupadakanya – (Sanskrit: द्रुपदकन्या) – the daughter of Drupada.
 * Sairandhrī – (Sanskrit: सैरन्ध्री) – an expert maid (she assumed name during her second exile in which she worked as Virat kingdom's queen Sudeshna's hair-stylist.)
 * Parṣatī – (Sanskrit: पर्षती) – the granddaughter of Pṛṣata.
 * Nityayuvanī – (Sanskrit: नित्ययुवनी) – one who remains young forever and never becomes old.
 * Mālinī – (Sanskrit: मालिनी) – one who makes garlands.

Backstory of Draupadi
There is another backstory which tells us, how did Draupadi marry the Pandavas.

In her last birth, Draupadi was born as the daughter of a sage. She was kind and devoted to Lord Shiva. One day, Draupadi wished to marry a heroic husband who always protects and cares for her. So, she prays to Lord Shiva about her wish. So, she tells 5 times that she want a good husband. Lord Shiva appears and declares that at her next birth, she will marry 5 heroic Pandavas.