The Mahabharata by R. K. Narayan Page B

first to marry, according to our law. Please give me your blessings to be married first.”
    â€œSo be it,” said the King, little dreaming of the implication. “You are the eldest, my daughter now belongs to your family. If you decide to marry her yourself, you will be free to do so, or you may give her to whomever you like among your brothers. I have nothing more to say.”
    â€œNow,” said Yudhistira simply and quietly, “Draupadi will have to be married to all of us.” He explained how it had come about and concluded, “We have always shared everything and we will never deviate from the practice.”
    The King was stunned on hearing this. When he recovered his balance, he cried, “One man can take many wives, but one woman taking several husbands has never been approved anywhere, either in practice or in the scriptures. It is something that can never receive approval from any quarter. A man of purity like you, one learned and well equipped in knowledge—what evil power is influencing you to speak thus?”
    Yudhistira tried to calm him. “The right way is subtle and complicated. I know I am not deviating from it. O conqueror of the worlds, have no misgivings, give us your permission.”
    The King said, “You and your venerable mother and my daughter… please talk it over among yourselves and tell me what should be done.”
    At this moment, the sage Vyasa arrived. When all the formalities of greeting were over, the King asked, “Give us your guidance; can a woman marry five men?”
    â€œNot always,” answered Vyasa, “but in this particular instance, it is correct. Now listen… ” He got up and walked into the King’s private chamber. The others followed at a distance and waited outside.
The Lives of Draupadi
    â€œYour daughter,” said Vyasa, “was called Nalayani in her last birth. She was one of the five ideal women in our land. She was married to a sage called Moudgalya, a leprous man, repulsive in appearance and habits, and cantankerous. She was, however, completely indifferent to his physical state and displayed the utmost devotion to him asa wife. She obeyed all his erratic commands, accepted his fickle moods, submitted herself to all his tyrannical orders, and ate the scraps from his plate. All this she did without hesitation or mental protest, totally effacing her own ego. They spent many years thus, and one day her husband said, ‘O beautiful one, perfect wife on earth, you have indeed passed through the severest trial and come through unscathed. Know you that I am neither old nor diseased nor inconsiderate. I assumed this vicious and disgusting appearance in order to test you. You are indeed the most forbearing partner a man could hope for. Ask me for any boon you may fancy, and I will grant it.’
    â€œNalayani said, ‘I want you to love me as five men, assuming five forms, and always coming back to and merging in one form.’ And he granted her the wish. He shed his unpleasant appearance in a moment and stood before her as an attractive, virile man—and he could assume four other forms too. The rest of their life was all romance; they travelled far and wide, visited beautiful romantic spots on earth, and led a life of perfect union, not in one, but several worlds. They lived and loved endlessly.
    â€œShe never got tired of it, but he did. He told her one day that his life of abandon was at an end and that he was retiring into loneliness and introspection. At this she wailed, ‘I am still insatiate. I have lived a wonderful life with you. I want you to continue it for ever.’
    â€œMoudgalya rejected her plea, warded her off as a drag on his spiritual progress, and departed. Whereupon she came down to earth from the dreamy elysium in which she had dwelt and prepared herself to meditate on Ishwara the Almighty. She meditated with great rigour, and when Ishwaraappeared before her,