Reading Notes, Mahabharata: Jayadratha and Draupadi – Part C
Bhima getting ready to kill Jayadratha.
Source: Braj Discovery
One day when Draupadi was walking through the woods while the Pandavas were out hunting for deer, Jayadratha, the Rajah of Sindhu, spotted her and instantly fell in love. He knew that he had to make her his bride, no matter what the cost, so he grabbed her and pushed her into his chariot, taking her away. A bondmaiden had seen this all happen so she made sure to find the Pandavas and tell them what had happened. Jaydratha was rumored to be the most vile man in the lands, in which he would force women to marry him and then send them off to be locked up in his dungeon when he got bored of them or found another woman he wanted to marry so that none of his ex-wives could remarry.
The Pandavas set off to find where Jayadratha had taken Draupadi. The Pandavas saw Jayadratha's chariot crashed into a tree, Draupadi sitting on the side of the road. "He escaped somewhere into the woods", she told the brothers. Bhima told Yudhishthira, "Bring both Jayadratha and Draupadi back, as I want to be the one who serves him death". Yudhishthira said "Oh Bhima, even though I also want to get revenge on Jayadratha, he married Duryodhana's sister and he is our family." Draupadi said, "Who cares if he is family? He deserves to die, as he is the worst of kings and of all men, and at one point, he had made me believe that I was going to die myself".
They searched for Jayadratha in the woods and when Bhima found him in a bush, Bhima grabbed him by his hair and cut all of his hair off besides five locks. "If you choose to pay homage to Yudhishthira and agree to be his slave for the rest of your days on this earth, I will spare you of your life", Bhima said to Jayadratha. Jayadratha fell onto his knees before Yudhishthira, "I just want to live. I will do whatever you want me to do, even if it means being your slaves until the day that I die".
Source. Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913).
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