Analyzing Draupadi’s Agency and Legal Acumen in Irawati Karve’s Yuganta

Abstract

Irawati Karve’s Yuganta gives a new look at the Mahabharata and brings forth the human elements in its characters. This paper studies the character of Draupadi as presented by Karve, who sees in her an almost unprecedented legal mind at work in the epic behind a most assertive and powerful female figure in its events. The disrobing incident in Draupadi’s life is pivotal. Many Indian women can, and do, identify with the epic character; thus, analyzing Draupadi’s strategic responses in such an epoch-making event affords a glimpse into the agency, within the patriarchal context of the narrative, of that woman who dared to brave both palace and court in a long game of chess with her enemies. Karve compares Draupadi with Sita, thus illuminating differing paradigms of womanhood and resilience. The paper also looks at Draupadi’s complex associations with the Pandavas and how those associations affect the decisions that the Pandavas make concerning the quest for justice. The paper also considers some feminist reinterpretations of the Draupadi trope, most notably Mahasweta Devi’s reimagining of Draupadi as Dopdi, to consider how Draupadi’s effect in classical literature lastingly frames the agency of women in that same literary realm.