Dushala’s Husband is Held Captive
Arjuna held Jayadratha, the King of Sindhu’s, neck, ready to squeeze his life breath. Bhima, who was livid with rage, screamed, “Kill him, Arjuna! Kill him! Crush his neck. He deserves to die for his sin of trying to kidnap and rape Draupadi.”
Draupadi’s anger at that moment knew no bounds. Her eyes flared with venomous ire, and if she could, she would’ve wrung her perpetrator’s neck herself.
Even the usually quiet twins, Nakula and Sahadev, were furious and urged Arjuna to kill Jayadratha.
Only Yudhisthira had his head down. There was no doubt he was angry. Yet something was holding him back. Being the eldest, he had to give his approval for the killing of Jayadratha. It would have been a fitting end to the traitor’s tamasic life.
The King of Sindhu hated the Pandavas, sometimes, it seemed, more than the Kauravas themselves. Despite being the king of the highly prosperous kingdom of Sindhu, he always wanted more, both wealth and women.
He was married to the beautiful Dushala, the only and beloved sister of the Kauravas, equally loved and respected by the Pandavas, her cousin brothers. Today, while travelling through the forest where the exiled Pandavas were spending their days in Sage Dhaumya’s ashram, Jayadratha came across Draupadi and desired to have her.
The Pandavas were out hunting when he came. Seeing her alone and unable to control his lust, Jayadratha forced Draupadi onto his chariot, despite her stern warnings. The wise and old Sage Dhaumya warned him too, “You are chewing more than you can bite off, Jayadratha. You don’t know what horrible consequences you will face from her husbands, the Pandavas, when they return and learn of this unforgivable injustice.”
Jayadratha laughed cruelly and took off with Draupadi, his small but powerful army of soldiers shielding him.
When the Pandavas returned and heard of the incident, they gave chase to the wily Jayadratha and caught up with him. His army of bodyguards was easily vanquished, and now he was in the grip of Arjuna, whose powerful hands were around his neck, awaiting approval from Yudhisthira to squeeze the life out of the incestuous traitor.
Dushala’s Plea
That is when the voice of their beloved sister rang through the forest, “No! No! Please don’t kill my husband, Anna!”
They saw Dushala running through the dense forest, her hair and clothes in complete disarray. When she reached the Pandavas and Draupadi, she fell at Yudhisthira’s feet, begging for mercy. “His trespass is unforgivable, I agree. But if you kill him, my children will not have a father, and I will become a widow. Don’t add that karma to your karmic pot. That of widowing your sister. You deserve better, my dear brothers. Let him go. Punish him in any other way.”
Yudhishthira took hold of his sister’s shoulder and lifted her. His eyes were wet with unshed tears. He realised that the only sister of the Kuru clan had a bad deal in life.
Not only was she watching her brothers hate and fight with each other, but her husband wasn’t very good either. Imagine living with the guilt and regret of having a husband who had dirty intentions toward Draupadi. She was already living with the guilt and regret of having brothers who tried to molest Draupadi in open court.
Having a husband try the same thing was a double whammy for the poor lady. To think Dushala was born when her mother, Gandhari, desired to have a daughter too, despite getting a boon from Sage Vyasa for a hundred sons!
Yudhishthira looked at Draupadi, realising she was the one who should decide whether to punish this transgression. No one else!
Reading her brother’s mind, Dushala turned to her sister-in-law and continued pleading, “Sister, don’t bloody your hands with his death. He deserves worse. And he will pay for his misdeeds. Punish him in any other way but with death. His children still need their father. His kingdom needs a king. Let nature take its course for his bad karma.”
Draupadi thought for a while and said in a resigned voice, “Okay, my dear sister. I don’t believe either you nor your children are at fault here. Let him go, Arjuna. I hope he has learnt his lesson, at least for the sake of his wife and children.”
Saying this, Draupadi left the place and went inside their small hut. Thanking her brothers and sister-in-law profusely, she stood aside waiting for Ajuna to release his grip from her husband’s neck.
Slowly, Arjuna loosened his grip. But he held his hand tightly on Jayadratha’s shoulders, still unwilling to let him go without taking some kind of punitive measure. He looked at his eldest brother, who understood their desire for revenge, and said, “Don’t kill him as Draupadi ordered. But tonsure his head, leaving only five tufts, each representing one of us, the five Pandavas. Let the world know and see that he was defeated and humiliated by all of us, and that he is now our slave. That it was our largeheartedness that we let him free.”
Arjuna and Bhima did the needful. Dushala internalised her horror as she watched her husband’s rage slowly building up in his eyes. Their eyes met for a fraction of a second, and she realised he was never going to change. He would wait for an opportune moment to get revenge for today’s insult. She wondered what greater horrors awaited her and her sons.
Stuck behind feuding brothers and an arrogant husband, Dushala wondered if anyone really cared for her at all. She felt alone as she watched Jayadratha run away into the wilderness when his head shaving was finished, and the Pandavas let him free.
She turned and saw Draupadi looking at the scene from the tiny window of her little hut. Dushala wondered when and why this warring between blood brothers started. Bowing to the Pandavas, Dushala left for her home, hoping her husband would follow her soon.
Author’s Note:
In the Mahabharata, Dushala does not appear in the scene in which her husband is punished and humiliated for his unforgivable transgression against Draupadi. But I thought it befitting to bring her to the scene.
This post is a part of BlogchatterA2Z Challenge 2026
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