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Draupadi: The Dusky Firebrand
This dark beauty was no ordinary woman. Born from the pure flames of a sacred fire, Draupadi was devoted wife to the five famously talented and virtuous Pandava brothers. The evil Kauravas wanted her for themselves, and eyed the Pandava kingdom as well. Raging at their impertinence, and ranting at her husbands’ helplessness, Draupadi inspired a deadly war which wiped out the Kaurava scourge for ever.
32 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1974
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 25, 2024
Gambled away by one of her husbands Draupadi must suffer abuse from many who could make her life more comfortable if only she would submit to their desire for her. Very interesting tale that reminds us that inner beauty is often ignored - and the cost associated with noticing, too late, how important it is to see this.
November 14, 2019
Woman partakes in Swayamvara, where she can choose from a group of suitors as predetermined by father. (Arranged marriage with a twist, yo)
Woman's father knows which prince he wants his daughter to marry so he chooses a task that only said suitor (or suitors with similar dexterity) can carry out. (Rigging, yo)
Another able suitor arrives and when he goes to do the task, everyone knows he can complete it. But Woman has made up her mind to not marry a man of lesser birth so she insults him in front of everyone. (Caste system, so cool, much wow)
Suitor, for whom the task was rigged, arrives and wins the task. (Duh)
Suitor takes Woman home, to show his mother his new trophy, (*cough* Mamma's boy *cough*) and he says, "Look Ma, look what I got today!"
Suitor's mother is busy so she tells him, "Whatever you have got over there, go and share it with your 4 brothers." (Woman goes, "Uh, like, what did you just say, MIL?")
The 5 brothers are extremely dutiful towards their mother. So, ALL of them marry Woman. (Why, you ask? Because, she is a commodity that can be distributed among 5 people, duh. Keep up)
...
...
...
One day, the 5 brothers, are invited to a high stakes dice game. Their opponents are their evil cousins. (How many cousins? ONE HUNDRED. And one more to include their only sister. But she had a facial that day. A facial is more important that any dice game ever)
The eldest brother loses everything, even himself in the dice game ("But they cheated!!) and the only thing they had left to put at stake was their wife. So, Eldest puts her at stake too. And loses (again).
Woman is brought to court and stripped by her husbands' cousins (all are her brothers-in-law) and her 5 husbands can do nothing about it. (FIVE HUSBANDS AND NOTHING)
The assembled elders also failed to raise a voice (some did look away out of reverence to the lady, though) and so the charade went on until they realized that Woman's clothes never came off no matter how much effort was put. Woman had prayed to Lord Krishna and He came to her rescue.
That was when Woman cursed every single one of her husbands' cousins and vowed revenge. She also taunted her own husbands for their futile existence as they couldn't do anything to save the dignity of their wife.
Ultimately, there is a war and she gets her revenge and it is perfect.
The Mahabharata is one of my favorite stories EVER and if I ever get my hands on a compilation, a retelling, an abridged version, I try and skim through my favorite parts, or read as a whole, if it's short. This book is a hugely revered book in India for a reason. There is a very popular saying in the Bengali language that goes, "Jaa Mahabharata e nei, ta bhubharate nei." It roughly translates to "Whatever is not in the Mahabharata, does not exist in the world." I simply love how Draupadi is portrayed in the book. She is not meek, she is not demure. She is fiery and feisty and has a mind of her own and I love that about her. Her character will always be inspirational to me because she survived with the cards she was dealt, and how! Yes, she does make some mistakes that ultimately cause her immense feelings of regret but she isn't a perfect character and never once claims to be one.
This short volume is not enough to describe her kick-ass attitude but it gets an A for effort.
(Did I just use the word "kick-ass" to describe Draupadi? Why yes, I did. ._.)
Note: The first part of the review was written in jest. It is not meant to hurt anyone's sentiments and is not an accurate portrayal of The Mahabharata.
Woman's father knows which prince he wants his daughter to marry so he chooses a task that only said suitor (or suitors with similar dexterity) can carry out. (Rigging, yo)
Another able suitor arrives and when he goes to do the task, everyone knows he can complete it. But Woman has made up her mind to not marry a man of lesser birth so she insults him in front of everyone. (Caste system, so cool, much wow)
Suitor, for whom the task was rigged, arrives and wins the task. (Duh)
Suitor takes Woman home, to show his mother his new trophy, (*cough* Mamma's boy *cough*) and he says, "Look Ma, look what I got today!"
Suitor's mother is busy so she tells him, "Whatever you have got over there, go and share it with your 4 brothers." (Woman goes, "Uh, like, what did you just say, MIL?")
The 5 brothers are extremely dutiful towards their mother. So, ALL of them marry Woman. (Why, you ask? Because, she is a commodity that can be distributed among 5 people, duh. Keep up)
...
...
...
One day, the 5 brothers, are invited to a high stakes dice game. Their opponents are their evil cousins. (How many cousins? ONE HUNDRED. And one more to include their only sister. But she had a facial that day. A facial is more important that any dice game ever)
The eldest brother loses everything, even himself in the dice game ("But they cheated!!) and the only thing they had left to put at stake was their wife. So, Eldest puts her at stake too. And loses (again).
Woman is brought to court and stripped by her husbands' cousins (all are her brothers-in-law) and her 5 husbands can do nothing about it. (FIVE HUSBANDS AND NOTHING)
The assembled elders also failed to raise a voice (some did look away out of reverence to the lady, though) and so the charade went on until they realized that Woman's clothes never came off no matter how much effort was put. Woman had prayed to Lord Krishna and He came to her rescue.
That was when Woman cursed every single one of her husbands' cousins and vowed revenge. She also taunted her own husbands for their futile existence as they couldn't do anything to save the dignity of their wife.
Ultimately, there is a war and she gets her revenge and it is perfect.
The Mahabharata is one of my favorite stories EVER and if I ever get my hands on a compilation, a retelling, an abridged version, I try and skim through my favorite parts, or read as a whole, if it's short. This book is a hugely revered book in India for a reason. There is a very popular saying in the Bengali language that goes, "Jaa Mahabharata e nei, ta bhubharate nei." It roughly translates to "Whatever is not in the Mahabharata, does not exist in the world." I simply love how Draupadi is portrayed in the book. She is not meek, she is not demure. She is fiery and feisty and has a mind of her own and I love that about her. Her character will always be inspirational to me because she survived with the cards she was dealt, and how! Yes, she does make some mistakes that ultimately cause her immense feelings of regret but she isn't a perfect character and never once claims to be one.
This short volume is not enough to describe her kick-ass attitude but it gets an A for effort.
(Did I just use the word "kick-ass" to describe Draupadi? Why yes, I did. ._.)
Note: The first part of the review was written in jest. It is not meant to hurt anyone's sentiments and is not an accurate portrayal of The Mahabharata.
June 9, 2020
This is a really good book as it has all the major details of the queen of Hastinapur, Draupadi, who was insulted by the evil kauravas in front of the whole gathering. I got to know the reason as to why Draupadi was married to all the five Pandavas. Points could have been added as to what happened to Draupadi after the Kurukshetra war. Apart from this, the book was excellent and I totally recommend it.
August 17, 2020
A true firebrand indeed.
I don't know why men mess with this powerhouse of a woman. She took wayyy too much s*** in her lifetime and boy, did she make her wrongdoers pay.
The sweetest aspect of Draupadi is her friendship with Lord Krishna who like a true BFF comes to her aid when even her five husbands are left wringing their hands in depair.
I don't know why men mess with this powerhouse of a woman. She took wayyy too much s*** in her lifetime and boy, did she make her wrongdoers pay.
The sweetest aspect of Draupadi is her friendship with Lord Krishna who like a true BFF comes to her aid when even her five husbands are left wringing their hands in depair.
June 21, 2018
A quick read to learn about epic, and Draupadi.
November 8, 2020
NICE ONE FOR NEWBIE
Good illustration, helps to give ideas about the great mahabharath battle (especially for younger generations) . Worth spending time on reading this one. And these kinda books helps to attract new readers
Good illustration, helps to give ideas about the great mahabharath battle (especially for younger generations) . Worth spending time on reading this one. And these kinda books helps to attract new readers
April 24, 2021
Amar Chitra Katha has always been my favourite
Amar Chitra Katha has always been my favourite . Especially the mythological ones. Even the real stories are great to read. They have inspired many generations.
Amar Chitra Katha has always been my favourite . Especially the mythological ones. Even the real stories are great to read. They have inspired many generations.
June 23, 2020
Great book
Really good book to try if you want to know about Draupadi as a kid. As a feminist it was really informative for me.
Really good book to try if you want to know about Draupadi as a kid. As a feminist it was really informative for me.
March 2, 2021
Excellent
This book was excellent. I recommend it to all amar chitra Katcha fans. A great book to read. Deserves five stars.
This book was excellent. I recommend it to all amar chitra Katcha fans. A great book to read. Deserves five stars.
Read
March 10, 2021.
Hare krishna hare krishna
Krishna krishna hare hare
Hate Rama hare Rama
Rama Rama hare hare
...... .... .... .....
Hare krishna hare krishna
Krishna krishna hare hare
Hate Rama hare Rama
Rama Rama hare hare
...... .... .... .....
February 15, 2024
Another enjoyable ACK read about the life of Draupadi. It's brief but gives a great overview.
March 3, 2021
If you are going to read this book for getting to know more about Draupadi, then don't pick it up. This book contains just the basic and well-known storyline surrounding Draupadi which many of the readers already may be knowing. It also has few inaccuracies and suffers from omissions of many interesting facts.
However, it can be argued that ACKs are intended for children and not for people who are seeking further knowledge about a subject. So in that way, it did a great job of introducing such a nuanced and important character in just 32 pages. This book fulfils its original purpose; but as I had expected more from it, I ended up being very disappointed.
The bottom-line is that only read it if you don't know anything about Draupadi and want to gain a very superficial and brief insight.
However, it can be argued that ACKs are intended for children and not for people who are seeking further knowledge about a subject. So in that way, it did a great job of introducing such a nuanced and important character in just 32 pages. This book fulfils its original purpose; but as I had expected more from it, I ended up being very disappointed.
The bottom-line is that only read it if you don't know anything about Draupadi and want to gain a very superficial and brief insight.
March 30, 2022
Good
It is very good and I enjoyed it, although I would of preferred to read it instead of answering this question but you are not allowing me to do that.
It is very good and I enjoyed it, although I would of preferred to read it instead of answering this question but you are not allowing me to do that.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews