King DRUPADA of Panchala Prishat

Drupada

Drupada (lit: 'firm-footed or pillar'[1]), also known as Yajnasena, is a character in the Mahābhārata. He is king of the land of Northern Panchala.[2] The capital was known as Kamapilya.[3] His father's name was Prishata. Conflict with Drona[edit]  
  Upyaz showing his elder brother to Drupada Drupada, son of the king Prishata, and Drona studied together under the tutelage of Rishi Bhardwaja, Drona's father. They became great friends and Drupada assured Drona that once he became a king, he would share half of his kingdom with him. While Drupada became a king after the death of his father, Drona lived a life of poverty. Unable to feed his son, Drona approached Drupada for help. Drupada, now conscious of the difference of status between them, refused to acknowledge Drona's friendship and shunned Drona calling him a beggar. Drona was later employed by Bhisma to train the sons of Pandu and Dhritarashtra. After the military education of the Kauravas and the Pandavas ended, as hisgurudakshina (honorarium), Drona asked the princes to defeat and capture Drupada. The Pandavas, led by Arjuna, defeated Drupada, bound him in ropes and brought him to Drona. Drona set Drupada free, but retained half of the kingdom that had been promised to him. Humiliated Drupada sought vengeance against Drona, but he realized that he could not match Drona's might. So, Drupada performed a great yajna (vedic ritual of fire sacrifice) to beget a son who could slay Drona. From the fire of the yajna, twins Dhrishtadyumna andDraupadi were born. Years later, in the Mahabharata war, Dhrishtadyumna beheaded Drona.[4][5] Svayamvara of Draupadi[edit]  
  The Swayamvara of Panchala's princess, Draupadi Drupada arranged a svayamvara (public self-choice of husband) for his daughter Draupadi. To win Draupadi's hand, the princes invited had to bend an enormous bow and shoot five arrows simultaneously through a revolving ring onto a target far away. Arjuna succeeded in the event and Drupada accepted him as his son-in-law. When Draupadi was taken back to Kunti, she asked her sons to accept whatever had been won as common property. The imperative of acting on their mother's words and the propriety of marriage to five husbands was discussed at Drupada's palace. Rishi Vyasasupported Kunti's proposal and sanctioned the marriage.[6] Family[edit] Drupada had eleven sons along with Dhrishtadyumna. Their names were: Satyajit,Shikhandi( Shilhandi was originally born as a girl, and used to be the princess of Kashi, Amba, who wanted to take revenge on Bhishma) , Uttamauja, Kumar, Yudhamanyu, Vrika,Panchalya, Suratha, Shatrunjaya and Janamejaya.[7] Most of them died in the Mahabharata war. Dhrishtadyumna,Shikandi,Yudhamanyu and Uttamauja were killed by Ashwatthama on the last day of the war.[7] Role in Kurukshetra War[edit] Drupada fought on the side of the Pandava's in the Kurukshetra War. He was a maharathi.[8] He was killed by Drona on the 15th day of the War.

Drupada and Dronacharya .

Drupad and Drona became friends in the ashram where they used to study in their childhood. Drupad was the prince of the kingdom Panchal(Kam pillai), while Drona was son of sage Bharadwaj.

Drupad used to say to Drona, "O Drona, you are my dear friend. And friends should share their belongings equally. So whatever is yours, half of that would be mine and whatever is mine, half of that would be yours. You'll see when I become king, I'll give you half of my kingdom", and Drona used to feel proud of his friendship.

Years passed. Drupad became the king of Panchal, but Drona had to suffer a harsh fate. Poverty struck him. He was so poor that his wife Kripi used to put some water dipped in rice powder over the mouth of their son Ashwatthama, to show others that he is having milk every day.

It was at that time when Drona remembered the promise of his friend Drupad. He told Kripi, "In these harsh times, only my friend Drupad can help us and he will help us for sure"

Drona went to Drupad and reminded him of his promise. He said that since he owns half of his kingdom as per said during their childhood, he demands nothing but just 1 cow from his kingdom. Drupad laughed at Drona. He said, "You Idiot, you're still struck to the promises made in childhood. O Drona, friendship is always between people who are equal in status. Look at me, I am king of Kam pillai, and look at you, who are you, a poor brahmin. There can be no friendship between us. So don’t demand anything on the basis of friendship. You are a brahmin though, if you beg for something, I can give you even more than a cow".

Drawn by Mrinal Rai

Drona felt humiliated. He said nothing and left.

Fate later turned in favor of Drona when he was invited by the mighty Bheeshma to teach archery and warfare skills to his grandsons the Pandavas and the Kauravas, young princes of kingdom of Hastinapur. Drona imparts all his knowledge he learnt from his guru, the invincible Parashuram, to the five pandavas and 100 kauravas. When he trained all of them, he asked that in Guru-Dakshina (the ritual to give something to the teacher after the education is complete), he wanted them to capture King Drupad. The 100 Kauravas fail to capture the warrior king Drupad, but the five pandavas without any army capture Drupad alive and bring him in front of Drona.

Drawn by Mrinal Rai Drona tells him, "See, now I have filled the gap we had in our positions. Now we can be friends, can't we Drupad? You failed to keep your promise but I will not, my friend. I own your kingdom now, but I will give you your share. You keep half of the kingdom and I will give half to my son Ashwatthama". Drupad felt insulted and decided to take revenge, he was though greatly impressed by the archery skills of Arjun, the third among the pandav and Drona's favorite student.

In rage of vengeance, Drupad performed a yagya and produced a son named Drishtadyumna who was declared as the slayer of Drona.

Drawn by Mrinal Rai He also got a daughter named Draupadi whom later Arjun won in her Swayamvar. But later she was married to all the five pandav brothers. Drupad was happy that he became father-in-law of the greatest warriors.

Though Drishtadyumna was destined to kill Drona, he was sent by his father to Dronacharya himself to learn archery.

Drawn by Mrinal Rai Drupad knew that Drona was the best teacher for archery in the world. Drona, though having full knowledge that Drishtadyumna will kill him one day, accepted him as his student because he was his friend's son.

The eldest Kaurav son, Duryodhan was jealous of his cousins Pandavas and he invited all his pandav brothers once for the game of dice. He wickedly defeats them and wins their kingdom and their wife Draupadi. She was brought in the assembly hall of Hastinapur by dragging through hair. She pleads to Drona, "Hey Acharya Drona, you are my father's friend. Please save me from these evil souls here. Being the closest person to my father, is it not your duty to save me?"

Drawn by Mrinal Rai But Drona was helpless. He could not oppose the king's sons, even though he was their teacher, because he was indebted by Hastinapur kingdom.

The humiliation of Draupadi brought about a war between Pandavas and the Kauravas in Kurukshetra. This war once again brought Dronacharya along with his son Ashwatthama face to face to confront Drupad and his son Drishtadyumna.

Drawn by Mrinal Rai Drona had to aid the Kuaravas side because of his duty towards Hastinapur while Drishtadyumna was the commander in chief from the pandavas side. After the fall of Bheeshma, Dronacharya became the commander in chief from the Kauravas side.

On the 15th day of the war, the great duel between Drona and Drupad was fought. Before the war, Drona sked Drupad, “This is our final chance to meet each other Drupad, lets greet each other”. But Drupad replied, “You are not even worthy of my greetings, Drona”. Drona destroyed Drupad's bow and mace. They fought with swords then, and after a long battle, Drona struck the sword in the chest of his friend Drupad killing him.

Drawn by Mrinal Rai

On the same day, when Drona became invincible in the battle then on the advice of Krishna, the clever charioteer of Arjun, false news of Ashwatthama's death was given to Dronacharya. This made him disheartened and he dropped his weapons. He sat down in the battlefield in yoga position. It was then the vengeful Drishtadyumna came from behind and cut off Drona's head.

Drawn by Mrinal Rai After the war of that day got over, the dead body of Drupad was lying on the field and his crown dropped a little above his head to match the crownless head of his friend Drona lying very close to his body.

drawn by Mrinal Rai Thus there remained no difference between the friends. Both were sharing their belongings (of eternal glory of great warriors lying dead in the battlefield) equally as once told by Drupad.

(All the drawings in the post are drawn by me as part of rough sketches for my book "Kurukshetra Yuddha". You can buy the book from here: Flipkart: http://www.flipkart.com/kurukshetra-yuddha-hindi/p/itmddzresspczjwa... Pothi: http://pothi.com/pothi/book/mrinal-rai-kurukshetra-yuddha) Posted by MR at 11:00 PM Labels: battle, difference between friends, Draped, Dronacharya, Friendship, jealousy, mahabharat, mythology,teacher, Teachers day, war Followers

Drupada (Sanskrit: द्रुपद, lit. firm-footed or pillar[1]), also known as Yagnasena (Sanskrit: यज्ञसेन, lit. father of Draupadi), is a character in the Mahābhārata. The son of King Prishata, he was the king of the land of Southern Panchala.[2] His capital was known as Kampilya.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drupada

Family

• Family Prishata (father) and Vishakha (mother)
• Spouse Kokila Devi
• Children Shikhandi, Satyajit, Dhrishtadyumna, Draupadi

Drupada performed the Putrakameshti yajna to beget a son who could slay Drona. From the fire of the yajna, twins Dhrishtadyumna and Draupadi are born. Years later, Draupadi married Arjuna and later in the Mahabharata war, Dhrishtadyumna beheaded Drona.

Different versions of the Mahabharata portray Drupada's family differently. Most versions name Satyajit, Dhristadyumna, Shikhandi (or Shikhandini), and Draupadi as his children. Uttamaujas and Yudhamanyu are often mentioned as two sons of Drupada who are the protectors of Arjuna's chariot. The Chatahurduri compilation mentions that Drupada has twelve sons, naming in addition to the aforementioned children: Kumar, Vrika, Panchalya, Suratha, Shatrunjaya.[9] Janmejaya is the nephew of Drupada, and father-in-law of Prativindhya. Notably, Satyajit's eventually ascends to Panchal's throne having eschewed the Kurukshetra War (some versions have Satyajit fighting and dying in the war with Prativindhya's or Sutasoma's son ascending the throne), Shikhandi was instrumental in the death of Bhishma, and Uttamaujas and Yudhamanyu protected Arjuna's chariot throughout the war. Dhrishtadyumna, Shikandi, Yudhamanyu, and Uttamaujas are killed by Ashwatthama on the last day of the war.[9]