The painting portrays one of the most significant events of the great Indian classic the Mahabharata, preceding the birth of Christ by six-five hundred years, the turning point in the great epic leading to the Great War : the Mahabharata, as the term literally means and the great epic recounts. From the realistic treatment of the legend most scholars feel that the Great War was a true event that took place sometimes during immemorial past between the descendants of Pandu, known as Pandavas, and Kuru, known as Kauravas, both of the same clan ruling Hastinapura, one of the principal Janapadas those days. Persuaded by the clan’s seniors Dhratarashtra, the Kaurava king, had divided Hastinapura to resolve the dispute between his sons and Pandavas. The new land was Pandavas’ kingdom which they named Indraprastha.

When Pandavas’ guest at Indraprastha, Duryodhana, heir-apparent of Hastinapura and the ambitious and jealous son of Dhratarashtra, could not bear the glory of Indraprastha and for usurping it conspired with his maternal uncle Shakuni to win from Pandavas their state in gambling. Pandavas were invited to Hastinapura and, as planned, Yudhishthara was invited to the gambling table, Shakuni, adept in mal-casting dices to yield desired numbers, cast dices in Duryodhana’s behalf and one after the other Yudhishthara lost in stake his state, all belongings including his and his brothers’ costumes and finally Draupadi, their wife. For avenging his insult by Draupadi during her ‘Swayamvara’ – wedding by the bride’s own choice, Duryodhana ordered first his servants and then his younger brother Dushasana to drag her to the court, strip her of her clothes and seat her nude on his thighs. Dushasana dragged Draupadi by her hair but when stripping her of her sari, it turned endless leaving a sweating Dushasana with a pale face and a pile of cloth. Finding every tongue dumb Draupadi meditated on Krishna for help and by his divine power Krishna expanded her sari not to ever end. Except an enraged Bhima who declared to tear in the battlefield Dushasana’s breast for his blood and smash Duryodhana’s thigh Pandavas accepted the result of the game.

The painting illustrates the event very powerfully and fully elaborating the context. It portrays Draupadi, the young woman in the foreground, looking skywards with her right hand raised invoking Lord Krishna who appears in the high skies like the divine lustre. Below in the foreground Dushasana, costumed in blue, is pulling Draupadi’s sari using the entire energy of his body and mind but becoming endless he fails to remove it from her body. Completely exhausted Dushasana almost falls on the ground. Mythically an abstract aspect of the event, the painting represents Lord Krishna in an anthropomorphic form releasing in an endless flow a sari that keeps draped Draupadi’s figure disabling Dushasana from undraping it. Close to them are seated five Pandavas, stripped of their clothes, an ashamed Yudhishthara with his downcast head, an agitated Bhima with a raised mace, and dismayed Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. On the Draupadi’s right lay baskets containing gems, ornaments, crowns of all five Pandavas, heaps of gold coins and weapons that Yudhishthara staked and lost in gambling.

The elevated platform on the right is the witness of Pandavas’ losing their state, all belongings, even their wife and honour, and the Kurus, their prestige and righteousness. Here is laid the ‘chaupara’ : the board of playing the game of dice, which stripped Pandavas of everything and led finally to the Great War culminating in the loss of hundreds of most precious mighty warriors and thousands of lives. On the ‘simhasana’ – throne, is seated the blind king Dhratarashtra with his wife Gandhari with a band of cloth bound on her eyes. On Dhratarashtra’s right is seated the great grandfather Bhishma, and on the other side, an attendant with her eyes covered with her palm. She is symbolic of those in the court who disproved Duryodhana’s act. Just below Dhratarashtra is seated Vidura, on his right Shakuni with his hand extended towards ‘chaupara’, and on extreme right the young prince Duryodhana. On Vidura’s left are seated Karna and Vikarna, and behind them are the bearded figures of Dronacharya and Kripacharya. In the last row, on the left of Dronacharya and Kripacharya, there are Vivinshati, Chitrasena, Satyavrata, and Jaya.

This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of literature and is the author of numerous books on Indian art and culture. Dr. Daljeet is the curator of the Miniature Painting Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi. They have both collaborated together on a number of books.