Vaisampayana said, “These great warriors of the race of Bharata sojourned
like immortals in the great forest of Kamyaka, employed in hunting and
pleased with the sight of numerous wild tracts of country and wide
reaches of woodland, gorgeous with flowers blossoming in season. And the
sons of Pandu, each like unto Indra and the terror of his enemies, dwelt
there for some time. And one day those valiant men, the conquerors of
their foes, went about in all directions in search of game for feeding
the Brahmanas in their company, leaving Draupadi alone at the hermitage,
with the permission of the great ascetic Trinavindu, resplendent with
ascetic grandeur, and of their spiritual guide Dhaumya. Meanwhile, the
famous king of Sindhu, the son of Vriddhakshatra was, with a view to
matrimony, proceeding to the kingdom of Salwa, dressed in his best royal
apparel and accompanied by numerous princes. And the prince halted in the
woods of Kamyaka. And in that secluded place, he found the beautiful
Draupadi, the beloved and celebrated wife of the Pandavas, standing at
the threshold of the hermitage. And she looked grand in the superb beauty
of her form, and seemed to shed a lustre on the woodland around, like
lightning illuminating masses of dark clouds. And they who saw her asked
themselves, ‘Is this an Apsara, or a daughter of the gods, or a celestial
phantom?’ And with this thought, their hands also joined together. They
stood gazing on the perfect and faultless beauty of her form. And
Jayadratha, the king of Sindhu, and the son of Vriddhakshatra, struck
with amazement at the sight of that lady of faultless beauty, was seized
with an evil intention. And inflamed with desire, he said to the prince
named Kotika, ‘Whose is this lady of faultless form? Is she of the human
kind? I have no need to marry if I can secure this exquisitely beautiful
creature. Taking her with me, I shall go back to my abode, Oh sir, and
enquire who she is and whence she has come and why also that delicate
being hath come into this forest beset with thorns. Will this ornament of
womankind, this slender-waisted lady of so much beauty, endued with
handsome teeth and large eyes, accept me as her lord? I shall certainly
regard myself successful, if I obtain the hand of this excellent lady.
Go, Kotika, and enquire who her husband may be.’ Thus asked, Kotika,
wearing a kundala, jumped out of his chariot and came near her, as a
jackal approacheth a tigress, and spake unto her these words.’”