(Vaivahika Parva continued)
"Vaisampayana said, 'Then all the Pandavas and the illustrious king of the
Panchalas and all others there present stood up and saluted with reverence
the illustrious Rishi Krishna (Dwaipayana). The high-souled Rishi,
saluting them in return and enquiring after their welfare, sat down on a
carpet of gold. And commanded by Krishna (Dwaipayana) of immeasurable
energy, those foremost of men all sat down on costly seats. A little after,
O monarch, the son of Prishata in sweet accents asked the illustrious
Rishi about the wedding of his daughter. And he said, "How, O illustrious
one, can one woman become the wife of many men without being defiled by
sin? O, tell me truly all about this." Hearing these words Vyasa replied,
"This practice, O king, being opposed to usage and the Vedas, hath become
obsolete. I desire, however, to hear what the opinion of each of you is
upon this matter."
"'Hearing these words of the Rishi, Drupada spoke first, saying, "The
practice is sinful in my opinion, being opposed to both usage and the
Vedas. O best of Brahmanas, nowhere have I seen many men having one wife.
The illustrious ones also of former ages never had such a usage amongst
them. The wise should never commit a sin. I, therefore, can never make up
mind to act in this way. This practice always appeareth to me to be of
doubtful morality."
"'After Drupada had ceased, Dhrishtadyumna spoke, saying "O bull amongst
Brahmanas, O thou of ascetic wealth, how can, O Brahmana, the elder
brother, if he is of a good disposition, approach the wife of his younger
brother? The ways of morality are ever subtle, and, therefore, we know
them not. We cannot, therefore, say what is conformable to morality and
what not. We cannot do such a deed, therefore, with a safe conscience.
Indeed, O Brahmana, I cannot say, 'Let Draupadi become the common wife of
five brothers.'"
"'Yudhishthira then spoke, saying, "My tongue never uttereth an untruth and
my heart never inclineth to what is sinful. When my heart approveth of it,
it can never be sinful. I have heard in the Purana that a lady of name
Jatila, the foremost of all virtuous women belonging to the race of Gotama
had married seven Rishis. So also an ascetic's daughter, born of a tree,
had in former times united herself in marriage with ten brothers all
bearing the same name of Prachetas and who were all of souls exalted by
asceticism. O foremost of all that are acquainted with the rules of
morality, it is said that obedience to superior is ever meritorious.
Amongst all superiors, it is well-known that the mother is the foremost.
Even she hath commanded us to enjoy Draupadi as we do anything obtained as
alms. It is for this, O best of Brahmanas, that I regard the (proposed)
act as virtuous."
"'Kunti then said, "The act is even so as the virtuous Yudhishthira hath
said. I greatly fear, O Brahmana, lest my speech should become untrue. How
shall I be saved from untruth?"
"'When they had all finished speaking, Vyasa said, "O amiable one, how
shall thou be saved from the consequence of untruth? Even this is eternal
virtue! I will not, O king of the Panchalas, discourse on this before you
all. But thou alone shalt listen to me when I disclose how this practice
hath been established and why it is to be regarded as old and eternal.
There is no doubt that what Yudhishthira hath said is quite conformable to
virtue."'
"Vaisampayana continued, 'Then the illustrious Vyasa--the master
Dwaipayana--rose, and taking hold of Drupada's hand led him to a private
apartment. The Pandavas and Kunti and Dhrishtadyumna of Prishata's race
sat there, waiting for the return of Vyasa and Drupada. Meanwhile,
Dwaipayana began his discourse with illustrious monarch for explaining how
the practice of polyandry could not be regarded as sinful.'"