Episode 26 Drupada - Pride and Retribution
Drona is now prepared to undertake the task for which he's worked so hard to train the Bharata boys: revenge upon his childhood friend Drupada for his rejection of him.
Notes
Our text is inconsistent on the question of when Karna actually meets the Pandavas. In one passage, it states that he, like the Bharata children, trained with Drona, and was always envious of Arjuna. (I.122.64) Other passages represent him entering the stage at the tournament. Which one is it, or is it possible to reconcile the two accounts? To me it seems less credible that Karna would have been a school mate and participated in the same events as Arjuna without having attracted attention earlier. We’ve already witnessed Drona’s rejection of Ekalavya on the basis of the boy’s humble background, not to mention Drona’s intolerance of one who might threaten Arjuna’s status as the greatest warrior, so it seems unlikely that he would have been sanguine about training Karna, who moreover would have been several years older. The more likely scenario is that Arjuna was the uncontested king of the roost until the tournament, when Karna crashes the scene to challenge him.
Why does the queen miss the birth of her children? Simon Brodbeck offers an analysis that may or not be persuasive; etymologically, Queen Prsati should be Drupada’s close relative rather than wife: “Who is the devī or rājñī – the ‘queen’ or ‘goddess’? Her name, Pṛṣatī, is a patronymic from the name of Drupada’s father Pṛṣata. Drupada is also called Pārṣata, ‘son of Pṛṣata’ (e.g., at 1.188.4b), and Monier-Williams says that Pṛṣatī is equivalent to Pārṣatī, ‘the daughter of Pṛishata’ (Monier-Williams1899: 647 col.2). Thus Pṛṣatī would not be Drupada’s wife, but his sister, daughter, or niece. Her appointment to her role is not narrated as Yāja’s is to his. In any case, the son is for Drupada.” (2)
Suggested Reading:
Brodbeck, Simon. "Daśaratha’s Horse Sacrifice in the Rāmāyaṇa." Orientalia Suecana 69 (2020): 1-28.
Jamison, Stephanie W. Sacrificed wife/sacrificer's wife: Women, ritual, and hospitality in ancient India. Oxford University Press on Demand, 1996.