Question

Draupadi is supposed to have asked Yudhisthira whether he had lost himself before staking her. Two contrary opinions were expressed in response to this question. One, that even if Yudhisthira had lost himself earlier, his wife remained under his control, so he could stake her. Two, that an unfree man (as Yudhisthira was when he had lost himself) could not stake another person. The matter remained unresolved; ultimately, Dhritarashtra restored to the Pandavas and Draupadi their personal freedom.

Do you think that this episode suggests that wives could be treated as the property of their husbands?

Answer 1

Yes, this episode strongly suggests that in early Indian society, wives were widely treated as the personal property of their husbands, although Draupadi’s sharp question reveals that this patriarchal norm was legally contested and morally challenged.