While visiting Ekachakra, which city they freed from
a frightful rakshasa, they were informed by the sage Vyasa that Draupadi,
the lovely daughter of the Raja Draupada of Panchala, was going to hold a
Svayamvara in order to select a husband. The suitors of a princess
frequently attended a meeting of this sort and took part in various
athletic contests, at the end of which the princess signified who was most
pleasing to her, usually the victor in the games, by hanging around his
neck a garland of flowers.
Vyasa's description of the lovely princess, whose black eyes were large as
lotus leaves, whose skin was dusky, and her locks dark and curling, so
excited the curiosity of the Pandavas that they determined to attend the
Svayamvara. They found the city full of princes and kings who had come to
take part in the contest for the most beautiful woman in the world. The
great amphitheatre in which the games were to take place was surrounded by
gold and jewelled palaces for the accommodation of the princes, and with
platforms for the convenience of the spectators.
After music, dancing, and various entertainments, which occupied sixteen
days, the contest of skill began. On the top of a tall pole, erected in
the plain, was placed a golden fish, below which revolved a large wheel.
He who sent his arrow through the spokes of the wheel and pierced the eye
of the golden fish was to be the accepted suitor of Draupadi.
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