The Draupadi Vastrapaharaṇa
Draupadī (Draupadī — daughter of Drupada, also called Kṛṣṇā, Pāñcālī, Yājñasenī) was won by Arjuna at her svayaṃvara and became the common wife of all five Pāṇḍavas. When Yudhiṣṭhira lost her in a dice game to Duryodhana, she was dragged into the royal assembly. Duryodhana ordered her sari to be removed publicly by Duḥśāsana.
Draupadī tried first to appeal to dharma — questioning how she could be wagered at all. Getting no help, she finally threw up her arms in despair, released all her grip on her own sari, and cried out to Kṛṣṇa: "Govinda! Govinda! Dāmodara! Mādhava!" The moment she surrendered, Kṛṣṇa miraculously provided an endless flow of cloth — Duḥśāsana could not strip her no matter how he pulled.
The Prapatti Teaching
This episode is the Itihāsa (epic-scriptural) paradigm of prapatti:
- She struggled by her own effort (arguing about dharma) — got nowhere
- She finally released all reliance on herself and human systems
- She cried out to the Lord alone — ananya śaraṇatā (no other refuge)
- The Lord responded immediately
The moment she stopped holding her sari (released the last attachment to her own self-protection) was the moment Kṛṣṇa's protection began. This is the teaching of kārpaṇya (helplessness) as the precondition of prapatti.
Pillai Lokācārya cites the Draupadī episode in the Mumukṣuppadi and Śrīvacana Bhūṣaṇam as a scriptural example of how the Lord responds to unconditional surrender.