Dharamaraja Yudhishthira, Who gave you the right to gamble me out?

 In the Mahabharata, Yudhishthira and his four brothers were the rulers of Indraprastha. Being an elder of the Pandavas, Yudhishthira was a nominated king of Indraprastha and Draupadi a queen. Dhritarashtra's son Duryodhana, the prince of empire Hastinapur, was frying himself in the pan of jealous with the fuel of Pandavas`s name, fame, wealth and Indraprastha.

To drag the Pandavas`s status from the zenith to nadir, Duryodhana took the help of his maternal uncle Shakuni. Shakuni came with a sly plan to invite the meek Pandavas to Hastinapur and challenge them for the gambling. Shakuni was a skilled gambler, and Yudhishthira was a neophyte.

As expected, Yudhishthira lost all his wealth and kingdom one by one. After losing the material wealth, he put his brothers one by one and lost them too. At last, he put himself at stake and lost. All the Pandavas were now the slaves of Kauravas.

According to the rule, Kauravas could do anything with their slaves. Even that much of humiliation was not enough for Shakuni. He reminded Yudhishthira – “You have not lost everything yet, you have Draupadi to put at stake and chance to win everything back”.

Yudhishthira walked into the trap and to the horror of everybody present, put Draupadi as a bet for the next round. However, Bhishma and Drona opposed this move recalling that a queen being a woman cannot be put at stake. Yudhishthira ignored their call and put her at stake much to the ire of Bhishma, who in his frustration broke his chair.

Shakuni won. Duryodhana commanded his younger brother Dushasana to drag Draupadi forcefully into the forum. Dushasana barged into the living quarters of Draupadi, who was "clad in one piece of attire"^. Dushasana grabbed her by the hair and brought her into the court dragging her by the hair.

Yudhishthira gambled away not only his own share of Indraprastha but also the shares of his younger brothers without their consent. He gambled away his brothers along with himself. Moreover, he gambled away Draupadi without her consent.

Draupadi repeatedly questioned the legality of the right of Yudhishthira to place her at stake who himself had lost his all kingdom and freedom. How can a slave put something at stake? Everyone in the court was dumbfounded.

Duryodhana ordered his younger brother Dushasana to disrobe her in the court before everyone. Draupadi repeatedly asked for the justification of the right of Yudhishthira to put her at stake. She kept crying and begging for the safety of her modesty and the right. No one had any answer for it.

Vikrana, one of the Kauravas, objected the act of Dushasan with Draupadi in the court. He appealed the assembly for the answer of the question of the right raised by Draupadi, but went in vain. Vidura also raised the same concern, but of no use.

After many words of reconciliation between Pandavas and Dhritarashtra, Pandavas got their kingdom along with Draupadi and their entourage. Later, Shakuni, Karna, and Duryodhana convinced Dhritarashtra to invite Pandavas for a new game of dice with some modified rules.

Once again, Yudhishthira lost and Pandavas were sent into forest exile for twelve years and one year in incognito. Dharamaraja Yudhisthira did the same mistake of playing the game of dice for the second time, in which he was not good. It is considered one of the driving factors of the Mahabharata war.

Duryodhana ordered his younger brother Dushasan to disrobe Draupadi. Because he "owned" her and she was his slave. Karna called Draupadi a whore. According to Svetaketu rule, at that time, a woman could have up to four husbands. Draupadi had five husbands, according to that rule, Karna called her a whore.

That was the reason – Kunti refused to beget any more child after Arjun as she had already begotten four children from four gods including Karna from Sun, although, Karna was unknown to Pandu.

  

If Yudhishthira`s act with Draupadi is justified then Kaurava`s act is also justified. Kauravas did not break any rule. They got the right to do whatever they wanted to do with their slaves. Yudhishthira, Duryodhana, and Karna were technically right. But morally...?? Certainly not.

They all followed the norms but not the Dharma. Dharma is related to morality, not merely to the rules and the processes. Both, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, lost their Dharma and stuck only to the norms set by the kingdom.

The question is still alive - Dharamaraja Yudhishthira, who gave you the right to put the lives and property of others at stake without consenting the concerned person?