Drōpadī: From Sanskrit Epic to Modern Oḍiā Fiction

In the chronicles of Indian culture and literature, Drōpadī transcends her status as a mere mythical figure; she stands as a formidable emblem of women's empowerment and unyielding social defiance. This research treatise delivers a penetrating comparative dissection of the psychological metamorphosis in Drōpadī's character, commencing from Sage Byāsa's primordial Mahābhārata, traversing Śūdramuni Sāral̥ā Dās's 'Sāral̥ā Mahābhārata', and culminating in Pratibhā Rāy's 'Yājñasenī'. Where Byāsa's Drōpadī emerges as an indomitable 'Agnismbhabā’ (fire-born) warrior who brazenly confronts patriarchal dominion, Sāral̥ā Dās weaves her essence into the earthy fabric of Odisha's soil, rustic existence, and profound human sensitivities, bestowing a starkly realistic incarnation. In contemporary times, Dr. Pratibhā Rāy, through her novel 'Yājñasenī', elevates Drōpadī to an autonomous sovereign self, wielding a feminist lens to haul society's entrenched patriarchal ethos into the merciless tribunal of critique. Across epochs, Oḍiā literature has masterfully channelled Drōpadī's archetype to etch the intricate tapestry of women's existential warfare, their awakened claim to sovereignty, and the raw contours of societal realities with exquisite subtlety