The news of Draupadi's svayamvara spread far and wide, and numerous princes, as well as the general public including brahmanas, began proceeding towards Panchala. It so happened that the Pandavas also began their journey toward Panchala at this time along with their mother, Kunti. As they were on their way toward Panchala they were met by a large group of brahmanas on their way to Panchala, who invited Pandavas to join them.[26]
Drupada intended to wed his daughter to Arjuna. Upon hearing of the Pandavas' supposed death at Varnavata, he set up a Swayamvara contest for Draupadi to choose her husband from the competitive contest.[27] The test was to lift and string a bow, and fire arrows to pierce the eye of a golden fish only by looking at its reflection in the water. At the Swayamvara, almost all the assorted monarchs were unable to complete the challenge. There are some variations regarding Karna's participation. Some renditions show Draupadi refusing to marry Karna on account of being a Suta, while some other versions describe him failing to string the bow by the "breadth of a hair".[28][29][30] [note 1]
In the end, Arjuna succeeds in the task, dressed as a Brahmin. The other attendees, including the Kauravas and Karna protest at a Brahmin winning the competition and attack Draupadi and Arjuna. Arjuna and Bhima together protect Draupadi by defeating all attendees and are able to retreat. Arjuna, along with Draupadi and his brothers, runs home to tell Kunti of his success, shouting "look what we have found". Kunti thought he was referring to alms found in the forest or to some great prize unknown to her. She tells Arjuna that the find must be shared with his brothers, as they had always shared such things in the past. This misunderstanding, combined with a motherly command, leads to an agreement that all five brothers marry her. This is one of the rare examples of polyandry in Sanskrit literature.[31][3] Thus, begins the unique journey of Draupadi with five husbands.. The brothers agreed that none should intrude if Draupadi was alone with one of the others, the penalty for doing so being 12 years to be spent in exile.[31][32] Some versions say that a year was allotted to each Pandava and during that year only that Pandava could enter Draupadi's private chambers, while the others have no such mention.
Later Draupadi becomes a mother of five sons, one son each from the Pandava brothers. They were known as Upapandavas. Their names were Prativindhya (from Yudhishthira), Sutasoma (from Bheema), Shrutakarma (from Arjuna), Satanika (from Nakula) and Shrutasena (from Sahadeva).[33] Ashwatthama killed the Upapandavas during his surprise raid on Pandava camp on the eighteenth day of the war to avenge the death of his father Drona.[34]