This episode of Mahabharata begins with Indra scolding Urvashi and forcing her to restrict her impotence curse for just one year. Indra mitigates it further by allowing Arjun to choose the year - preferably for the year the Pandavas will have to remain incognito. At the same time, Krishna advises Subhadra to not restrict Abhimanyu practicing archery - because he will become famous for being the youngest warrior prince of the Kurukshetra War. And that on one particular day, his actions will make him legendary.
Meanwhile, Jayadrath, Duryodhan’s brother-in-law is arriving from the Sindhu kingdom in present day Sindh province of Pakistan. He is supposed to accompany Duryodhan to a swayamvar in the Shalva kingdom. But while Jayadrath is passing through the jungle, he spots Draupadi carrying a pot of water. He alights from his chariot for a friendly chat, but then turns lustful and kidnaps her. When a worried Yudhistir sends Bhim and Arjun to search for her, they find her broken pot, her footprints and horse hoof prints. A passerby informs them that he saw a king in a chariot ride off with a woman struggling to break free off his grip. Arjun and Bhim run in pursuit.
Arjun cuts off their escape route with a fire arrow, then picks off Jayadrath’s mounted soldiers one by one. A panicked Jayadrath lets go of Draupadi and runs - straight into the fists of an enraged Bhim. Bhim roundly thrashes Jayadrath, but Arjun prevents him from snapping his neck. They haul Jayadrath over to Yudhistir to be judged.
Back at the hut, four Pandavas demand Jayadrath’s execution. Yudhistir however, lets Draupadi decide his fate. Draupadi sentences Jayadrath to become their slave and for his head to be shaved except for five follicles. After the tonsure, Yudhistir sets him free.
Duryodhan starts to wrestle with his own mortality. Yuyuts, a younger Kaurava brings up all of Duryodhan’s past sins, causing an angry Duryodhan to almost kill him.
Tropes found here are
- Abduction Is Love: Why Jayadrath kidnaps Draupadi.
- Arrows on Fire: Arjun uses one (it is actually an Elemental Weapon) to create a fiery Road Block and cut off Jayadrath’s escape.
- Character Development: Draupadi who spent the previous six episodes ranting and fulminating about her molestation, now spares Jayadrath because she doesn’t want to hurt Dushala, the Kauravas’ sister by inflicting widowhood onto her. This shows that she is once again learning to be compassionate.
- Yudhistir who prattled on about forgiveness realizes that some crimes are so vile, that they need to be punished. So, he lets Draupadi decide Jayadrath’s fate.
- Charlie Brown Baldness / Cool and Unusual Punishment: Jayadrath is sentenced for his head to be shaved except for five follicles.
- Cruel Mercy: Jayadrath is set free, but has to endure the indignity of a tonsured head.
- Curse Escape Clause: A livid Indra forces Urvashi to restrict her impotence curse on Arjun to just one year - and even allows Arjun to choose the year.
- Damsel in Distress: Draupadi.
- Detectives Follow Footprints: Bhim and Arjun aren’t sleuths but they are trying to find a missing Draupadi. They find her broken pot and her footprints intersecting with hoof prints, implying that she was taken by someone on a chariot.
- Dirty Coward: After his soldiers fall to Arjun’s arrows, Jayadrath just bolts away. Draupadi even calls him a coward. He doesn’t get far though.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Brahma’s admonition to Arjun to not test fire the Pashupatastra sounds very much like the rhetoric used against nuclear testing.
- Foreshadowing: Krishna tells Subhadra that her son Abhimanyu will achieve legend status in one day. For obvious reasons, Krishna leaves out the fact that Abhimanyu will die a horrible death on that day too.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Jayadrath is about a mile away. Arjun still cuts down his cavalrymen with arrows fired from afar.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Administered to Jayadrath by Bhim.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Indra castigates Urvashi for cursing Arjun, saying that she has no right to demand affection from someone.
- Token Good Kaurava: Yuyuts.
- Traumatic Haircut: Inflicted on Jayadrath by Bhim at Draupadi’s insistence.
- Vehicular Kidnapping: A horse drawn chariot being the vehicle in this instance.
