Garlic Giant

A little known fact about Draupadi in the tale of the Mahabharata was her intense love of garlic. Garlic was often regarded as a stimulant that warms the body and increases one's desires. Draupadi actually threatened to not take part in the Swayamvara hosted by her father Drupada if he did not offer garlic. Drupada did not want to disappoint his daughter and did everything in his power to appease her.

Drupada sent for his servants to visit the market and collect all the garlic they could and to return to him. Hours passed and Drupada was greeted with empty-handed subjects. Drupada was confused and stated,

"Where is the garlic? That was my only request!"

The silence mounted, until his question was finally answered.

"Sir, there is no garlic."

Drupada was instantly overcame with anger. "How can this be? The crops were harvested just days ago."

Silence once again rose, but this time there was no answer. It remained quiet for some time. Drupada dismissed all of his servants. He now had to come up with an idea how to get some garlic and ultimately allow for the Swayamvara to happen.

Drupada summoned fifteen couriers to go to the surrounding towns and villages to seek garlic. Drupada was determined to satisfy his daughter. Days went by and there was still no return or even a word of the couriers. A full week passed and nothing had changed. Karna having heard of these troubles confronted Drupada and offered to collect garlic from giant in the jungle. Karna was determined to gather the garlic as he was very interested in Draupadi, and in order for a chance of marriage with her he had to first get the garlic. Drupada instantly accepted and sent Karna on his way.

Karna began to prepare for his venture deep into the jungle in search of garlic. He gathered his weapons for any potential danger and set off into the jungle that same day. Karna spent the rest of the day wandering the jungle, not sure of where to look for garlic. Remembering stories that he heard as a child of garlic giants he decides that it is his best bet. The night started to fall quickly and Karna set up camp for the night. Karna was slow to fall asleep as his mind was fixed on getting the garlic for Draupadi. Hours pass and Karna finally fell asleep.

Suddenly, during the middle of the night Karna awoke to the sound of loud footsteps that shook the very ground he laid on. He is alarmed by the very familiar and pungent smell of garlic. Karna still in his daze slowly pieced the parts together and realized his luck. Karna quickly grabs his spear and takes after the giant. The giant was instantly alerted to Karna's presence. The two locked eyes. Karna noticed a wreath of garlic around the giant's neck. The giant was overcome with anger seeing a human in his jungle and charged straight at Karna. Karna was able to swiftly sidestep and poke the giant in the thigh with his spear. The giant let out a roar in anguish. Karna was quick to follow and attacked again, but this time through the heart of the giant. The giant promptly fell flat on his back. Karna ripped the wreath of garlic off the giant's neck, and immediately headed back to Drupada.

Karna returned to town at the break of daylight and went directly towards Drupada's quarters, still covered in blood. Drupada awoke with Karna standing over him. The sight under normal circumstances would have been alarming, but Drupada knew this meant Karna had been successful. Drupada quickly rose to his feet and gave Karna a hug.

Author's Note: The premise of my storybook was to talk a little about spices and flowers, and in this instance I tried to highlight that garlic was important by revising the story of Draupadi's Swayamvara. I highlighted this by saying she would not have her Swayamvara if she could not have garlic. This was a little strange of a request, but I think it adds a crazy element to the story. I also chose to use Karna as the main character of this story because he was a very interesting one. In some version of the Mahabharata, not the traditional version, he was able to complete the challenges of the Draupadi's Swayamvara. Due to this I felt making Karna even more interested in Draupadi adds more drama to the story, because it would lead the reader to some assumptions about Karna and Draupadi. As we also learned from the Mahabharata Karna does not end up marrying due to his class, and this adds more layers to the drama. Karna was also a good choice for the main character as he was noted for his strength, courage, and selflessness. Drupada was also very involved in this story because he plays a very important role as he was the father of Draupadi. The idea of the garlic giant was inspired by the giants that are seen in these epics.