The Game
The dice game had gone catastrophically wrong. Yudhishthira, controlled by his addiction and unable to stop, had lost his kingdom, his treasury, his four brothers as slaves, himself as a slave — and then, one last time, he staked Draupadi.
He lost.
Dushasana went to Draupadi's chambers. She was menstruating, in white, her hair unbound. He grabbed her hair and dragged her into the great assembly hall.
The Assembly's Silence
The hall was full: Dhritarashtra, Bhishma, Drona, Vidura, Karna, Duryodhana. The elders sat in silence. Draupadi asked a question that none of them could answer satisfactorily: had Yudhishthira staked her before or after he had already lost himself? If he had no rights over himself, how could he stake her?
No one gave a clear answer.
Dushasana began pulling her sari.
Krishna's Intervention
Draupadi stopped arguing with the assembly. She raised her arms and called on Krishna.
She said: "Govinda. Govinda. I am sinking. I have no one but you."
Dushasana pulled. The cloth extended. He pulled more. It extended more. He piled the cloth in coils around him, pulling without end. The sari grew and grew and would not finish.
Eventually Dushasana collapsed, exhausted. Draupadi was unharmed.
The assembly sat in shame. Dhritarashtra, frightened of consequences, restored the Pandavas and Draupadi to freedom.