Duryodhana had a sister named Dushala. When she grew up, she was married to Jayadratha, king of Sindhu and Sauveer. After Arjuna had returned with the divine weapons, all the Pandavas with Draupadi began to live in Kamyaka forest. One day, all the Pandavas went deep into the forest on purpose. Only Draupadi and a maid were present in the hermitage. Near by there was a hermitage of sage Dhaumya who was engrossed in meditation. Passing through Kamyaka forest Jayadratha was on his way to Shalva kingdom. All of a sudden, he saw Draupadi in the forest.
He was struck by her beauty and, not recognising her, he sent his friend Kotikasaya to find out who she was. Learning her identity, he invited her to come with him. Draupadi was furious. But Jayadratha forcibly abducted her and pushed her into his chariot.
Draupadi’s screams brought sage Dhaumya out of his hut. Sage Dhaumya gave a hot chase to Jayadratha’s chariot. But he couldn’t stop Jayadratha’s chariot.
The Pandavas returned soon and heard of the incident from Draupadi’s maid.
Aghast at Jayadratha’s misdeed, Bhima and Arjuna went after him. The two Pandavas knew very well the dense forest. They soon caught up with Jayadratha. As Jayadratha saw Bhima and Arjuna approaching, he made a desperate attempt to save his own life by flinging Draupadi out of the chariot. Enraged at seeing Draupadi’s plight, Bhima would have killed him. But then, he captured Jayadratha and took him to Yudhishthira. Draupadi spoke out thus, “Have you all married me to see insulted by one and all?” Hearing the words Bhima again moved forward to kill Jayadratha but Yudhishthira pacified him saying that he was their sister Dushala’s husband.
Yudhishthira further stated that Draupadi would decide the punishment for Jayadratha. Though Draupadi was very angry, she respected Yudhishthira.
So, she said that Jayadratha’s head be shaven leaving five tufts of hair. This punishment was carried out and he was set free to return to his kingdom.
Jayadratha left the hermitage seething with anger and humiliation. He had lost his soldiers. His head was shaven except for leaving five tufts of hair. How would he explain this to his wife and family?
He could not return to Hastinapur or to his own kingdoms till his hair grew back. He forgot that he himself was responsible for his plight. Reaching Gangadwar, he decided to meditate upon Lord Shiva and seek a boon from him to avenge his humiliation. Pleased with it, Lord Shiva appeared before him to grant him a boon. Jayadratha requested that he wanted to defeat the five Pandavas and their soldiers in a battle.
Lord Shiva told him that he had already given the Pashupatastra to Arjuna. Besides, they couldn’t be defeated, supported by Krishna. So, Jayadratha would be able to block the path of the four Pandava brothers, except Arjuna, for one day only during the battle. Jayadratha had to be satisfied with this and returned to his own palace.
Jayadratha used his boon in the battle of Kurukshetra when Abhimanyu had entered the Chakravyuha. Jayadratha blocked the path of the four Pandava brothers and stopped them from entering. Arjuna was engaged in another battle at that time.
