Karna hurried toward Draupadi the moment he saw her rush out of the hut, with Arjuna following close behind.
Her face was flushed with anger, her eyes reddened, and tears had gathered along her lower lashes.
She looked as though she could barely contain what she was feeling, and before she could take another step, Karna reached her and gently caught her by the arms.
"Draupadi, what happened? Why are you crying?"
She looked at him, but the words seemed trapped in her throat.
Karna's expression tightened as he examined her tearful face. He had promised to protect her, and the sight of her distress stirred a sharp unease within him.
Rather than wait for her to explain, he closed his eyes and invoked his Divya Drishti, allowing his divine vision to trace the events that had unfolded inside the hut.
The clearing around him faded from his awareness, and the past appeared before his inner sight.
When Draupadi had entered the hut with Arjuna and Yudhishthira, Kunti had been standing before the idol of Lord Shiva, performing her puja. A vessel containing milk and honey rested nearby, and she was offering them to the deity with her attention fixed upon the ritual. She had not yet turned to see who had entered.
"Mother," Arjuna announced, unable to hide his excitement, "you will not believe what I have brought today!"
Kunti continued her offering without looking back. "Arjuna, whatever you have brought with you, share it equally with your brothers, as you always do."
The words fell so casually that, for a moment, Arjuna did not understand their meaning.
Then he realized what his mother had said, and the excitement vanished from his face. Draupadi, standing beside him, stared at Kunti in disbelief, while Yudhishthira's expression changed as he understood the consequences of her careless instruction.
"But, Mother..." Yudhishthira began, raising his voice slightly in the hope of making her turn around. "Could you please look at us first?"
"What is there to look at?" Kunti replied firmly. "Did I not tell you what to do? Whatever Arjuna has brought from Kampilya, share it equally among the five of you."
Arjuna took a step forward, his face growing pale.
"Mother, this is not something that can be shared among brothers. It is only..." He stopped, struggling to find the words to explain what had happened without making the situation worse.
Kunti finally raised her voice, mistaking his hesitation for unwillingness to obey.
"Arjuna! Since when have you become so greedy that you refuse to share what you possess with your own brothers? Whatever belongs to you belongs equally to them. Have I not taught you this since childhood?"
"Mother, you are misunderstanding me. What happened was..." Arjuna tried again, but Kunti interrupted him before he could finish.
"Why must you make me repeat myself? Whatever you have brought from Kampilya, you will share it with your brothers. This is my order."
A heavy silence followed.
Yudhishthira stared at his mother, unable to believe that she had issued such an order without even turning around to see what Arjuna had brought. His gaze shifted toward Draupadi, who stood frozen beside his younger brother, the colour draining from her face.
"Mother..." he said, his voice strained. "Arjuna has brought home a daughter-in-law for you."
Kunti turned so abruptly that the vessel beside her nearly slipped from her hand. Her eyes fell upon Draupadi, whose joined hands had begun to tremble. For a moment, Kunti could only stare at the princess, unable to reconcile the sight before her with the command she had just given.
"What have I done?" she whispered.
Yudhishthira looked at her in dismay. "Mother, how could you give such an order without turning around to see what he had brought? You could have looked at us before speaking. You could have asked him what he meant."
Kunti's face lost its colour. She looked from Draupadi to Arjuna, then back at Yudhishthira, her lips parting as she struggled to find a response.
"Son, I... I did not know." Her voice trembled. "I thought he had brought gold or some other gift from Kampilya. I never imagined that he would bring a woman home. Arjuna, I did not mean..."
Arjuna stood motionless, staring at his mother with eyes that had begun to fill with tears. He had returned to the hut with the woman he loved, expecting to share his happiness with his family. Instead, a careless command had placed Draupadi in a position neither of them could have imagined.
"Mother..." His voice broke, and he had to pause before continuing. "The moment you heard that I could not share what I had brought, you should have realized that it was not gold or grain. Have I ever refused to share anything with my brothers? Have I ever kept what I possessed only for myself?"
Kunti lowered her head, unable to meet his gaze.
"How could you order me to share my wife with my brothers?" Arjuna asked, his voice trembling beneath the weight of his distress. "Tell me, Mother. How am I supposed to do that? You have given me an order, and you are my mother. How can I refuse you? But how can I obey you in this?"
Tears slipped down his cheeks. He had faced powerful warriors and fought battles in which a single mistake could cost him his life, yet nothing had prepared him for standing before his mother and asking her how he could obey an order that threatened to destroy the future he had chosen for himself.
Kunti's hands shook as she took a hesitant step toward him.
"Son, please..." she whispered. "I did not know. I would never have said such a thing if I had understood what you meant."
Draupadi, who had remained silent throughout the exchange, finally turned toward Arjuna. Her own eyes had grown wet, but she tried to steady her voice as she addressed him.
"Aryaputra Arjuna, please do not blame Mother Kunti. She spoke without knowing what you had brought, and she did not intend to hurt me. I forgive her for this. Let us treat it as though nothing happened."
Yudhishthira looked at Draupadi, and the expression on his face became even more troubled. He wished he could accept her suggestion, but the matter was no longer as simple as an unfortunate misunderstanding.
"No, Princess," he said quietly. "You do not understand."
Draupadi turned toward him, waiting for him to explain. "Hmm?"
Yudhishthira's gaze moved from his mother to Arjuna, then settled on Draupadi. He could see the pain on her face, and he knew that none of them had intended for the situation to unfold this way. Yet their mother's words carried a weight that could not simply be dismissed.
"We cannot refuse our mother's order, and Mother cannot take back her words as though they were never spoken. She spoke without knowing the truth, but now that she has given her command, we must decide what dharma requires of us. That is why this has become such a difficult situation, Princess."
Draupadi stared at him, her lips trembling.
"No..."
The word escaped her before she could stop it. She looked at Arjuna, whose tears had not yet dried, then at Kunti, who stood before her with a stricken expression. Finally, she turned away and rushed out of the hut, unable to bear another moment of the conversation.
The vision vanished.
Karna opened his eyes, returning to the clearing, but the sight of Draupadi standing before him no longer seemed like an unexplained outburst.
He had seen what had happened inside the hut, heard Kunti's command, and witnessed the anguish it had caused.
For a moment, he remained still, his hands resting on Draupadi's arms as the full weight of what he had witnessed settled over him.
Then his entire body began to tremble.
It was not confusion that shook him, nor was it the frustration of a warrior whose advice had been ignored.
Anger rose within him, sharp and difficult to contain, as he looked toward the hut where Kunti had spoken those words.
The woman who had abandoned him at birth had now, through a careless command, placed another of her children in an impossible position.
And Draupadi, the sister he had promised to protect, was the one left to bear the pain of it.