Vyas made a sweeping statement: “What is in here may

be found elsewhere, but what is not here can not be found

anywhere (Yadihasti tadanyatra, yannehasti na kutrachit)”

Hirnakashayapu – immortal
The boon to not be killed

Macbeth

Loyalty – yuddhistara’s dog (dharmaraj in disguise?)

Let us now look at the symbology relating the philosophy

to the narrative. Draupadi's given name was Panchali, a
synonym for which is Panchbhutika meaning comprised of
panchbhutas. The entire phenomenal world is a
manifestation of purusha through prakriti as a result of
interaction between panchbhutas and three gunas.
Panchabhutas and trigunas comprise a subject by
themselves and we cannot possibly go into that here. It
should be noted, however, that the identification of
panchbhutas with five elements: earth, fire etc., as is
commonly done, is a gross simplification; the concept is
far more subtle. Panchabhutas have a special function of
relating matter to consciousness. Draupadi then
represents the phenomenal world, i.e.prakriti. Her yagya
related origin itself is suggestive of that. The enjoyer of
this phenomenal world is purush, the embodied jivatma or
man. Draupadi's enjoyer or husband is one, but he
consists of five distinct constituent entities in the form of
five Pandavas. We shall see this in the sequence of their
births and deaths.
We consider the death sequence first because that makes
it easier to comprehend the ideas involved. There is a
progression of things that happen when a man dies; there
are five stages involved. First he loses the ability to enjoy
the pleasures of the material world. Second, his intellect
gets fogged, third the body quits its functions, fourth his
mind becomes inoperative and at the fifth and final stage
the prana vayu -- the life flame goes out. The soul never
dies; it just leaves the body and the actions of this life as
well as the previous ones (karma) go with it. That is
exactly the sequence in which Draupadi and the four
Pandavas die. Draupadi represents the material world.
Sahadeva and Nakul, born of Ashvini Kumars, represent
the intellect and the body. Arjun, born of Indra, represents
the mind (manas), and Bhima born of Vayu is the prana.
Yudhishthir born of Dharmaraj represents the soul that
never dies and the dog represents karma that goes with
the soul.
The sequence is reversed when a man is born. The soul
decides to take a body and chooses parents. According to
Hindu view, life begins at conception and prana, the life
force, enters the embryo followed by manas (mind). The
body then develops, and finally the intellect comes in to
guide the whole ensemble. In the case of the Pandavas,
Yudhishthir representing the soul comes first followed by
Bhima as prana. Arjun as mind comes next followed by
Nakul and Sahadeva as the body and the intellect
respectively. The purush as the embodied jivatma thus
becomes complete. There is another point in the story
worth noting. The cause for the death of all four Pandavas
is common -- ego in some form or the other. The word for
ego in Sanskrit is ahankar; it means giving form to I. All
egos arise from the identification of the jivatma with the
body. As long as this identification continues, the cycle of
birth and death goes on.
The interaction between purush and prakriti is an essential
element in the evolution of jiva. It makes possible the
unfolding of their latent powers to enable the jiva to gain
self-realization. That is Vedanta's concept of evolution.
The material forms (i.e. bodies) evolve to provide better
vehicles for the evolving life. Whereas modern science
considers evolution a linear process Vedanta regards it
nonlinear with multiple feedback loops consisting of
involution and devolution.