Panchali is also Droupadi’s name. 2 The name of Virata’s general. As will become clear later, Kichaka was also Sudeshna’s brother. 3 Droupadi. 4 A lioness is the queen of deer. 5 A suta is a charioteer. Though he was Virata’s general, Kichaka was the son of a charioteer. 6 Sudeshna was the daughter of the king of Kekaya. 7 The sun god. 8 Because they did not wish to be discovered. 9 While dasyus can be translated as bandits or miscreants, they were also evil demons and a class of uncivilized tribes, the enemies of gods and men. 10 A reference to Yudhishthira. 11 Large tree. 12 The king of animals is a lion and the wife is a lioness. 13 A veena is a musical instrument. Gandhara is the third of the seven primary notes, often written as ga. 14 Saindhava is Jayadratha, the king of Sindhu. 15 The word used is dhurta, which has several meanings—one who is cunning, a rogue, a cheat or a swindler. But it also means gamester, which is more appropriate, since the reference is to Yudhishthira.
