Once, Draupadi went to take a bath at the Yamuna riverbank. When she reached the riverbank, her sari was about to tear. She noticed a saint nearby. He was bathing in the Ganga and had just a loincloth on his body. After his bath, the saint started to move towards the shore to get his second loincloth.

However, a sudden gust of wind blew, causing the saint’s second loincloth to fly a little away and fall into the river. Swiftly, the saint grabbed the loincloth in the water before it could be carried away by the current. By coincidence, the loincloth he was wearing also tore. Now, the saint was worried about how to save his modesty.

He thought for a moment that soon the sun would rise, and a crowd would gather at the riverbank. With no other solution in sight, the saint quickly emerged from the water and hid in the bushes. All this was witnessed by Draupadi. She went up to the saint and, tearing her own sari in half, handed it to him, saying, “Respected sage, I understand your predicament. Please use this cloth to cover yourself.”

The saint hesitated for a moment, then took the torn piece of the sari and blessed her, “Just as you saved my modesty today, in the same way, one day, the gods will save your honor.”

And when the moment of Draupadi’s humiliation arrived in the crowded assembly, Sage Narada brought her plea to the attention of the gods. Lord Krishna said, “My grace showers in return for deeds, is there any good deed in Draupadi’s account?” Upon investigation, the cloth given to the sage was found in her account, and its value had multiplied several times over.

To settle this, Lord Krishna himself arrived to help Draupadi. Dushasana kept pulling at Draupadi’s sari, and yards of cloth kept increasing. Indeed, as a person sows, so shall they reap, with compounded results.