स्वयंवर svayaṃvara

The svayaṃvara is one of the eight classical forms of marriage — a rite in which a princess of marriageable age publicly selects her husband from among assembled suitors. In the literary tradition it is rarely informal: there is usually a contest of strength, archery, or learning, and the princess places her garland on the victor.

In the Mahābhārata the most consequential svayaṃvara is Draupadī’s, where Arjuna (disguised as a brahmin) wins her by stringing the bow and shooting through the rotating fish-eye. The contest is rigged for Arjuna in the sense that no other contestant has a serious chance, but the rite is honored: Draupadī chooses, and the public assembly accepts her choice.

The choice that follows — the five Pāṇḍavas all marrying her on Kuntī’s unwitting word — is not part of the svayaṃvara, and the text knows it isn’t. The strangeness of the polyandry has to be argued for and ratified by external authorities (Vyāsa, eventually).