'he whose army is sacrificial', IAST: Yajñasena),[2] is the king of the southern part of Panchala Kingdom, in the Hindu epic Mahabharata.

In the Kurukshetra War as the head of 1 akshauhini army, Drupada fought from the side of his sons-in-law, the Pandavas, and was killed by his childhood friend and rival, Drona.

[3] Drupada's early life is narrated in the Adi Parva of the epic, according to which he goes to the hermitage of the sage Bharadvaja for education and befriends Drona, his classmate and Bhardwaja's son.

In most versions, Shikhandi is the biological child of Drupada, while Dhristadyumna and Draupadi are born from a fire sacrifice organised by him.

(See #Kingship for details) In some versions, Uttamaujas and Yudhamanyu, the two princes who protected the hero Arjuna during the Kurukshetra War, are mentioned as two other sons of Drupada.

The Chaturdhara compilation mentions that Drupada has eleven sons, naming in addition to the aforementioned children: Satyajita, Kumara, Vrika, Panchalya, Suratha, Shatrunjaya and Janmejaya.

[6] Meanwhile, Drona lives a life of poverty but after his son, Ashvatthama, is teased for being so poor that he is unable to afford milk, he approaches Drupada for help.

Drupada, now conscious of the difference of status between them, refuses to acknowledge their friendship and shuns Drona, and calls him a beggar.

He consults several seers and eventually approaches Yaja and Upayaja, two sage brothers, to help him obtain a powerful son.

After its completion, they instruct Prishati—the wife of Drupada—to consume the sacrificial offering, but she refuses as she had saffron paste in her mouth and asks them to wait till she washed herself.

However, at this time the Pandavas are thought to be dead after the burning of Lakshagraha, so he arranges a svayamvara (self-choice ceremony) for Draupadi to choose her husband.

To win Draupadi's hand, the participants have to string an enormous bow and shoot an arrow through the eye of a revolving fish while looking into its reflection in the water.

The Pandavas, disguised as brahmins, are present at the svayamvara and with no other prince left to participate, Arjuna completes the task.

However, sage Vyasa and Lord Krishna support Kunti's proposal and sanction the marriage, assuaging Drupada's fears.