Hinduism And Women

"Narada came on a visit to Aswapati, and they talked about Savitri's marriage. Just then she came back from her search, and reported that she had chosen Satyavan. Narada acknowledged his great merits, but there was one fatal defect.- he would die within a year...Notwithstanding this, Savithri would have him. After the marriage Savithri took off all her ornaments and clothed herself in bark and cloth dyed red."

"Savitri counted the days her husband had to live. When he would die on the fourth day, she fasted three days and three nights. On the fourth day when her husband was going to the forest to gather fuel, Savitri insisted upon accompanying him. Satyavan suddenly got ill and lay down with his head on Savitri's lap."

"She then saw a dreadful being approaching with a crown on his head, and a noose in his hand. On Savitri asking him who he was, he said that he was Yama, come to take away Satyavan. Yama pulled out of the body of Satyavan his prana, about he size of the thumb."

"When Yama went away in a southerly direction, Savitri followed him as the duty of a wife to follow her husband. Yama pleased with her, offered here a succession of boons, excepting the life of her husband. She first asked that her beloved father-in-law might have his sight restored; next that he might regain his kingdom, that he might have a hundred sons, and lastly that her husband might be restored to life. Yama agreed at last, and gave up the prana to her, upon which Satyavan revived and they lived happily 400 years."

"How is it that the wife of Pandus, the sister of Parsata [Dhrstadyumna], the friend of Vasudeva Krsna, could be brought before the assembly of kings? Tell me whether or not I, King Dharma’s wife, born of equal station, am a slave. Then I will do as commanded, Kauravas!"

"Draupadi addresses the kings, demanding to know how they, who are supposedly learned in the ways of proper conduct, could allow her to be so humiliated."

"Keep in mind these words of mine. you Ksatriyas who inhabit the earth, what I say has never before been said, and none will say it again. If I do not carry out my vow, lords of the earth, then let me not obtain the worlds of all our grandfathers-ill, if, in battle, do not violently split open the chest and drink the blood of this low-born sinner, this most despicable among the Bharatas!"

"The question whether Draupadi has been legitimately won over is debated by the kings. Karna, insisting that she has been, orders Duhsasana to strip her garment from her body: Then, king, Duhsasana forcibly took hold of Draupadi’s garment and began to take it off. But, lord of men, just as Draupadi’s garment was being pulled off, other garments, one following the other, of the same type appeared! All those kings, observing that miracle on earth, let forth a loud, terrifying sound of “hala hala.”"

"She is not too short, nor is she too large; nor is she too dark nor is her complexion red. She has eyes reddened from passion. I will stake her—whose eyes and fragrance are like autumnal lotuses. Attached to modesty, she is, in beauty, equal to Sri, the goddess of beauty. Were a man to desire a woman, she would be like this one, on account of her kindness; she would be like this one, on account of her beautiful figure; she would be like this one, on account of her perfect character. She is the last to sleep and first to awaken. She knows everything, down to the jobs both completed and not yet done by the cowherds and shepherds. Like the jasmine flower, the mallikfi, is she; with her perspiring face she appears similar to a lotus. She has red eyes, long hair, a waist as slender as the sacrificial altar, and a body with no excessive hair."

"Yudhisthira, in his frenzied desire to win back the kingdom, has staked her as his last possession. In his anxiety, he describes her as a handsome and perfect wife, that her value might be worth his opponent’s stake."

"He (Dhristadhyumna) has a sister, Draupadi. She has a beautiful body and a slender waist. Her scent, like that of a blue lotus, perfumed the air for the distance of a mile."

"Draupadi begs not to be brought before the assembly in her condition. Angered, she looks over to her husbands who sit in front of the gathered nobles and watch her humiliation: The loss of the kingdom, wealth, or the most valuable jewels, did not cause the pain that was caused by the infuriated glare of that tormented Krsna."

"Dressed in only one garment, which had its ends (tied) low“) and menstruating, she entered the assembly. The woman from Panchala went before her father-in-law (Dhritarastra)."

"I avoid excessive mirth [arrogance] or excessive vexation and anger and am always, Satya, engaged in serving my husbands."

"Draupadi denies employment of any such devices to retain the devotion of her husbands, but rather attributes their love to her exemplary behavior."

"Draupadi, how do you behave with these respected Pandavas, young heroes similar to the world guardians? How do they remain under your influence and why do they never become angry, beautiful woman? You, of lovely countenance, always have control (influence) over all those Pandavas, who have their eyes (glances) fixed on your face; tell me this truthfully! Was it a religious vow, austerities, ablutions, mantras, or magical herbs, the power of secret spells, or the power of roots, or repetition of sacred words, or offerings or drugs? Tell me, lady of Panchala, the lucky secret that brings you [matrimonial] good fortune."

"From the outset of the Mahabharata the physical appearance of Draupadi is known than the majority of Indian epic heroines."

"During the famous, yet fateful, dicing match between Yudhisthira and Duryodhana, the impact of the dicing episode is somewhat dissipated at its conclusion. The Pandavas are set free, rather than remaining slaves of their cousins, the events not only set in motion the action of the remainder of the epic, but establish important information for the audience about the characters of the epic and their interrelationships"

"Draupadi appears in the arena for her “self-choice"... Immediately after her marriage, she is fond of her new “brahman” husbands: she is depicted as patiently serving them and dutifully sleeping at their feet."

"Description of Draupadi at her birth from the sacrificial fire in Mahabharata:... the princess from Panchala rose up from the middle of the sacrificial fire. She was beautiful and enchanting; she had a lovely body and a waist the shape of the sacrificial altar. She was dark, had eyes like lotus leaves, and dark, wavy hair, She was a goddesswho had taken on a human form. Her scent, like that of a blue lotus, perfumed the air for the distance of a mile. She possessed the most beautiful figure; none was her equal on earth."

"Draupadi’s wedding contest... when the Pandavas, disguised as brahmans hiding from their cousin [[w:Duryodhana|Duryodhana, are living in a brahman’s house at Ekacakra. One day a brahman visits them and tells them of the pending “self-choice” of Drupada‘s daughter. Questioned by the Pandavas about the unusual birth of both Draupadi and her brother, the brahman proceeds to tell the history of Drupada’s family and that king’s enmity with the sage Drona. Upon hearing this story and the events surrounding the birth of Draupadi and her brother from the sacrificial fire, the Pandava brothers....decide to go to the court of Drupada and to participate in his daughter’s “self-choice.” The events that follow, the contest, [are] the winning of the princess, and her polyandrous marriage to the brothers."

"Draupadi, like Sita, makes her first appearance in the epic at an assembly at which the heroes (or hero) have demonstrated their physical prowess. The contest and the wedding delineates the character of the hero more than that of the heroine."

"Draupadi, is often aggressive and outspoken. In one episode, in [Mahabharata] she throws her would-be assailant, Kicika, the brother-in-law of King Virata, to the ground and then proceeds violently to castigate one of her husbands, Bhimasena, for his failure to protect her virtue."

"In ancient India, if a man of the military caste was challenged to fight, he must at any price accept the challenge to uphold his honour. And if he was challenged to play dice, it was a point of honour to play, and dishonourable to decline the challenge. King Yudhishthira, says in the Epic, she [Draupadi] was the incarnation of all virtues. Even he, the great sage-king, had to accept the challenge. Shakuni and his party had made false dice. So Yudhishthira lost game after game, and stung with his losses, he went on with the fatal game, staking everything he had, and losing all, until all his possessions, his kingdom and everything, were lost. The last stage came when, under further challenge, he had no other resources left but to stake his brothers, and then himself, and last of all, the fair Draupadi, and lost all. Now they were completely at the mercy of the Kauravas, who cast all sorts of insults upon them, and subjected Draupadi to most inhuman treatment. At last through the intervention of the blind king, they got their liberty, and were asked to return home and rule their kingdom. But Duryodhana saw the danger and forced his father to allow one more throw of the dice in which the party which would lose, should retire to the forests for twelve years, and then live unrecognised in a city for one year; but if they were found out, the same term of exile should have to be undergone once again and then only the kingdom was to be restored to the exiled. This last game also Yudhishthira lost, and the five Pandava brothers retired to the forests with Draupadi, as homeless exiles."

"The five brothers now returned home to Kunti with the princess... They shouted out to her joyously, "Mother, we have brought home a most wonderful alms today." The mother replied, "Enjoy it in common, all of you, my children." Then the mother seeing the princess, exclaimed, "Oh! what have I said! It is a girl!" But what could be done! The mother's word was spoken once for all. It must not be disregarded. The mother's words must be fulfilled. She could not be made to utter an untruth, as she never had done so. So Draupadi became the common wife of all the five brothers."

"Among the Brahmanas were seated the five Pandava brothers... He lifted the bow in his hand, strung it without any effort, and drawing it, sent the arrow right through the wheel and hit the eye of the fish. Then there was great jubilation. Draupadi, the princess, approached w:Arjuna|Arjuna and threw the beautiful [[garland of flowers over his head."

"When all those princes failed in hitting the mark, then the son of King Drupada rose up in the midst of the court and said: "The Kshatriya, the king caste has failed; now the contest is open to the other castes. Let a Brahmana, even a Shudra, take part in it; whosoever hits the mark, marries Draupadi.""

"King Drupada was a great king, king of the Panchalas, and his daughter, Draupadi, famed far and wide for her beauty and accomplishments, was going to choose a hero...at a Svayamvara."

"This one is Sree herself. It was for destroying the evil, that she took birth, as the daughter of Drupada, among human beings, issuing not from any mother’s womb, O Yudhishtira, endued with agreeable perfume and capable of delighting the whole world. She was born in the race of Drupada and was enjoyed by you all."

"My brothers have all dropped down here. They must go with me. Without them by me I do not wish to go to Heaven, O lord of all the deities. The delicate princess (Draupadi) deserving of every comfort, O Purandara, should go with us. It behoveth thee to permit this."

"After the period of exile, during which the Kauravas try in vain to persecute or even kill them, they demand their rightful kingdom which is, however, denied. A grim battle ensues."

"The cowherds come to Uttara, the young prince, who has stayed back in the town, and exhort him to march against the Kauravas. But he has no charioteer. Draupadi then mediates through the princess to make Uttara take Arjuna as charioteer."

"Draupadi experienced an unpleasant adventure [as chambermaid]. Kicaka, the commander-in-chief and brother-in-law of the king falls in [[love with the pretty chamber-maid and waylays her. But even at the time when she was appointed by the queen, Draupadi had given out that she was the wife of five Gandharvas who would protect her in difficulties."

"Draupadi was appointed as a chambermaid to the queen Sudesna. The Pandavas passed the thirteenth year with great caution, as otherwise they had to repeat a further 12-year exile."

"Duryodhana, the winner of the bet, insists that Draupadi is indeed his to do with as he pleases and orders that she be disrobed. Furious at this insult to her honor, Draupadi loosens her coifed hair and vows that she will not knot it again until she has washed it in Duryodhana's blood. As she is disrobed, the more her sari is pulled away the longer it becomes. It is this event which turns Draupadi from a contented, but strong willed wife into a vengeful goddess."

"Draupadi, heroine of the Mahabharata epic, is bold and forthright even in adversity. Her husband Yudhisthira succumbing to his weakness for gambling, stakes and loses all (in a rigged game), including his wife. Draupadi challenges the assembly and demands to know how it is possible for one who has staked and lost his own self to retain the right to wager her."

"The denuding of Draupadi occurred after the game [dice], but the honour of Draupadi was saved by the grace of Krishna. Dhritarastra, however, returned everything to the Pandavas. Soon afterwards the second game of dice was played in which the stake was that the loser should spend twelve years in the forest and the thirteenth year incognito. This time also Pandavas were defeated and they had to leave for the forest, when Draupadi accompanied them."

"The enmity and jealousy that develops between the cousins forces the Pandavas to leave the kingdom when their father dies. During their exile the five jointly marry Draupadi (who is born out of a sacrificial fire and whom Arjuna wins by shooting an arrow through a row of targets) and meet their cousin Krishna, who remains their friend and companion thereafter Although the Pandavas return to the kingdom, they are again exiled to the forest, this time for 12 years, when Yudhishthira loses everything in a game of dice with Duryodhana, the eldest of the Kauravas."

"The gods have already declared that she will become the wife of all the five Pandava brethren... Pandava brethren were five incarnations of [[w:Indra|Indra, and thus were but as one."

"O Drupada, this thy daughter of celestial beauty is that maiden. Indeed, the faultless Krishna sprung from Prishata's race hath been pre-ordained to become the common wife of five husbands. The celestial Sri, having undergone severe ascetic penances, hath, for the sake of the Pandavas, had her birth as thy daughter, in the course of thy grand sacrifice. That handsome goddess, waited upon by all the celestials, as a consequence of her own acts becomes the (common) wife of five husbands. It is for this that the self-create had created her. Having listened to all this, O king Drupada, do what thou desirest."

"Thou hast, O maiden, addressed me five full times, repeating, 'Give me a husband.' Therefore, O amiable one, it shall even be as thou hast asked. Blessed be thou. All this, however, will happen in a future life of thine!**Sankara in:"

"'O Sankara, I desire to have from thee only one husband possessed of every virtue?"

"My tongue never uttereth an untruth and my heart never inclineth to what is [sin]ful. When my heart approveth of it, it can never be sinful. I have heard in the Purana that a lady of name Jatila, the foremost of all virtuous women belonging to the race of Gotama had married seven Rishis. So also an ascetic's daughter, born of a tree, had in former times united herself in marriage with ten brothers all bearing the same name of Prachetas and who were all of souls exalted by asceticism. O foremost of all that are acquainted with the rules of morality, it is said that obedience to superior is ever meritorious. Amongst all superiors, it is well-known that the mother is the foremost. Even she hath commanded us to enjoy Draupadi as we do anything obtained as alms. It is for this, O best of Brahmanas, that I regard the (proposed) act [of marriage of all five brothers with Draupadi] as virtuous."

"In spite of several plus points to their credit – like the wisdom, courage, and sagacity of Draupadi, Tara and Damayanti, the keen and lively interest they evinced in their surroundings and also the part played by the former two in the management of their respective realms, the strong sense of duty, love and loyalty to their respective husbands as shown by Kunti, Mandodari and Shakuntala, the carving for knowledge as expressed by Maitreyi – none of them is a model for Hindu women."

"Contrarily, epic characters like Draupadi and Tara, whose devotion to their husbands and affinal families was duly noted, participated in activities outside the confines of their homes. On this additional merit, therefore, they should have superseded Sita, Savithri or Parvati as ideal women."

"Ahalya “for her forbearance is likened to the freshness and active nature of the wind Tara (all the three women of that name, that is, Harishchandra’s queen, Vali’s wife and Brihaspati’s wife who is Chandra’s beloved) is associated “with space and has the quality of intelligence, compassion and large-heartedness; Mandodari with the element of water, turbulent on the surface yet deep and silent in her spiritual quest."

"Thus by the mighty Sire addressed They all obeyed his high behest, And thus begot in countless swarms Brave sons disguised in sylvan forms. Each God, each sage became a sire, Each minstrel of the heavenly quire, Each faun, of children strong and good Whose feet should roam the hill and wood. Snakes, bards, and spirits, serpents bold Had sons too numerous to be told. Báli, the woodland hosts who led, High as Mahendra's lofty head, Was Indra's child. That noblest fire, The Sun, was great Sugríva's sire, Tára, the mighty monkey, he Was offspring of Vrihaspati: Tára the matchless chieftain, boast For wisdom of the Vánar host. Of Gandhamádan brave and bold The father was the Lord of Gold."

"And the worthy daughters of those far-famed ladies [Ahalyâ, Târâ, Mandodari, Kunti, and [Draupadi] of the Paurânika age, whose names we are to repeat every morning—they can no longer marry more than one husband at a time, even if they want to, and so they turn unchaste."

"...refers to some real event amongst the aboriginal tribes; namely, the quarrel between an elder and younger brother for the possession of a Raj; and the subsequent alliance of Rama with the younger brother. It is somewhat remarkable that Rama appears to have formed an alliance with the wrong party, for the right of Vali was evidently superior to that of Sugriva; and is especially worthy of note that Rama compassed the death of Vali by an act contrary to all the laws of fair fighting. Again, Rama seems to have tacitly sanctioned the transfer of Tara from Bali to Sugriva, which was directly opposed to modern rule, although in conformity with the rude customs of a barbarous age; and it is remarkable that to this day the marriage of both widows and divorced women is practiced by the Marwars or the aborigines of southern Caranatic, contrary to the deep-rooted prejudice which exists against such unions amongst the Hindus at large."

"The five ideal women are role models for all Hindus. They are not perfect but they fulfill their dharma as mothers, sisters, wives, and occasionally leaders in their own right. They are most often listed as Ahalya, Draupadi, Mandodari, Sita and Tara."