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Book Reviews
Pradip Bhattacharya's
Panch-Kanya
The Five Virgins of Indian Epics
Review by
Dr. Prema Nandakumar
The take-off
for the book's argument begins with the Publisher's note itself. Our
veteran transcreator Purushottama Lal lists sixteen kinds of virgins
found in India's ancient texts. Kanya is a girl of eight; Kanya is also
the sign of Virgo. Why is the term "kanya" used in the "five virgins
tradition", and not "stree" since all the five women cited in the
tradition have borne children? Prof. Lal stops here. Our Professor knows
when to be voluble and when to remain silent. This is "a quest in search
of meaning" by his brilliant student. Let the student speak!
Pradip
Bhattacharya is one of those intrepid scholars who also happen to be
bureaucrats. I have known some of them like Iravatham Mahadevan who have
nurtured consciously the talent lodged within them, and saved it from
being smothered by files. The results have been flattering to our
culture. If Mahadevan has made brilliant strides in deciphering the
Brahmi script, Pradip has been exploring the Mahabharata
tradition with enviable tenacity. Naturally such investigations spill
over to the entire cultural history of India. The findings are never
final as almost all of them are wet with womanhood's ancient tears. Even
today, sorrowing lies the space for women in this land of Dharma,
Dharma-sankata and Adharma. All the same, in the hour when the gods
awake led by Usha, the pious Indian intones the verse glorifying Indian
womanhood:
Ahalya Draupadi Kunti Tara Mandodari tatha
Panca kanyd smarennityam mahdpataka nasanam
At the outset
it must be conceded that Pancha Kanya: The Five Virgins of Indian
Epics is a mine of information. It must needs be so, for each woman
in our epics (it could be even the self-effacing foster mother of Kama)
has all the yesterdays encapsulated in her personality, while her
unwound tresses still remain unavenged. Yes, Bhima destroyed Duhshasana,
spattered Panchali's tresses with his blood and gathered it in a plait.
That was in Dwapara. But Draupadi remains alive, still unavenged, as
Mahashweta Devi's Dopdi and millions like her. So Pradip has taken up a
cosmic canvas for his portraiture. His erudition lies in the ability to
pick up a few intelligible details, send questions flying at himself,
and seek answers from the reader. In effect, we become enthusiastic
companions in this search in heroic India.
The germane
question: Are these heroines relevant in this technological age? Again,
where the man-woman relationship has lost its romantic connotation and
mystery, where the female body has lost its pulsating mystery, who cares
for the adulterous lady, for the princess who openly resided with
several men, the helpless rakshasi, the monkey-queen who allowed herself
to be buffeted to and fro by the monkey-brothers? The answer is recorded
swiftly by Pradip. The Indian, whether in his motherland or in Norwalk
or in Saigon is proud of his roots. Chandrakant Shinde's e-mail from Los
Angeles quoted in the book tells all.
Chandrakant and others may discuss the heroines but will not cease to
worship them. Of course, there are "courageous" voices (with half-baked
knowledge of the myths) who try to make a stand as Varsha Pathak in her
posting to Shaaditimes, criticising the blessing of "sadd suhdgin ho":
"It hardly matters if the man she is married to turns out to be a
monster, a la Frankenstein.... Time to brush up our knowledge of popular
Indian mythology and review the case histories of some of the more
famous heroines of yesteryear. There is a very famous Sanskrit shloka,
the chanting of which supposedly frees you from all your sins. You
guessed it, this verse is dedicated to five great satis,
immortalised by myth and legend. They are Ahalya, Sita, Draupadi,
Tara, and Mandodari. All five are considered not just
saubhagyavatis but are doubly exalted for having committed he
ultimate act of sati. Okay, by now you know from where phrases
like sati-savitri have entered the popular Hindu lexicon."
This confusion of categories in Sanskrit terminology which has led
scribes like Varsha Pathak to speak of the Pancha Kanyas as the Five
Satis has to be cleared, for apparently there is something
contemporaneous about the life histories of the five virgins (as it is
with the iconised sapta matrikas—the Seven Mothers) which evokes
such strong feelings even today. The Pancha Kanya today? Swiftly Pradip
takes us to the Singha Devi Sthal in Nepal set up in honour of five
virgin deities, Dhrupadi, Tara, Kunti, Parwati and Manju (as in the
sapta matrika concept, there are changes in names in Pancha Kanya a
concept as well) where there is a cave which could be the originating
backdrop of Draupadi herself. A living inspiration even today.
To Ahalya then. In Valmiki she is an adulteress. After that one
indiscretion, she has not been allowed a moment of peace by
self-righteous moralists and theme-hungry artistes in all these
centuries. Pradip's approach is a feminist's delight and could also be
interpreted as an insinuation characteristic of patriarchy:
"Creation's sole beautiful woman, she is the archetypal feminine
responding to the ardent, urgent, direct sexual advances of the ruler of
heaven who presents such a dazzling contrast to her ascetic, aged,
forest-dwelling husband. Mortal woman wel¬comes the ultimate touch of
heaven's immortal, driven by that irrepressible curiosity for varied and
unusual experience and a willingness to take risks for it which marks
the feminine. It is a fine instance of the interlinking of the Anima and
the Animus that Jung recognised to be unconscious elements of the psyche
which the individual needs to develop, or make conscious, to maintain a
healthy, balanced outlook in personal relationships and on the world at
large."
Pradip's explanation sounds close to Virginia Woolf's crisp phrase,
"man-womanly". But still one wonders whether all this gives an adequate
explanation of a deliberate trespass. Pradip wanders to several spaces—Uttara
Kanda, Mahabharata, Shiva Purana,—and we realise that the creative
artiste is always drawn to exceptions. Ahalya was an exception to the
rule. So the reteller of the original legend often sets up a legal
defence. What right did Gautama have to curse her?
However, we must needs standby the first Ahalya we see. We find her in
Valmiki as indulging in the extra-marital connection even after
recognising Indra. The latter-day Ahalyas are creatures of imagination.
This Ahalya is asli, honest, and is remembered by us at dawn as
witness to Sanatana Dharma which does not condemn anyone to eternal
hell. Even when one has consciously committed a sin, one can gain
redemption by tapasya, by melting in the heat of meditation and regret
holding on to a firm decision never to commit the sin again. Valmiki
speaks of her as "yasasvini, tapo dirghamupagata". Gautama also
is witness to Sanatana Dharma which is based on compassion and an
understanding of ground realities, so eloquently noted by Valmiki's Sita:
Papanam va subhanam va vadharhanam plavangama
Karyam karunamaryena na kascid naparadhyati
Tara is a
very significant term in Tantra Yoga. The second of the Dasa
Maha-vidyas, she is Pasyanti (Vak) and signifies the
Pranava. According to Vasishta Gana-pati Muni, she moves in the
skies though she is no space power. She is the best among the powers
that purify creation: advanebhyascha pavani bhavatyesha. Has such
a power been envisaged by Valmiki? Obviously yes because of the
association with "movement in the skies". Possessed of mature
intelligence, she is praised by Vali as one whose opinions never go
wrong: nahi taramatam kincidanyatha parivartate. Once again, let
us not stray into the latter Taras or other Taras (like Brihaspati's
wife). We invoke Valmiki's Tara as one who is intelligent and follows
her tribe's cus¬toms. Neither she nor we find it strange that she is
dishabille when she comes from Sugriva's bed to meet Lakshmana. Nor will
we ever know whether it was an intelligent ploy on her part so that she
could get back to the inner apartments and announce, "mission
accomplished"! The Tara who meets Lakshmana in Kamban's Tamil version is
in widow's garments which seems to prove that the treatment of widows in
northern India started in Tamil Nadu that has given a raw deal to these
unfortunate women since the Sangam times.
Mandodari is very much part of contemporary consciousness. There is the
popular Manduka sabdam of Andhra Kuchipudi repertoire where the
croakings of a frog are effectively synthesised in music along with the
victory-gait of Ravana. A week or two after Holi, Meerut holds the
Navchandi Festival to celebrate the building of the original Chandi
temple by Mandodari who was born in a "devil's house" in the city. But
as with Ahaly a and Tara, Valmiki shall be our Truth-visioning seer. If
so, we would have Mandodari as a wife of great courage in spite of being
married to one of the most powerful and arrogant rakshasas of all times.
Why bother about the latter-day retellings of a Vali connection?
Valmiki's Mandodari-vilapa points out clearly that in a land which has
men flaunting several wives at a time (with high-profile politicians
leading the band), it is woman who has chosen to remain loyal to the
family idea, a proud living legacy for humankind.
In his exploratory search remote-controlled by Jungian psychology,
Pradip feels that Durvasa might have committed sexual abuse of Kunti
when she served him. I have read a variety of criticism against Durvasa
(being a patient listener of traditional Kathas that go on till late at
night), but this is the first time I find the spluttery sage associated
with such an outrage. There is a good deal of taxi-ing around before we
come to Kunti and then another Pradip-twist: Kunti forced Draupadi to
share her bed with the five brothers to avenge her own life that was
used by four different people (perhaps five, if Durvasa is included)!
There is then the Vidura angle (Iravati Karve) related by Pradip with
apposite diction (one could write a thesis on Pradip's diction in this
monograph): "How pregnantly succinct is Vyasa's account of Kunti's
encounter with Dharma!" Did Kunti and Vidura hoodwink everyone in the
Mahabharata and all of us who have come later?
Draupadi. Pradip's account is sublime because the subject is sublime.
One may not trifle with her. In this wonderful chapter bringing together
Vyasa with a good deal of latter-day recreations of Draupadi's
personality, Pradip teaches us how to distinguish between a "kanya" and
a "sati" by juxtaposing Taramati's docility when Harishchandra sells her
and Draupadi's fierce independence. The Sati finds fulfilment in and
through her husband, the Kanya "seeks to fulfil herself regardless of
social and family norms." Was this why Sri Aurobindo chose Savitri as
his epic heroine? Did he think that by taking this independent stance, a
Kanya is able to strengthen herself and become an achiever? Did Goddess
Savitri's boon to King Aswapati in the Mahabharata provide him
with the clue to Savitri's character: kanya tejasvini saumya
ksiprameva bhavisyati? "Kanya tejasvini" no doubt inspired
Sri Aurobindo to write of Savitri:
An ocean of
untrembling virgin fire;
The strength, the silence of the gods were hers.
Though
Pancha-Kanya seems to be a slim monograph (and some of its space
taken over by appropriate sketches and portraits, including some by Ravi
Vartna), it expands to Trivikraman proportions as we ruminate on the
past sorrows, trials, triumphs of these five heroines. This is the
precise reason why we have been asked to recite the sloka every morning.
Remember! Remember! Avoid the line of least resistance, struggle
forward, make life a tapasya. As Pradip says in conclusion: "The past
does indeed hold the future in its womb."
April 2, 2006
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Book Reviews
The Week of April 2, 2006
In Indira's Footsteps: Will History Repeat Itself?
by Rajinder Puri
Wardrobe Malfunction - of Splits, Slips and More!
by Usha Kakkar
Weakness & Selfishness – Reluctant Parents of Virtue
by Gaurang Bhatt, MD
Freedom by Naira Yaqoob
How to Overcome Failure? by Sugandha
Indulkar
The First Line of Defense by Michael Levy
Helping Your Unpopular Child by Garima
Gupta
Is Your 8 - 10 Year Old Crazy? by Gary
Direnfeld
Why do we have Kids! by Meera Chowdhry
Child out of School is a Laborer by Malvika
Kaul
The Water Bridge A Short Story by NS Murty
And, The Bell Rang A Story by Raghvendra Singh
Saving our Life-Support System by William C.
Gladish
Will the Creation of One World Solve the Problems
of Today? by TA Ramesh
Neo Imperialism at its Best by Tahir Raj
Bhasin
Homeopathy: In a Realm of Its Own by
Rajgopal Nidamboor
The Homeopathic Treatment of Asthma by Dr.
Muneeb Faraaz
The Omega 3 Code by Neeta Lal
Risky Reconstruction & Breast Cancer by Elayne
Clift
Human Rights and Criminal Justice System by
Dr. Shanker Adawal
Panch-Kanya: The Five Virgins of Indian Epics
by Dr. Prema Nandakumar
Bheel Mahabharata: Kunti and the Birth of the Sun
God's Child by Satya Chaitanya
Sadaat Hasan Manto : A Profile compiled by
Aparna Chatterjee
Tamil Nadu, Here I Come! by Usha Kakkar
Mothers Without Strings by Tripat Kaur
Shaking Up the Diaspora by Crespo Sebunya
Looking Through Water by Darryl D'Monte
One Woman Army : A Profile of Zakia Arshad
Epic Adventure by Anjum Wasim Dar
Crowning Glory: An Interview with Manoj Bajpai
by MH Ahsan
Pakistan Calling: An Interview with Akbar Khan
by MH Ahsan
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