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Hinduism
Panchkanya
Women of
Substance – 14
In Adi Parva
190.29 we find Yudhishthira and the two Madreyas slipping out of the svayamvara
after Draupadi has been won. These three are already with their mother
when Draupadi arrives. Kunti knows that the only way to forge an
unbreakable link among the five is not to allow them to get engrossed in
different wives. So long their lives have been governed by her and have
revolved only around her. She can be replaced only by a single woman, not
five, if that unified focus is to persist. It is as though she were
bringing into practice the Atharva Vedic injunction[[1]]:
“May your drink be the same,
may your food be common.
I bind you together with one
common bond.
United, gather round the
sacrificial fire
like the spokes of a
chariot-wheel round the nave.” [III.30.6]
Draupadi,
of course, is virtually born from the yajnic fire-altar.
Hence, Kunti deliberately asks that whatever has been brought
should be shared and enjoyed as usual. After “discovering” her
“mistake” her only worry is that something must be done so that her
command does not become untrue (Adi Parva, 193.4-5).
Yudhishthira’s speech to Drupada amply clarifies that the decision is
Kunti’s though the brothers have eagerly acquiesced, each having
Draupadi in his heart (193.12). It is also a magnificent tribute to the
total respect and implicit obedience paid by the brothers to Kunti which
is unparalleled in the epic. Despite all the paeans to Gandhari’s
virtues, her complete failure as a mother to command any respect from
Duryodhana only serves to highlight the qualities which make Kunti
pre-eminent among all women in Mahabharata:
“My mother’s will is my will
because I think she is right…
Isn’t it said that obedience
to gurus is a supreme virtue?
What greater guru than one’s mother?…
To me this is the highest dharma.” (197.29; 198.17)
It is instructive to see how
desperate Kunti is that her stratagem should not be foiled. As
Yudhishthira finishes, she immediately appeals to Vyasa:
“What dharma-firm Yudhishthira says
is right. I fear my words will
become as pointless as lies.
And if that happens, will I
not be tainted with untruth?” (198.18)
She is
also protecting herself, perhaps subconsciously. By maneuvering Draupadi
into having five husbands (the same number of men as Kunti had
“known”), she effectively ensures that her daughter-in-law will never
be able to point an accusing finger at her for having had sexual relations
with persons other than her spouse.[[1]]
As usual, Kunti ensures that she has her way, this time with the help of
Vyasa, her father-in-law. Kunti’s ambition for her children is finally
voiced openly when she formally blesses Draupadi after the marriage
ceremony:
“May you be queen of
the kingdom of the Kurus
with your dharma-loving husband
in the capital of Kurujangala.” (209.9)
–
Continued
Panchkanya Pages : 1 |
2 | 3 | 4
| 5 | 6 | 7 |
8 | 9 | 10 |
11 | 12 | 13 |
14 | 15
16 | 17 | 18 |
19 | 20 | 21 |
22 | 23 | 24 |
25 | 26 | 27
Now also in Hindi at
http://www.hindinest.com/visheshank/01stri/panchkanya1.htm
Now also in French at http://www.neurom.ch/mbh/kanya.pdf
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