Patriarchy and Women’s
Body in the popular text; Mādhavī in the Mahābhārata
-Dr.
Ravi Khangai
Assistant
Professor
Department
of History
Rashtrasant
Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University
Nagpur,
Maharashtra, India- 440033.
Adjunct
Faculty
Hindu
University of America, USA.
Abstract-
Scriptures are often used to make patriarchal
control sacrosanct over women’s body. Principal women characters of the Mahābhārata
like Draupadī, Kuntī and Satyavatī having more than one man in their life, suggest
that the values that governed gender relations were not as rigid as it became
later. Along with the expansion of the epic, the lives of the women characters in
the epic underwent transformations to suit the patriarchal perception. Women
characters that had more than one man in their lives had their virginity
restored before she is given to another man. The boon of restoration avoided
the situation of moral discomfort. Restorations
of virginity of these women restore the honor of men who are supposed to be
protector and owner of woman’s sexuality and procreative power. These women
characters are portrayed as passive who allow their bodies to be manipulated
according to men’s convenience and sense of honor.
Key
words- Body, Honor, Patriarchy,
Possess,
Silence.
Objective-
This paper is an attempt of
understanding the changing attitude towards sexuality and gender power
equations in ancient India as reflected in the Mahābhārata in the context of Mādhavī’s
story.
Introduction-
“Whether we realize it or not, it
remains a fact that we in India still stand under the spell of the Mahābhārata”
(Sukthankar 1998: 32)
This
statement made by Sukthankar, the distinguished scholar of the Mahābhārata way
back in 1942 still stands true. The fascination for the centuries old epic
refuses to die down. The prediction of Ugraśravas, one of the narrator of the
epic seems to be proving true.
“Poets have told it before, poets
are telling it now, other poets shall tell this history on earth in the future”
(Bhutenin 1973: 21)
The
epic is believed to have been acquired written from 400 B.C. to 400 A.D. (Buitenen
1973: xxv) Though the language used in
the narration corresponds to this period, but the episodes like Draupadī’s polyandry
seems to be the residuals of the remote past. (Dhand 2008: 243) The behavioral
patterns that were accepted in one period became socially unacceptable with the
passage of time, but their memories had survived through the text. Having
incorporated the stories from the different traditions the epic had become a
kind of literary mosaic. Sukhantakar says,
“The result is naturally a
confused assemblage of heterogenous matter originating from different hands and
belonging to different strata” (Sukthankar 1998:10)
Not
being written by an individual and having developed over centuries makes it
more valuable as a source of history. In spite this variegated nature; the patriarchal
influence over the epic is obvious. A
woman being treated as man’s property is obvious when Ambā is told by her
former lover Śālva that she is ‘Bhīshma’s chattel’ as Bhīshma won her in a
dual. (Buitenen 1978: 499) In
general, the lives of the women characters in the epic are shaped according to
men’s convenience, justifying Foucault’s postulation that power is essentially
what dictates laws related to sex and what is
permitted and forbidden. (Foucault 1990: 83)
Why
Obsession with Virginity?
In
line with the patriarchal desire of controlling female body and sexuality, also
came the expectations that a woman should be a virgin at the time of her
marriage as it is through her that the linage continues. In the
Varṇa divided society, the purity of the Varṇa status depended upon
the sexual purity of women.
“Women are recognized as the repositories of class
and family identity. It is only they, through faithful sexual conduct, who can
preserve the integrity of the Varṇa system.” (Dhand
2008
: 1696-1697)
Though
the responsibility of preserving the purity of bloodline is mainly shifted on
women, men are not let off altogether. Promiscuous behaviors for both the sexes
are censored and celibacy and being faithful to one’s partner are upheld as
great virtues. (Shah 2012: 75) But the empirical data from the Mahābhārata on
sexuality is highly diffused, giving a tantalizing glimpse of widely
differential societies and cultures. (Shah 2012: 69)The residual of the
past promiscuity exist in the epic as Pāṇḍu tells Kuntī,
“…in the olden days, so we hear,
the women went uncloistered, …….they were their own mistresses who took their
pleasure where it pleased them. From childhood on they were faithless to their
husbands, but yet not lawless, for such was the Law in the olden days…….this is
the eternal law that favors women.” (Buitenen 1973: 253)
This
behavior was later curtailed and restrictions were imposed upon the chaotic man-woman
relationship. (Buitenen 1973: 254) As
the norms governing the sexual relations changed over the time, the residuals
of promiscuous behaviors in the epic created
a situation of moral discomfort. One way to resolve this dilemma is to alter
the text in such a manner that the façade of the male prestige is maintained. It
is probably for this purpose, that many women characters in the epic like Satyavatī,
Kuntī and Draupadī, who have more than one man in their lives, have their virginity
restored before they are given to another man. The women do not become virgin again for their
own sake. It is only if she is to be given to another man that her virginity is
restored. It is also postulated that virginity is a state of mind. (Chaturvedi
2010: 161)This implies that a woman shall erase the memory of her earlier
relation before she is given to another man. A woman who has given her heart to
some other man is considered dangerous. Bhīṣhma refuses to give Ambā to his brother,
“What a man who knows the
perilous flaws of women would ever allow a woman in love with another man to
lodge in his house like a snake?” (Buitenen
1978: 506)
By
restoring virginity, the epic creates a narrative that husband is the owner of
woman’s unspoiled, intact body and mind and she should carry only his bloodline
in her womb. This also restores the honor of father/guardian, who was supposed to
protect the virginity of his daughter before he gave her in marriage to a
suitable groom. The epic obviously struggles to justify Draupadī’s polyandry by
interpolating different myths. (Buitenen 1973:319-320, 369, 371-374) Thus gives
a message that virginity is a prime virtue for a woman. She is doomed if she
lost it and needs to be rescued; if necessary by a boon.
The
expectation of carrying the bloodline of husband can be compromised in certain
cases as obvious from the different episodes of Nīyoga in the epic. (Khangai
2015:14-24)
Mādhavī-
Mādhavī’s
story is narrated in the Udyogaparvan
of the epic and she is also subjected to the textual manipulation of her body.
(Buitenen 1978: 398- 414) Sage Viśvāmitra
had a disciple named Gālava. As per the
usages of the time, the disciple wanted to offer gurudakṣiṇā; the
departing fees given by the pupil to his teacher at the time of completion his
studies. As Galva was poor, the sage refused to take anything but Gālava
insisted. This enraged the sage and he gave a very difficult task to Galva,
“Give me eight hundred horses,
each having a black ear, and having the luster of the moon” (Buitenen
1978: 398)
Gālava
worried over this difficult demand of his guru, goes to different places.
Finally he goes to king Yayāti and requests for the help. Yayāti says that he
does not have adequate wealth to give him for purchasing eight hundred such
horses, but he does not want to disappoint the Brahmin sage and is willing to
give his daughter to him. He adds that his daughter is capable of giving birth
to sons and is so beautiful that even the Gods want to possess her and any king
will give away his kingdom as a prize for his daughter, so what to say about eight
hundred horses. Throughout this conversation Mādhavī does not say anything;
neither she protest against her father’s decision of giving her away to stranger.
Gālava
walks away with Mādhavī and takes her to king Haryaśwa of Ayodhyā and request
for the horses in return of Mādhavī. The king says that he does not have eight
hundred horses but only two hundred. But the king becomes afflicted by desire
after seeing Mādhavī and request Gālava to let him produce one son on her. His
obsession is obvious by the way he describes Mādhavī’s beauty. (Buitenen 1978: 407) Now Gālava is in a dilemma, he had planned to
give Mādhavī to the king who can give him the desired eight hundred horses.
Here Mādhavī rescues him by reveling that she had a boon of becoming virgin
again after giving birth to a child and Gālava can give her to four different
kings and have eight hundred horses. This
is the only time she speaks in the story. The king produces one son on her and
after that she is taken to two more kings i.e. king Divodāsa of Kāśis and king
Uśínara of Bhoja. They both produce one son each on her and Gālava takes two
hundred horses of the same descriptions from each of them. Thus he collects six
hundred horses by exchanging the procreative power and sexuality of Mādhavī to the
three different kings for specific periods. The relations between Mādhavī and
the three kings do not remain confined to the reproduction only, but their
romance is vividly described in the epic. There is no stigma attached to her
relations with the next two kings even though she already had a son with the
first king.
Gālava
does not find remaining two hundred horses and finally goes to Sage Viśvāmitra
and requests him to take six hundred horses and also take Mādhavī. He also
tells the sage that three kings have already produced three sons on her and the
sage can also produce one more. The sage looks at Mādhavī and says,
“Gālava, why did you not give
this woman to me to begin with? I would have had four sons to prosper my line” (Buitenen
1978: 410)
After
this the sage accepts Mādhavī and produces one son on her and also accepts six
hundred horses. Gālava now takes Mādhavī back to her father Yāyati, who now
organizes a svyaṃvara, a bridegroom
choice for her. Many people, including kings come to this svyaṃvara as suitors. Mādhavī however selects forest as her
consort. The text further describes that Mādhavī entered the forest, practiced
austerity and was decked with chastity. (Buitenen 1978: 411)
Changing
value system-
The patriarchal anxiety to produce son is
obvious in the story. All the four sons remain with their respective fathers. The
king after king and even sage Viśvāmitra accepts Mādhavī, even though she had
already given birth to a child from someone else. Even after giving birth to
four children from four different men, her Svyaṃvara
attracts many suitors. This indicates that in the particular poetic tradition
from where this story has entered in the epic, premarital relation and pregnancy of unmarried girl was
accepted without blemish. The
sun God tells the same thing to Kuntī,
“..a free girl is on earth called kanyā
…….because she desires them all….All women are untrammeled, as are men” (Buitenen 1975 : 789)
Mādhavī is not given in marriage, but treated as
disposable property by men in her life who alienate her or her reproductive
capacity and sexuality at will. (Shah 2012: 46) The
story seems to have gone through lot of alteration and she is repeatedly made virgin
to bring her in line with the changed patriarchal perceptions. A boon is a
handy tool that is used as a façade to white wash the uncomfortable textual
legacy of the past.
Meaningful
silence-
Mādhavī’s silent but resolute rejection of all
the suitors at the time of svyaṃvara and
selecting forest as her consort challenges the patriarchy who wants to harness
woman’s sexuality and procreative power. But there is no whimpering about it in
the text! Does the sensitive mind of the poet gives space to her to express her
anguish/disgust with the world of men by rejecting them? Men had made use of her for sensual pleasure
and for begetting sons and she finally thought the life of celibacy will be
better than a life of a domestic bliss? Throughout the episode Mādhavī speaks
only once and that to support her own repeated mortgage. Patriarchy managed to
silence her at will and also managed to use her as an agency in her own
exploitation. Her sacrifices are not
complete here. The merit that she earned while leading the life of ascetic is
also sacrificed later for her father’s sake. (Buitenen 1978: 412.) Woman’s
sexuality and austerity both are put to use to serve the purpose of men.
Men’s
Dharma, women’s sacrifice-
It
was a Dharma of Yayāti to honor the
wishes of the Brahmin ascetic and it was the Dharma of Gālava to give gurudakṣiṇā.
Both are saved by sacrificing Mādhavī. Women’s sexuality is put to use to
uphold the Dharma of men is also narrated in a rather strange case of
Oghavatī, who provides sexual favor to the guest for honoring the Grihasthāshramādharma
i.e. householder’s duty of her husband. (Debroy 2014:503) As a reward for this,
Oghavatī’s husband goes to the abode of divine in physical body. Oghavatī also
does not incur any sin out of the act. So when the Dharma of men is at stake a sexual transgression of women does not
remain a transgression but she becomes co-partner in upholding the Dharma.
It is lauded in the epic that a householder should not refuse anything to a
Brahmin guest and he should be treated like a God. Oghavatī’s episode raises a
question if a wife had an independent personality or she is reckoned as one of
the household item? (Dange 2001:xx)
Yayāti’s
inability to provide adequate wealth to Gālava to purchase required eight
hundred horses is like a violation of the code of conduct for a Kṣatriya king
and not honoring the wishes of the Brahmin guest is supposed to bring great
calamity. (Buitenen 1978: 406). Yayāti’s redeems his inability by sacrificing the
sexuality and procreative power of his daughter at the hands of the strangers. The
text legitimizes Gālava’s repeated act of pimping a maiden because his obligation
towards his preceptor is more important.
Staking
of woman without her consent to settle the matter between men occurs repeatedly
in the epic. It is not only Yudhiṣṭhira who staked Draupadī during the dice
game with the hope to win back the kingdom, Kṛṣṇa whom Draupadī trusted also
tries to lure away Karṇa just before the Mahābhārata war with the offer of
becoming the sixth husband of Draupadī.
“And at the sixth turn you shall
lie with Draupadī” (Buitenen 1978: 444)
There
is no mention of Draupadī’s consent to this.
Stockholm
syndrome?-
Mādhavī
and Oghavatī’s willing compliance with the respective wishes of their father
and husband are examples of ‘hegemony with consent’. Women due to the psychological conditioning
that they receive since childhood become agencies through which patriarchal
perception is reinforced. They take pride in their subjugation to male
hegemony. Commenting on this Hirsi Ali writes,
“Because they have internalized
their subordination, they no longer experience it as oppression by an external
force but as a strong internal shield. Women who have mastered the survival
strategies derive a certain pride from living this way. They are like prisoners
suffering from Stockholm syndrome, in which hostages fall in love with the
hostage takers and establish a deep, intimate contact with them. But it is an
unhealthy intimacy, comparable to slaves who are subordinate not only in body,
but also psychologically, and who preferred the certainty of their existence in
slavery to a freedom that they perceive as treacherous.” (Ali 2008: 646-651)
Conclusion-
The
excessive importance given to virginity not only put women at disadvantage, it
creates a fear in the mind of those who are supposed to be responsible for her.
“The daughter was misfortunate
also because safeguarding her virginity was an exacting task. Unlike celibacy in males which symbolizes
their own self-control, the virginity of girls implies control over their
behavior by their kinsmen. Its loss, therefore is a loss of prestige for them” (Shah
2012: 82)
This
notion of sexual purity puts women to great disadvantage. During the communal
riots and rapes following the partition of India in 1947, many Hindus refused
to accept their women when they were brought back from Pakistan. (Karve 2008:190)
However
the epic does put limits to the tyranny of men and also put them under
obligation towards women. Bhīṣma has to pay prize for his wrongdoing to Ambā
and she became the cause of his death. Draupadī’s humiliation angers Kṛṣṇa so
much that he says that the men who have angered her will lie on the face of the
earth and their women will weep. (Buitenen 1975: 251) Bhīma is always eager to
please her and avenges her insult by killing all her tormentors. Women as a
mother also receive high respect. The Pāṇḍavā as are depicted as always being
obedient to Kuntī.
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