Gandhari - A tale of domestic violence

Tywin Lannister

Did you know that Gandhari was actually forced to cover her eyes with a piece of cloth, because of her skeptic & shrewd husband??

Lets look into the background of the story :

Where did Gandhari hail from ? Gandhar or modern day Kandahar which was a boundary-ally of Hastinapur. Because it formed the boundary & paid taxes to the capital, Gandhar was always looked down upon, although they protected the centre from outside attacks.

King Subala of Gandhar was very eager to get his daughter one of the princes of Hastinapur & Dhritarashtra, being blind & hence unable to become King, was the candidate he got for his daughter. Dhritarashtra was also extremely shrewd, jealous of his competent brother (a common trait among the physically handicapped) & always scheming against him. He was supported by Kanik, the prime-minister & the primary conspirator behind poisoning of Bhima on a later date.

Now, after marriage, Gandhari was pressurized to such an extent that she had to cover her eyes with a piece of cloth, so that she doesn’t engage in any frivolity unknown to her husband. Later, she was “branded” as an epitome of virtue.

In fact, when Kunti conceived Yudhisthira, she was subject to such mental torture by her husband for “losing” against her competitor, that she actually tried abortion. She was saved in the nick of time by Ved-vyas, who had some knowledge about medicinal herbs.

Otherwise, what do u think of the “Akaal Kushmanda” case?

Gandhari’s story was the one of extreme plight, torture & domestic violence, sugar-coated with virtue.

parivijesh100

Gandhari is the most stupid character. She married a blind person but in place of assisting him, she also become blindfolded, But saw world again to save her child.

Meself

Tywin Lannister 22-4-2018 11:02 AM
I do have a few deductions about the biological fathers of the rest four Pandavas as well. Will el ...

Please, open a thread and put it out there. I would love to read your theories. Pandavas and their parentage is one of the most controversial and interesting fact in the Mahabharat.

Meself

Tywin Lannister 21-4-2018 10:46 PM
Draupadi & Subhadra became actively engaged in a much later period, when the die was cast already. ...

I find the notion of people getting butthurt, because their opinions are shot down by others, highly stupid.


Mahabharat is an epic that holds relevance even in this day and age because it talks about instinctive human cravings and working of the human mind.....not because involvement of so and so gods .Yes, looking at it through divine lens does away with the hassle of scrutinizing everything under a microscope but really doesn't help in establishing. Even if for arguments sake we are to agree that Pandavas were the sons of the gods, it doesn't take away the biological imperative. So when that is established why not look into it through a more humane lens. As I said, I personally believe that it was dynastic fued, fuelled with clashing ideas and idealogies. In the greater scheme of things the Kauravas, the Pandavas and their allies were just pawn of the great change.




I do like, search that, love your theory of Vidur possibly being the father of Yudhishthir. It kind of makes sense given we have the practice of niyog being talked about as well. But I also like to hold the theory of them being from the order of firstborn, while Karna was a firewright and Draupadi standing in the threshold of these two conflicting ideas and turning into the weapon of change.

Meself

Tywin Lannister 21-4-2018 03:48 PM
I second your opinion about Gandhara.

But if you say Kunti had no political power in Hastinapur c ...

Yudhishthir wasn't the son of Vidur per say. He was the son of Yama. And he was born when Pandu was one exile along with Madri and Kunti. Also Vidur had more actively engaged with Pandavas and Draupadi than Kunti. She simply had the title of Rajmata.


Well I do believe that both Kunti and Gandhari tried to outdo the other with trying to give birth to the heir of the Kuru throne. But then again they really had no real power. Kunti for all her ambitions and shrewdness lived in the shadow of Kuru clan in the royal palace without making a power faction. Yes she had the boon by Rishi Durvasa that she call the gods and make them grant her wish, but did she really use it wisely? When she married Pandu and discovered his impotency and adulterous nature, she could have easily used her boons to secure her position. Having Karna was probably a mistake, but with Yudhishthir she was asserting her position in the Kuru politics. Here she failed. She had the power to bring the gods to the mortal ground yet she did nothing extraordinary. All she had was ambition, she lacked a solid plan to see her dreams turn into reality. About Gandhari, then we've already seen how her choice led to her own doom. Dhritrashtra was devoted to her through a very selfish string and not because of love or conjugal duty. Gandhari tried but failed miserably to consolidate her powers through Duryodhan. Even after his birth the bulk of his life was dictated by Shakuni and his ploys pushing Gandhari's role further back.




And about Gandhari forcing herself to set about her abrotion. It's a leaf picked out of regional renditions. The child she was carrying was her only golden ticket to secure a position if power. But her prolonged pregnancy that stretched for a period of 12 months again failed her. She had in anger tried to forced herself to give birth, not tried to abort her child. This version was shown on Star Plus's rendition of Mahabharat in the year 2013. And she had given birth to a mound of flesh which was dissected and put in oil jars by Vyas and sealed by chanting certain mantras. Out of which Duryodhan and Co. were born. By this time Kunti had given birth to the spare in Bheem. Gandhari's effort really bore no fruit. Same with Kunti, even with an heir and spare she really had no say in court politics of Kuru. She remained a silent spectator. We see Draupadi, even Subhadra taking active part in the state politics, Kunti seems to do nothing more than add in her own two cents from time to time.  

Meself

Tywin Lannister 20-4-2018 12:33 AM
Good..You are coming to the point.
Now tell me how can the daughter of a frontier province king (o ...

As I said before Gandhar was a rich kingdom. Their militia was lacking, yes, but this had no effect on their ever growing prosperity. They had high yielding land and were rich. Also they were Shaiva Kshatriya much like the Kurus. Of course any alliance between Gandhar and Kuru would fetch Gandhar a higher position in Aryavarta and the Kurus prosperity. And it is wrong to say that only women of certain Janpada held high position. Even a Dwij was of heavy political importance because before consolidation of the entire Aryavarta, each Janpada wanted to out do the other. Kuru, Panchal and Magadha were leading the race which was ultimately won by Kuru given their alliances with Gandhar, Madra and thereafter Panchal and Dwarka.




Next up about the influences of Kunti and Gandhari. Well neither of them had any real political power. Both were dismissed in the Kuru court. Kunti had been stripped of her position as a Maharani by Pandu without her say and Gandhari was always a decorative queen. Kunti probably had two important roles in the entire retelling. Of being a catalyst by birthing Karna and then by asking Draupadi to wed all her five sons. She doesn't wield any political power like Draupadi did. So saying that she had an influence is pretty much an anomaly, if she indeed was that influencial she would have asserted for the rights of her children something she never did.

soothsayer

i wd always refer to ved vyas version handed down over the ages. the others are based on what authors interpret

Mitu.delghy

Really ?? Hard to believe anyway.

theReddy

what is akaal kushmanda?

soothsayer

disagree completely with this version. domestic violence was very limited then and none of what you say has any literary backing

jayyogeswarusa

This could be your perspective and your own take on the epic which doesn't support original epic by ved vyas. This is the reason which immortalizes Mahabharata, at different ages, people take different things from it.  

Meself

Mahabharat has 'n' number of interpolations. So it could be that this version sprung up thanks to someone's hyper-imagination. But the canon never has it. Dhritrashtra was a jealous buy practically a spineless man. He wasn't a cruel, masochist who would derive pleasure from anything remotely that mad. For all his faults he was devoted to Gandhari. The dialogues between them during the second half of Mahabharat points to the same. Gandhari had willingly chosen to be blind, a move that Dhritrashtra had protested against initially but Gandhari hadn't listened.




So, no, Gandhari was never a victim of abuse or anything the modern day apologists say.

Meself

Add to it, the practice of 'niyog' existed during the Mahabharat era. Kunti was never questioned about the parentage of her kids nor was any woman questioned about the parentage of their kids if they begot them through the practice of 'niyog'. Dhritrashtra, Pandu and Vidur were themselves born out this. It's just a moderb day apologists's rendition.

Meself

theReddy 18-4-2018 11:55 PM
what is akaal kushmanda?

She is one of the incarnation of Parvati.

themaskeditor

Never read this stuff, seems more like fiction then reality

Tywin Lannister

soothsayer 18-4-2018 08:50 PM
disagree completely with this version. domestic violence was very limited then and none of what you  ...

What exactly do you mean by literary backing? Which version of Mahabharata will you take into consideration?

Tywin Lannister

theReddy 18-4-2018 11:55 PM
what is akaal kushmanda?

The story of how the Kaurava brothers were born. It is said that Gandhari delivered a "kushmanda" that is a lump of rock. This was submerged in water/any other solution by Ved Vyas & the Kauravas were born from it. If u try to grasp the crux of the matter, devoid of allegories, you will understand Gandhari actually tried an abortion, which was saved in the nic of time by Ved Vyas.