Gandhari - A tale of domestic violence

Tywin Lannister

Meself 21-4-2018 01:26 PM
As it has already been established, Mahabharat has too many interpolations to be taken into consid ...

It was not a lump of flesh, it was the attempted abortion !! And, in my opinion, neither Dhritarashtra, nor Pandu was worthy to become KING.
The only person who was rightful, the one who chose to sit on the sidelines with a huge pain in his heart, because his father married a woman almost equal to his age & promised the throne to HER offsprings.

I guess you know who he was !!!

The fate of Hastinapur was decided the day when King Shantanu, driven by lust, agreed to the terms of Dasraja, Satyavati's (or Satyakali's) foster father.

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 21-4-2018 03:52 PM
It was not a lump of flesh, it was the attempted abortion !! And, in my opinion, neither Dhritaras ...

In my opinion the person who should have been the king was Vidur. He was a balanced man who understund both the theory of kingship and the art of war. Bheeshma might look like an ideal candidate but he was largely inactive. His inaction again is one of the causes of the war. He knew the kind of treatment Pandavas were being given yet he stayed mum. He plundered Gandhar and Kashi to secure for Kuru clan brides who could further the lineage of Kuru. He knew he was wrong but he did not oppose it. Again during the wretched game of dice, he could see and understand what dastardly turn the game was taking but he did nothing. To me that makes an awful ruler. Bheeshma is called the mighty and the just. And while I agree with the former title, I see him unfit for the latter.




And yes I agree, the Kuru clan and the old order of ethics was doomed the day Shantanu chose Satyavati to be his bride. It set about a chain reaction that ended with death of the Kauravas and so many people of Aryavarta.

Meself

About Durvasa being Karna's father. I highly doubt that theory because Durvasa was way beyond the age to father a child. While Karna is attributed as Surya's son, I personally like to believe he was from the dynasty of Angirasa. Yes the original telling has a lot of divine ploy but if we do look closely, it all boils down to the struggle of power between two clans who were 'supposedly' born of Bramha. The Varuna clan or the first born and Angirasa or the firewrights. Karna to me was a firewrights, while Kunti's other son belonged to firstborn clan. It then makes sense that why Kunti couldn't keep Karna with her. The society back then didn't oppose adoption or children born out of wedlock. But the condition was that the dynastic arrangements must not be disturbed. The Kshatriya of Aryavarta were all believed to be from the firstborn dynasty hence they could chose partners only among that periphery. Kunti I believe chose differently and hence was forced to give up that child/boon. We could assess it by stripping the divine cover which makes the old order of ethics stronger and more water tight. Or we could see it all as a ploy of divine wherein the gods came down on the earth. Either way it shows political lacking in the early women of the narrative. With the arrival of second generation a lot of things change.




About Yudhishthir being Vidur's son. Vidur was impotent too, so it puts him out of place too. For most part he was either Pandu's son; which is highly unlikely, or was born through niyog as the seed of some firstborn seer or a man from this dynastic setup. Plus we can always go back to the theory of it all being a divine ploy.

Tywin Lannister

Meself 21-4-2018 08:42 PM
Yudhishthir wasn't the son of Vidur per say. He was the son of Yama. And he was born when Pandu wa ...

Draupadi & Subhadra became actively engaged in a much later period, when the die was cast already... Anyways, I liked your analysis & the fact that you didn't mark me as an "anti-national" when I stated my opinion & deduction that Yudhisthira was Vidura's son...

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.

Tywin Lannister

Meself 21-4-2018 11:03 PM
I find the notion of people getting butthurt, because their opinions are shot down by others, high ...

I do have a few deductions about the biological fathers of the rest four Pandavas as well. Will elaborate in another article if time permits !! Anyways, it was nice to have a healthy chat with you on this topic..

niya

not sure if gandhari was tortured or subjected to domestic violence.however it is a known fact that Gandhar feared invasion by Bhisma if
they rejected to marry off their daughter to the blind king.so ya gandhari was forced to marry n did not marry willfully.
next fact that she had pressure to deliver first n fast also highlights how she was forced to participate in competition to produce a kingly heir.
but she was not forced to cover her eyes.had she been forced to cover her eyes she would not have developed the power to turn her sons body
to iron via her eyes.so i feel she willfully kept her eyes covered n accumuated power through meditation devotion to Shiva.
also i feel Vyasa wanted to show if both the parent are blind both mentally(as in over indulgence) n physically then how children lacks characters
n virtue.

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.

Tywin Lannister

Meself 23-4-2018 09:56 AM
Please, open a thread and put it out there. I would love to read your theories. Pandavas and their ...

Please allow me some time, will surely do !!