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sambhavami · 24 days ago

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Women in Mahabharata - Kunti

T.W. Assault.

Ahalya Draupadi Kunti Tara Mandodari tatha.

She is born as Pritha, the oldest child of Aryaka-Shoora and the sister of Vasudeva, Krishna's father.

The first complication in Kunti's life is revealed on the eve of the war of Kurukshetra, when she says to Krishna these lines:

"Pitaram tava eva garheyam na-atmaanam na Suyodhanam, yenaaham Kuntibhoja-yah dhanam dhoortaira iva-arpita!" [My father did this- I blame neither myself nor Duryodhana, when he gave me away to Kuntibhoja like I was a bag of cash!]

"Baalaam maama Aaryaka-sa tubhyam karindati kandu hastakaam, adadaata Kuntibhoja-yah sakha sakhye mahaatmane!" [When I was young enough to play with a ball at Aryaka's house, he gave me away to Kuntibhoja, to honour his friend's friendship, and became this great man!]

"Saaham pitraa cha nikritaa, shvashura-ishcha parantapa, atyanta-dukhhita Krishna kim jeevita-phalam mama?" [Rejected by my father, tortured by my father-in-law (Bheeshma/Dhritarashtra), bearing such dejection, Krishna, what is the value of my life?]

This adoption should have happened (if it was inevitable) when Pritha was an infant, and not when she is 9-10 years old and already attached to her biological parents. When Pritha is torn away from everything she knows and loves in Mathura, her parents, siblings and friends, and thrown into this unknown land in India’s heartland, into the household of this almost-a-stranger uncle of her, there happens a fundamental shift in her brain. The abandonment issues and the insecurity that bubbles up as a direct result of her father’s actions, casts a long shadow over the rest of her life. This experience sets her up for a long life of mistrust of her surroundings and a razor-sharp survival instinct that often crosses the line right into cruelty.

With a second’s notice, Pritha becomes Kunti, transforming from a girl to a woman, far before her time. The insecurities in her brain are farther complicated when she hears that her father has pretty much wiped her off the family tree, and is parading her younger brother Vasudeva-Aanakadundubhi as his firstborn.

Now, Kuntibhoja is not a monster, he raises Kunti with reasonable love and independence. Still, there always remains a distance between them, thanks to, again, Kunti’s age and awareness during the adoption.

One day, after this, when some time has passed and Kunti is almost a young lady, Durvasa appears at their doorstep. Knowing the rishi’s nature, Kuntibhoja runs to Kunti, imploring her to take up the responsibility of keeping the rishi happy. Now, here comes another complication: Kuntibhoja knows how Durvasa is, and he is still asking Kunti to step in, on his behalf. The question is whether he would do the same, if Kunti were his biological daughter? The question arises in Kunti’s mind too.

Kuntibhoja says, “You’re a smart woman, Pritha, the great Aryaka-Shoora’s daughter, Vasudeva’s sister! Your father has delightedly given you up to me! And yet, you know how women from inferior families are by their nature fickle, so I must warn you to remember your humility!”

How did this dialogue enter Kunti’s sensitive, teenage mind? “Pritha” (and not Kunti), “delightedly given you up”, “inferior families” and “remember your humility”? Is it like this that if Durvasa’s happy then you’re Kuntibhoja’s pride, but if you mess up you are Shoora’s shame?

She responds, “My King,” with all the respect suited to a member of his staff and not his daughter, “Your command to serve this brahmin is beneficial to me as well.” Then she dedicates herself to serving Durvasa, like a son, like a student, like a sister.

Kunti later confesses to Vyasa, “I had many reasons to take offence, but I was silent.” What a terrifying turn of phrase immediately following the descriptors Vyasa gives above!

After a whole year of atrocities, Durvasa is finally satisfied. “Even with so much effort, I cannot find any fault with you!” He says (you were trying to?!). He offers Kunti a boon, but she rejects it, and Durvasa, even more pleased, addressed her as ‘anavadyaangi’ [unparalleled beauty] and offers to teach her a secret mantra, one that would attract even the Gods to her. First of all, why did he look at a 11–12-year-old Kunti and decide that this course of action was appropriate? Also, if we are to try and remove the layer of magic from this mantra, did Durvasa just teach her to flirt?

One day, early in the morning, she wakes up and seeing the rising sun. Curious to test her mantra, she calls upon Surya, the sun god himself. Alternatively, did she just see a person from the Deva tribe, on vacation, just strolling by the riverbank off of her balcony? Either way, once she realizes that the mantra works, terrified, she asks the man to leave.

Surya immediately, tightly grans her hand, and changes his tune, “Once I have come here, I won’t return until you’ve ‘paid’ me. Your father doesn’t know I’m here, so I wish to have a child with you, and you will comply, or else…All my friends are also watching, and I won’t have them make fun of me on account of your rejection! You are still young, and hence I am still talking, otherwise…”

When Kunti realizes that she cannot escape him, she starts negotiating. She wants, for starters, a promise that this incident will remain a secret. When Surya agrees, Kunti asks for his kavacha-kundala for the child. Maybe Surya takes them off, as some sort of a future child support? If Kuntibhoja finds out and then throws her out of the house, then she can at least sell those and raise the child!

The obviously Surya does what he wanted to, and disgustingly, Kunti loses consciousness, and that doesn’t stop him. She only comes back to her senses when Surya has left. Remember, the girl is thirteen still! We should remember that, and how this entire incident played out, before tipping the scales completely in her son’s favour.

Kunti then hides her pregnancy from her father with loose drapes and overall secrecy. She gives birth to the child, alone and silent and scared, with only a young, friendly midwife for company. After this, she puts the baby in a basket, seals it off and sets it afloat on the river Ashva (more likely she probably sent off the midwife to find a good family). She is absolutely broken by this action that she has to take, but she simply cannot keep him and still give him a good life when she herself has almost no standing within the family!

A couple years go by, and Kunti is now known across the subcontinent for (1) her beauty, and (2) more importantly, her religious propensity. Kuntibhoja arranges a swayamvara for her and Kunti is immediately drawn to and ultimately chooses Pandu.

Here, there are a few things to be said. For starters, right before the swayamvara, we see Bheeshma and Vidura discussing Pandu’s marriage prospects. Bheeshma, here talks about Kunti as the ‘Yadavi girl’. Researchers speculate that the Yadavas and Kurus might have had a primary agreement, and the swayamvara was just a farce.

I’ve written somewhere before that Bheeshma and Vyasa are veritably the two sides of the same coin. So, it is not a stretch to see that when Vyasa has an obvious soft spot for Gandhari, Bheeshma covers for Kunti from day 1. Bheeshma tells Karna, many, many years later, that he knew about him from before the swayamvara. He was in fact impressed with the finesse Kunti had shown in handling her situation (and her mantra, obviously), and had decided that she was the perfect candidate to become the Kuru-kingdom’s next Queen.

After the marriage, Kunti still spends most of her time in her religious endeavours (most probably a technique to avoid ‘romantic times’ with Pandu owing to her own trauma relating to the same), and Pandu, who most likely already knew that he couldn’t have kids, spends his time happily conquering around, knowing that his wife is not going to find out about him very soon.

Only, Bheeshma, the ever-nosy grandfather, sympathetic to Kunti’s trauma, thinks that maybe Pandu is intimidated by her sanctimonious personality (and I feel like Bheeshma is also in denial about Pandu’s issues, and only accepts it after the curse incident), and gets him a ‘barbie doll’ in the form of Madri (this is a criticism of Bheeshma, not Madri) to play with, thinking even Kunti will be glad to have an excuse to stay away.

Now, much as Kunti didn’t want to ‘play’ with Pandu, her abandonment issues resurface full-force, aimed at both Bheeshma and Pandu, when Madri arrives in Hastinapura. Only one month after this marriage, Pandu leaves again to conquer kingdoms, comes back and then takes his wives to the forest, gets cursed and then permanently moves out to the forests. In this time, Pandu had called the people who used ‘niyoga’ dogs (maybe from his mother’s experience), but eventually comes back to the same solution.

Pandu takes Kunti out in secret one day and asks if she had any children before their marriage and that he wouldn’t judge only if she let him adopt them. Even with such a free rein, Kunti stays silent about Karna. Perhaps, her fear about not letting her fathers down had morphed into not wanting to let her husband down, by admitting that he hadn’t been her ‘first’. Then, when Pandu tries to convince her to perform ‘niyoga’, she pleads with him (almost begs him) to not make her go through with it. Although she doesn’t share her story with him, we the readers know exactly what trauma is fuelling her terror at this moment.

However, in the face of Pandu’s crestfallen face, she finally tells him about Durvasa’s mantra, but not Karna. She somehow suppresses her trauma in the face of her love for her poor husband. She agrees on the condition that she wouldn’t have any control over the process: when, where and with whom, everything was to be determined by Pandu.

The real process of it was most likely harrowing (at least from my perspective). Since they lived pretty close to the trade route, Kunti probably had to go sit on the road, wait for a person matching Pandu’s list of criteria, and then lure him back with the mantra. Still, she does it, just because she loves him.

First with Dharma, she has Yudhishthira and then with Vayu, Bheema. After this, Pandu decides to up his game, and perform Tapasya before the next child. This time, we see Pandu much more involved in the process, as he, with Kunti, performs tapasya over an entire year, and actually talks with Sakra-Indra, the then king of the Devas, as they make an agreement, and Arjuna is born.

Then, Pandu asks again. This time Kunti, despite her love for him, is annoyed. Already, we can see just how humiliating the previous three times has been for her, never mind the trauma that has been so thoroughly re-invigorated. Researchers go as far as to even discover a kind of a k*nk on Pandu’s part.

Then, Madri corners Pandu one day, accusing him of unfairly favouring Kunti. She refuses to give up her veneer of a don’t-care attitude, and asks Pandu to order Kunti to teach her the mantra, because she wants a son but will not herself bow to Kunti to get it done.

Pandu too, knowing Kunti’s resolve, agrees readily. Kunti too takes some pleasure in being able to finally get a hand above her co-wife who had been so unfairly tied to her so soon after her marriage. She allows Madri to use her formula, but with a warning to her to use it only once.

When Kunti sees that Madri has summoned the twin Ashwini gods, she is furious, and goes to chastise her husband saying a lot of things, among which there are several derogatory quips about Madri’s character (‘ku-stri’).

One day, when Yudhishthira was almost a teenager, Pandu, distracted by the weather walked off into some cave, and Madri followed him, notably, her dress only half-tied. Then, Pandu dies, mid-process, and Madri yells out for Kunti, and warns her not to bring the children.

When Kunti sees Pandu dead, it’s like for some time her brain stops working. When Madri recollects the incident, she admits to Kunti that yes, she had followed Pandu, and been flirtatious. However, it had been Pandu who had ‘attacked’ her. How tragic, that Kunti, in this moment, does not recognize that her life’s primary trauma has just been reenacted here, act for act!

She devolves to blaming Madri. Among other things, she also brings up Madri’s kingdom, which we know, how the MB Aryans had become racist against Madra and Gandhara. The words Kunti uses here to insult Madri will be heard once again, directed at Madri’s brother himself and they will come from none other than Kunti’s oldest son!

When Kunti declares that she is going to commit sati (not by fire, rather asphyxiation), Madri stops her, saying (1) she fears that Pandu might be unsatisfied without her in heaven, and (2) she would not be able to give the same impartial care to Kunti’s sons as Kunti could give to her twins, and kills herself, right there in front of Kunti.

Then, their neighbour rishis, pack them up and deliver them, alongside the corpses of Madri and Pandu, to Hastinapura. Kunti and her sons are then given a rather modest lodging, and even when Bheema is poisoned we see that Kunti has no one to lean on apart from Vidura, and even he seems unable to really help her out at this time.

Many years later, when the Pandavas have finished their education, Kunti’s first son walks back into her life, and she watches in horror as two of her sons pledge lifelong enmity to one another.

Then, during the Varanavat, we see somewhat the cruel streak in Kunti, where she, with a clear head, knowingly pushes a Nishada woman and her five sons towards a sure death while she herself and her sons run to save their lives. After this, again she slips into her normal compassionate self, where Hidimba finds it more productive to just propose marriage to her, than waiting around for Bheema to clock it, and Kunti too gives her the respect of the Kuru-family’s first daughter-in-law, and designates her son Ghatotkacha as a ‘kuru-putraka’ [a Kaurava child] even though Bheema and Hidimba never technically get married. She also then pushes Bheema before the Baka-rakshasa in Ekachakra leaning on the absolute trust she has on his physical prowess.

Finally, Vyasa comes to herd them off to Kampilya, and leaves for her a hint as to what to do with Draupadi (this is most probably a retcon, but is good for drama nevertheless). When Arjuna and the brothers bring Draupadi to her, without seeing she asks them to all share her. Then, she is quite sorry, and Yudhishthira too primarily releases both Arjuna and Draupadi from this conundrum, but Arjuna himself falls back into it again. But then, after many debates with many people, finally Draupadi gets married to the five brothers and they all return to Hastinapura. Right after the marriage, Kunti hands off the baton to Draupadi as she gives three ‘jobs’ to her new and the first official daughter-in-law: (1) to crown herself the Queen of the Kurus with her husband (Yudhishthira) by her side (2) to crown Yudhishthira as the King of the Kurus by her own authority, and finally (boringly) (3) to produce an heir for this throne. When they go to Indraprastha, Kunti enjoys a rather short-lived retirement as Draupadi happily picks up the mantle of being the annoying voice-of-conscience for the five brothers.

When the Pandavas are about to leave for their 13-year exile, she refuses to speak to them, talking instead exclusively to her daughter-in-law, trying to give her the courage to survive this before returning to Hastinapura to live with Vidura this time. She tells Draupadi to take extra care of Sahadeva (reminds her to feed him and lull him to sleep like she did, pushing Draupadi to take on almost a maternal role with her youngest husband) and then laments that if she had known this would happen, then she would not have come back from Shatasringa at all, and then tries in vain to stop Sahadeva from also going to the forest.

At the end of the exile, we see her first lament to Krishna about how all wives on Pandu’s side, especially herself and Draupadi, have always been disrespected by Hastinapura, and she presents an extremely rousing speech to be conveyed to her sons. She goes as par as to say that by not avenging Draupadi’s insult with enough violence, her sons have disrespected her as well. She says she would not even bless them, and consider her sons dead to her, until the moment that they finally declare war on Draupadi’s offenders.

Kunti also blames Karna equally, and the nicest thing she can think to say about him is that Karna never thinks before he acts.

However, she still thinks to try one last time and come clean to Karna about her past experience. Problem is, that Karna already knows. Even beyond the conversation he has with Krishna some time back, he probably has known about Kunti for quite some time now. Kunti doesn’t know that she hasn’t got the element of surprise that he had been banking on.

When he spots Kunti standing in the sun, he introduces himself with quite some salt in his words, “Raadheyohaham Aadhirathih” [born of Radha, the son of Adhiratha]. It works, and Kunti, with some anger in her voice, recounts her story in short, with much less emotion than she had hoped to imbibe. Karna curses her out, in ornamental language though, and refuses to change sides. Kunti, reading the finality in his tone, embraces him for the first and last time, and leaves with a promise from Karna to not kills the four Pandavas aside from Arjuna. She is however heartbroken as Karna sends her away without once calling her ‘mother’.

When, after the war, Kunti final comes clean to her remaining sons, Yudhishthira, almost out of character, starts lashing out at her, believing that Karna switching sides might have stopped the war. He goes as far as to curse at all womenkind for her decision. Neither Kunti nor Krishna however tell him just now that they had each tried, in their own ways but had been rejected.

After the war, we see Kunti serving Dhritarashtra and Gandhari, almost like a daughter. I feel like, her actions here, devoid of any apparent remembrance of the injustices meted out to her, is the product of a quiet sense of superiority. Perhaps, somewhere subconsciously, she likes that the two people who were the primary reason for her suffering are now so absolutely dependent on her. I do not think that was Kunti’s primary reason though, on the surface, she was probably just following society’s rules of the submission of the younger family members to the elders.

When the ex-royal couple finally leave for the forest, Kunti quietly leads them herself, only breaking the news of her wish to stay on with them to Yudhishthira when they are already in the forest. She apologizes to her son for never having told him about Karna, instructs him to remember his brother, and resolves to atone for it by leading the hard life with her remaining in-laws. Among other things, she warns Yudhishthira to never scold her favourite Sahadeva.

Some researchers posit also that she had taken great offence to how Yudhishthira had insulted her love for her firstborn all those years back, and she wasn’t going to wait around in Hastinapura for that disrespect to escalate, maybe from latter generations too, if not from her own sons.

After some time, not able to stay away, the Pandavas run back to Shatayupa’s ashram again to see his mother, uncle and aunt. Here too, Sahadeva, runs to embrace her ‘like a child’. He even begs to stay with her from here on, refusing to return to the capital until his brothers physically pry him off. Now, in Vyasa’s and her entire family’s presence, Sahadeva still held in her arms, she again confesses, apologising once more for abandoning Karna, and requests Vyasa to show him once more, this time with the full glory of being a brother of the Pandavas and Kauravas. Vyasa, gives his finally verdict, declaring Kunti completely innocent in the face of her family situation, and uses some magic to bring all the dead back to life for a night. Kunti watches on, with complete satisfaction, as her six sons finally unite on the bank of Ganga.

Yudhishthira too asks to stay with his mother, serving all three of them, and tells Kunti that he is no longer enjoying being Hastina’s ruler (did he ever?). Kunti forcefully sends all of them back, and dies soon after in a forest fire, along with Dhritarashtra and Gandhari.

#hindu mythology #art #mahabharat #original artwork #digital painting #women in mahabharata #kunti #pritha #yudhishthira #krishna #arjuna #sahadeva #tw assault

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ramayantika · 1 year ago

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Devi Sita (Goddesses, Rishikas & Women)

Spring had passed away with blooming lotuses, mating birds, and the call of the koel. Sita, who adored Vasanta out of all seasons, had to spend the most romantic season in captivity by the fearsome ruler of Lanka.

Not one day went by when Sita could breathe in peace. After turning down his advances, Ravan, in a thundering voice, ordered Sita to be sent to Ashok Vatika and to be continuously tormented every day, every moment, until her strong will breaks.

The Rakshasa clan is a merciless one. Their females, the Rakshasis, even more. Their ruthlessness and barbaric ways are known to strike terror in the hearts of people, and ascetics have always been troubled by their repeated assaults.

The Rakshasis, as per the orders of their king, spent no moment to torment Sita. From throwing icy cold water to wake the drowsy Sita to butchering meat in front of her, on some days where they wanted to play with Sita’s emotions a little more, they would narrate how Ravan would butcher Ram’s flesh in front of her.

Spring passed into summer. The humid climate of Lanka made Sita perspire immensely. Sweat clung to her skin, and the sun shone brightly on the fair princess, who sat silently under the shade of one of the Ashoka trees, her mind constantly thinking about the whereabouts of Rama and Lakshman. The summers were brutal for Sita. Though she had spent so many years in the deep forests, she did have plenty of fresh fruits and water to nourish herself, unlike her situation in Lanka.

The Rakshasis starved her, dehydrated her to a great extent, and laughed when one fiery afternoon she fainted. Only when the Lankan queen Mandodari arrived to visit Sita did the queen strictly order food and fresh water to be brought to Sita.

If the days were filled with terror and threats, the nights, though spent alone, were filled with nightmares for Sita, who often woke up screaming Rama’s name, only to feel the cold, gusty wind brush her slender flesh and the rocky bed under the tree where she took shelter.

Yet, Sita, despite all her mental and physical wounds, always admired the beauty of Ashok Vatika. The clear lakes filled with exotic blooms and beautiful sculptures in dancing poses reminded her of Ayodhya. Marigold bushes reminded me of Mithila. The serene fragrance of the yellow and orange flowers made her fondly think of the garlands she wore around her arms and feet in Panchvati. Sita rarely smiled in the picturesque garden. She never got the chance to sit there happily, but there were rare moments in the company of the lush trees and flowers, like one day when a few squirrels nuzzled to her and she smiled truly and lovingly at the small, adorable creatures.

But living beings are capable of sympathy and pity, even for a brief moment at least, but pity and compassion do arise in their hearts. It could be out of guilt or maybe an honest realisation of their crude actions, but somehow, compassion comes out, and the stony hearts of the Rakshasis did melt a little with the cold, stormy showers of monsoon in Lanka.

One night, a raging storm blew by Lanka. The howling winds had extinguished the fiery torches that lit the gardens and courtyards of the grand palace. The Rakshasis too ventured inside to take cover while a frail Sita sat beneath the same Ashoka trees, knees huddled together and arms across her chest with chattering teeth as the torrential rains pelted against her lithe body and her surroundings.

One of them, named Ratangi, combed through her wet, curly hair when her eyes fell on Sita. Sita, who with each day appeared thinner, her lustrous and radiant face etched with greyness and dry texture, signs of ill-health and despair, sat with her eyes closed and her dry lips muttering the name of Rama. Though Ratangi and her companions sat afar, they could read the familiar movement of Sita’s lips to decipher Ram’s name.

Ratangi had pointed to another companion and pointed at Sita. The other Rakshasi rubbed her eyes and said, “She is the enemy, but it would be a lie if I said that I don’t admire her resilience. So many months have passed by, with no sign or message sent by her husband, yet she is steadfast in her belief about him. Such immense strength is admirable indeed.”

Ratangi’s eyes softened towards Sita. Her thick, bushy eyebrows came together in a frown as she said, “Don’t you think we should help her? The storm is brutal, and she is already so thin and frail. It will kill her.”

The other Rakshasi nodded at Sita’s condition but questioned, “What about the king’s orders? And if by any chance the princess gets to know that we have helped her, we will be punished.”

Ratangi dryly commented. “The princess enjoys tormenting this poor woman. She derives a sick joy from it.”

The rain mercilessly pelted the concrete grounds of the gardens. Some of the large ornamental trees had been bent down to combat the rain and winds. Ratangi and her companions looked at each other’s faces and then back at Sita, who had started shivering, but not once did her lips stop uttering Rama’s name.

Ratangi got up in desperation. “This woman doesn’t deserve to die in such a pitiful way. I am getting her over here.”

Gathering a straw hat kept against a wall, she quickly leaped to Sita with large strides and picked her up when the familiar sound of anklets made Ratangi halt in her steps.

“Maharani Mandodari.”

Mandodari, the chief queen of Lanka, stood in the harsh, stormy rain without a cover. She looked at the petite Sita in Ratangi’s arms and caressed Sita’s forehead. “We are all going to pay for this sin.”

Ratangi’s eyes lifted back to the queen, who stood with a passive expression on her face. Mandodari simply said, “My husband doesn’t strictly monitor Sita’s health or her lifestyle here. I can’t free Sita, but as a woman, I can make her life a little easier.” Checking for Sita’s pulse, Mandodari continued, “Sita is to be nursed back to health with treatment by our royal physician. None of the Rakshasis are to be engaged in troubling Sita any longer. Do your guard duties, but none of those sick illusions and cruel remarks. I can’t stop Shurpanakha, but make sure that none of the Rakshasis join her to make Sita’s life worse than hell any longer.”

Ratangi and Mandodari walked to bring Sita inside to provide some warmth to her body. “We have performed enough sins that we have the noose of Yama hanging around us. Let’s leave behind some good deeds, at least for the queen of Ayodhya.”

And from that stormy night on, Sita’s life in captivity in the lovely garden of Lanka improved. She was fed the juiciest of fruits, nutritious grains, and pulses, and nobody ever served her murky water to drink. The Rakshasis sometimes gave some of their garments to Sita, who graciously accepted a few of them.

***

“Why are you still hell-bent that your Rama will free you? Don’t you know Ravan has captured so many powerful warriors and hasn’t even spared the gods too?” Ratangi cries out to Sita, who sits as peacefully as a sage immersed in meditation.

“I am not afraid of death, Ratangi, or my husband. I know Rama, but you don’t. He is kind as a dove, but when in rage, he becomes the destroyer himself.”

Some moments ago, Ravan arrived at the garden to threaten Sita to submit to him. “If you don’t submit to me, O Sita! You will meet with terrible destruction at my hands after a month! This very day, a month from now, I shall devour you."

Sita, who had enough of Ravan’s violent and intimidating threats, especially after the cruel incident where Ravan showed the beheaded Rama to Sita to break her mind, silently challenged Ravan’s final warning with a fixed, fiery gaze.

Ratangi and a few other Rakshasis who had grown to like Sita grew terrified at Ravan’s threat. After the Lankan king left the garden, they rushed to Sita and sat around her feet.

The afternoon sun drenches the entire garden in golden light. The large trees cast dark shadows on the ground, but unlike the hot winds of summer that pricked everyone, the cool winter breeze brings a pleasant sensation to Sita and all the other Rakshasis in the garden.

Sita, in her tree bark garments and long cotton scarves, looks at the shimmering water of the lake. The swans bask under the sun, their eyes closed, as if enjoying the warm company of the sun. Sita smiles and keeps a cheek on her eyes as a small smile curves on her lips.

Ratangi, however, finds no peace, unlike Sita. She asks, “How can you sit so calmly? You only have a month to live. You don’t even accept our help to cross you over to your land. Even if Rama and your brother-in-law Lakshman cross the ocean, how will they penetrate the defences of our kingdom?”

Some months ago, Sita would always sit morose. Shurpanakha never left any chance to insult Sita or scare her with brutal images of Rama’s death. But Sita was a courageous princess, a woman with the resolute determination to survive all odds.

‘My Raghunandan will fight even the gods for me. He is my strength, and I am his. He will fight on the battlefield with your king soon and take me away. And my battle is here in this garden, all alone. I keep winning every day, and I know Rama will avenge me soon. Ravan’s pot of sins is overflowing.’

The other guards gasp. Sita calmly, with a brave look in her eyes, looks at no one but the calm lake. Sita’s words were blasphemous!

Ratangi and her companions look at one another. Astounded at Sita’s indomitable spirit, they closed their eyes and prayed to fate, for they seldom believed in the celestials above to bring Sita and Rama together, at least for one last time.

And what’s a king without his loyal people and followers? Ratangi and her companions grew kind and stretched a hand of friendship to Sita, but in battle they would side with their emperor. A sign of true and maybe flawed loyalty in terms of the ‘greater good’.

Nobody speaks a word. Sita no longer looks at the crushed flowers beneath her feet, but her eyes always fall on the loveliest of flowers that bloom in the garden. The cold doesn’t bother her anymore, and she gladly welcomes the sun on her body.

It’s only a matter of time, and like a lion, will my Rama take me away from here?

A chain of events brought about the ominous sign of Lanka’s destruction. Ravan’s soldiers, servants, and all the guards, Rakshasas and Rakshasis, try their level best to douse the fire burning away their kingdom like a raging forest fire.

Ratangi notices the blazing look in Sita’s doe-like eyes and gulps. The entire Ashok Vatika, too, burns. The dry twigs and leaves serve as fuel to let the fire capture everything in its vicinity. Sita stands on the concrete platform, her head high, and for a brief moment, she sees Hanuman leap across the large roofs of the palace with a fiery grey trail in the sky.

Flames surround Sita, and though she has seen endless fires in her nightmares, this time her face bears a glow as radiant as the enormous orange flames around her. She braces the powerful heat emanating from the fire and draws her eyes close once again with her lips, remembering Rama’s name like the chants of a mantra.

Sita’s open hair flying in the strong winds and the fiery radiance of her face make her appear like Devi Durga, and never did Ratangi think about bowing to another woman except the royal ladies of Lanka. Her head bends down automatically in reverence, fear, and awe at Sita.

Ratangi had seen Sita as the delicate doe-like princess when she was brought to Lanka. She saw how Sita was the rightful queen of Ayodhya after displaying her firm grit to survive and to stay stable after months of mental and physical torment, and tonight Ratangi saw Sita look like a powerful goddess of destruction.

She only mutters one statement after witnessing the surrounding flames destroy everything in their wake. “Lanka is doomed.”

--- xxx ---

The last second chapter of my short story collection titled, Goddesses, Rishikas & Women. There are other stories, some that you all have read, and the rest shall be revealed later in the future.

This scene is my imagination of Sita in Ashok Vatika. I hope I could do some justice to Sita's character.

And if you want to find more updates about this book, you can head over to my id: @samridhi.writes for all book updates and excerpts (meko audience bannani hai apni vahan so you all would mean the world to me 🥹💗💖)

Taglist: @swayamev @jukti-torko-golpo @navaratna @kaal-naagin @alhad-si-simran @houseofbreadpakoda @inexhaustible-sources-of-magic @krishnaaradhika @krsnaradhika @ramcharantitties @krishna-priyatama

#samridhi writes #desiblr #hindublr #goddesses rishikas & women #sita #ramayana #short story

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aranyaani · 3 months ago

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so the other day I was listening to the Ramayana pravachan of this man, Chaganti Koteswar Rao, who I personally think has the best knowledge of Ramayan in this country (it's a shame his pravachans don't come with subtitles because the whole country needs to listen to it). Anyway the story got to the part where Mandodari is standing before Ravan's corpse and talking to him of all the mistakes he made. And my god, bless this man's soul, he explains her grief so beautifully! Never seen anyone call Mandodari the greatest pativrata barring Maa Sita.

I hate how underrated this moment is because look how eloquently she speaks, with such dignity and self respect and also pity for a man who lost everything because he couldn't control his senses

And in the pravachan he says something very beautiful - that a true pativrata wife would stand shoulder to shoulder next to her husband with complete self confidence that she's just as good as her husband and that only she deserves to be his wife and nobody else and he said Mandodari set an example for how a woman fully confident in herself should act. and that really took me by surprise.

Mandodari goes on to talk about how Ravan's greed eventually led to not just his downfall but hers as well. She lost her husband, her children, the palace, the wealth and comfort, everything lost in a matter of a few days. I like how in the pravachan he uses this moment to preach to the men who are listening that their conduct dictates the fate of their wife. That's what's called using your platform responsibly.

#hindublr #hinduism

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ambikachouhan3519 · 7 months ago

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#GodKabir_In_Treta_DwaparYug

Divine play in Treta Yug

In the Treta Yug, Kabir Sahib came as Muninder Rishi. Then He took Hanuman ji, Mandodari, Vibhishan, Nal-Nil, Chandra Vijay and his entire family under His shelter.

True Knowledge By Sant Rampal Ji

📱Visit our YouTube Channel-Sant Rampal Ji Maharaj

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midnightfreedom · 1 year ago

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"Decisions might follow a protocol in the royal court, but in the king's brain, it is always personal."

~Koral Dasgupta

#current read #mandodari #inspiring quotes #books #bibliophile #bookaddict #books and libraries #i love books #book quotes #koral dasgupta #history #ravan #kumbhkaran #Power #immortality #mortality

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goodthings777 · 7 months ago

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Divine play in Treta Yug

In Treta Yug, Kabir Parmatma manifested as Rishi Muniinder. He also met Chandravijay and his wife Karmavati, who lived in Lanka during Treta Yug. At that time, he imparted knowledge to Ravan's wife Mandodari and his brother Vibhishan and took them under his shelter. Due to this, even while living in Ravan's kingdom, he followed Dharma (righteousness)

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astrovastukosh · 9 months ago

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👉Four living beings: Andaj, Pindaj, Swedaj, Udbhij. 👉Four voices: Omkar, Akaar, Ukar, Makar. 👉 Four Ashrams: Brahmacharya, Grahastha, Vanaprastha, Sanyas. 👉Four foods: food, drink, lehya, choshya. 👉 Four efforts: Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha. 👉Four instruments: Tat, Sushir, Avandva, Ghan. 👉Five elements: Earth, Sky, Fire, Water, Air. 👉Five Gods: Ganesha, Durga, Vishnu, Shankar, Surya. 👉Five senses: eye, nose, ear, tongue, skin. 👉Five actions: taste, form, smell, touch, sound. 👉Five fingers: thumb, index finger, middle finger, ring finger, little finger.

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👉Five tastes: sweet, charkha, sour, salty, bitter.

👉Five airs: Prana, Apana, Vyana, Udana, Samana.

👉Five senses: eye, nose, ear, tongue, skin, mind.

👉Five banyan trees: Siddhavat (Ujjain), Akshayavat (Prayagraj), Bodhivat (Bodhgaya), 👉Vanshivat (Vrindavan), Sakshivat (Gaya).

👉Five leaves: Mango, Peepal, Banyan, Gular, Ashoka. 👉Five daughters: Ahilya, Tara, Mandodari, Kunti, Draupadi. 👉 Six seasons: Winter, Summer, Rainy, Autumn, Spring, Autumn. 👉 Six parts of knowledge: Education, Kalpa, Grammar, Nirukta, Chhanda, Astrology. 👉 Six Karmas: Devpooja, Guru worship, self-study, restraint, penance, charity. 👉 Six vices: lust, anger, pride, greed, attachment, laziness. 👉Seven verses: Gayatri, Ushnik, Anushtup, Vrhati, Pankti, Trishtup, Jagti. 👉Seven vowels: Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni. 👉Seven notes: Shadaj, Rishabh, Gandhar, Madhyam, Pancham, Dhaivat, Nishad. 👉Seven Chakras: Sahasrara, Ajna, Vishuddha, Anahata, Manipur, Swadhisthana, Muladhar. 👉Seven times: Sun, Mon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn. 👉Seven soils: Cowshed, stable, elephant shed, royal gate, Bambi soil, river confluence, pond. 👉Seven continents: Jambudweep (Asia), Plakshadweep, Shalmaliweep, Kushdweep, Kraunchadweep, Shakadweep, Pushkardweep

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