Lamentations of women in Mahabharata...

         *Lamentations of women in Mahabharata....

*Gandhari reaching zeal through patience....

*Every girl has ideas about the man she is going to marry. There is no princess who does not dream that her husband should be brave, handsome, rich and above all efficient. Raised in the care of his father and brother, in the comforts of the palace and the comfort of his wives, Gandhari also had dreams. The princess, who had lived a life of complete pleasure without any responsibilities till the time of marriage, naturally has the right to dream that it would not be Bhishma when the proposal of marriage came from Hastinapuram. But the princess, who grew up without seeing the outside world, had to face the terrifying truth when she reached Hastinapuram. Her dreams are shattered when she learns that her own husband is a hero but blind. She wept for her helpless parents before the power and glory of Hastinapuram. She worked hard to start life by taking a solemn vow. She closed her eyes vowing that she would not see the world that her husband had not seen. Perhaps this was the biggest mistake Gandhari made.

 Was it an escape from the truth?*

* Dritarashtra, her husband who is the embodiment of the inferiority complex who always find faults and shortcomings. A sly brother, Sakuni who finds out that his sister has been cheated and joins her in the palace. Was Gandhari averse to being the crown prince of a great kingdom? But she was happy when she became the mother of a hundred sons. Here are a hundred sons to protect her and her blind husband's clan. She raised her sons only by listening to everything without interfering in the affairs of the country. She was silent before her husband's excessive filial affection. She did not learn how to raise children. In Hastinapuram, where male supremacy was enshrined, she was a mere clay statue in front of her husband and children. On the other hand, Kunti Devi raised her children very efficiently. They are able to adapt to problems in life and overcome them. But the Kaurava children grew up in pleasure and did not take responsibility in life and lived in the arrogance of power and pelf . As the years went by, their grudge against the Pandavas was only increasing. And the war happened.

* Gandhari did not know that Dharma was being washed away from under the feet of his children. As each of her sons died in the terrible war, she became more and more afraid. She was eager to hide the incompetence of her own children and blamed others for the cause of the war. However, the mourning of a mother who has lost her children and that of a mother who has lost a hundred children is terrible. When Panchali was brutally tortured in the Kaurava Sabha, Gandhari did not hesitate to beg Panchali not to curse them. She could only watch as her own children turned wicked.

* Gandhari's life was always full of disappointment. When she finally reviews the cause and effect of the war, her index finger goes to Charioteer Krishna.  Yuga Purusha Sri Krishna knew it coming and accepted the curse.

 Those who speak the language of the heart may justify this lamentation. Those who speak the language of intelligence can pretend not to see this. The grief of a mother who lost a hundred sons remains true…..*

It is for your thought and judgement ! 

Talepiece :

 ( Gandhari was the daughter of Subala, the king of Gandhara, the present day Kandhahar , eastern  part of Afghanistan, from which her name is derived. Gandhari's marriage was arranged to  Dhritarashtra, the eldest prince of the Kuru kingdom.

Gandhari bore a hundred sons, (collectively known as the Kauravas), and one daughter Dushala who married Jayadratha. The Kaurava, principally Duryodhana and Dushasana, were the villains of the Mahābhārata, and were all killed in their war against their cousins, the Pandava, at Kurukshetra.)

Gandhari was also a pious devout  and  in particular an ardent worshipper of Lord Shiva. Gandhari's sacrifice of her eyesight and her austere life was to gain  great spiritual power from penance on Lord Shiva.

Gandhari made a single exception to her blindfolded state, when she removed her blindfold to see her eldest son Duryodhana in battlefield. She poured all her power into her son's body in one glance, rendering Duryodhana's entire body, except his loins, as strong as thunderbolt.

Sri Krishna  foiled Gandhari's plan by asking Duryodhana to cover up his privates before meeting his mother. On their decisive encounter on the eighteenth day of the Kurukshetra battle, Bhima  smashed Duryodhana's thighs, a move both literally and figuratively below the belt.

All of Gandhari's sons were killed in the war against their cousins, the Pandavas, at Kurukshetra, specifically at the hands of Bhima. Upon hearing the news, it is said that through a small gap in the blindfold, her gaze fell on Yudhishtira's toe. His clean toe was charred black due to her wrath and power. When she heard the news of the death of all the sons of Pandavas (Upapandavas), she embraced the Pandavas and consoled them for their losses. Later her wrath turned to Krishna for allowing all this destruction to happen. She cursed that he, his city and all his subjects would be destroyed. Krishna accept the curse, with a divine smile.

Gandhari ended her life with her husband and her sister-in-law Kunti in the Himalayas, where they died in a forest fire.

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