Women In Epics of India

Satyavati:

She was the adopted daughter of a Fisherman, rejected by her King's father. She dreamed of running the kingdom because she was born a princess and refused her rights. She was the mother to the extremely talented Krishna Daipayan, whom she rejected as he came on the path of her dreams. She mesmerised the emperor with her beauty. She made Devabrata into Bheeshma. The king died soon. Her arrogance led to the fall of her spoiled sons, and yet she desired more. She brought up her grandchildren with desires that later led to Adharma. She was Satyavati, Princess of Matsya, Queen of Hastinapur.

Draupadi

Yajnaseni:

She was born to be used as a tool of revenge; she knew it and had no say. Her Swayambhar was a flaw, as only he could win the archery contest. She was his winner's prize. He shared her with his brothers because his mother said so. She was the direct reason behind the greatest Dharma Yudh. She was disrespected for her polyandry and insulted time and again with perverted offers from her brothers-in-law and their allies. She never got to see her children grow, none of her husbands was truly hers, and she saw her own children die in war, but outside it. Her brother and father also died for her husband's throne. The husband for whom she wanted this war gambled her away, and even after her death, he blamed her for being partial towards his younger brother. She was Yagyaseni Panchali Draupadi, Queen of Hastinapur, Princess of Panchal.

Gandhari:

She was beautiful and received a boon to have a hundred children. She was her father's only daughter. She was forced to marry the blind, arrogant prince who refused to love her. He took away her only friend and made love to her, giving her a child. Her boon became her curse as all her children took the path of Adharma taught to them by her own brother. The brother who claimed to love her. She had to bear the pain of the murder of all her children. She was Gandhari, Princess of Gandhar, Queen of Hastinapura.

Kunti

Kunti:

She was the adopted daughter of her father. She got the boon of getting children from the gods. In her childish attempt at trying the boon, she made the biggest mistake of her life and the greatest of warriors was born. She had to give him up in the hopes of a good future. Her husband loved his other wife. She became the mother to his children. She found her lost child as his brother's enemy. She helplessly saw them fight, and her firstborn was killed. She saw her grandchildren die, and her mistake made her Daughter-in-law a shared wife. She was Preetha, Princess of Kuntibhoja, Mother to the Pandavas, and to Karna.

Uttara

Uttara:

She was married at a young age to a warrior prince. He died six months later, leaving her pregnant with an heir to the throne. All she wanted was a family and happiness. All she got was loneliness and anxiety. Her marriage was short-lived. He left her with an unfulfilled promise. She led a life full of duties and responsibilities. She was Uttara, Princess of Biratnagar, Matysadesh and Queen Mother of Hastinapur.

These five generations of women were the backbone of the family that led the greatest war in the history of Aryavarta. Where cousins fought and desire ruled, these women stood tall fighting with the world, regretting their mistakes and trying to be justified and Dharmi. They fulfilled their responsibilities towards the throne and people dutifully, but never got any personal happiness. They were all wrong somewhere, but so are all humans, yet these women stood united in grief when the whole of Hastinapur fell apart. The epics show women being abused, kidnapped, and humiliated time and again. They have no voice, yet they are the backbones of the system. Some say Draupadi caused the war, but why? Because the men gambled with her. Took away her dignity.

Sita (Marriage scene)

Sita:

She was won by him by breaking a bow. She was taken to his palace with promises of being the future Queen, but instead, fate led her to the forests, where she was kidnapped and taken hostage. After rescuing her, the question that haunted everyone was her Character, if she had given herself to her kidnapper. She was made to give the Agnipariksha. She stayed away from his palace in hermitage with her sons and committed suicide even when she met him after a long time and was again asked to give the Agnipariksha. She never once questioned him. She was Sita, Princess of Mithila, Wife of Rama.

The Lord says whoever insults women or however, women are humiliated he will come to their rescue, so he does in the epic. The words of the Lord are a promise. The men of Kaliyug are to learn from this. Whenever they have tried to forcefully take women or tried to humiliate them, these women had become their Yama, their Death and Destruction. He had said :

Whenever Righteous values are destroyed in Bharata,
I manifest myself in a form and return to destroy evil.

Krishna as Viswarupa

These women made the epics, and women in your life make yours. Epics are nothing but life lessons. The sooner people realise this and take the essence of these tales as moral values sooner there will be relief from this KaliYug. If we help ourselves, God may help us. Start with respecting the women in your life, your mothers, sisters, wives, daughters and friends. Maybe it will be a good start towards the prevention of a darker future. Every day, women being abused and raped are in the news media. This is Kal Yug, where women get abused every day. Our epics remain a reminder in history for those people who do this Adharma. They are filling the world with darkness, and one day, a Kalki will come to destroy all that is evil and alive, to prove again that people who do not respect women shall be cursed and killed.

YADA YADA HI DHARMASYA
GLANIRVA BHABATI BHARATA
ABYUTHANAM ADHARMASYA
TADATMANAM SRIJAMI AHAM|

Uttara's Hope

This is part of the "Uttara Series" You will find under the Mahabharata. The series is also available on Wattpad. She was clad in white attire. Her churamani and jewellery were all taken away. She sat numbly in front of his dead body for a whole day, pregnant with his heir, looking at his face as though he was asleep. He had told her more than once that this day could come and that she had to protect their heir. He feared her future without him. That one day turned the fifteen-year-old Princess of Matsya into an aged lady. She became quiet and aloof. Her only concern now was her baby. Her baby wiggled in her womb. She remembered him saying, " I will always be with you." All she wanted now was a son like his father. But she knew all Hastinapur wanted was an heir to the throne. The war had ended five days after his death, and they were back in the palace of Hastinapur victorious. She, for the first time, entered her real in-laws' home, but without him. All sh...

Asuras are not Demons

Demons in the Abrahamic religion are not the same as Asuras of Hinduism. Originally deities of Iranian origin, they were seen in the tribal context as no different from Devas but as counterparts to maintain balance. In early epics and Puranas, asura meant a chosen leader of great capacity. Only later, perhaps due to the Iranian link, their image declined. It was with the Brahmanas that the sharp divide appeared: devas as divine, asuras as evil. Puranic myths demonised them mainly to assert the superiority and immortality of devas, while asuras were cast as symbols of the "other." Since Tribes still worshipped them and embraced their power of negativity, being important to balance, they soon became synonymous with tribes, which was not the case mythologically. There are instances of Bali or Ravana being Kshatriya or Brahmin Asuras and competent kings. Indian demonology itself is vast and layered, shaped by surviving tribes, each with unique myths. Celestial, aerial, and terres...

Maharana Pratap: The Sun of Mewar

Many of you have read my fan fiction as well as historical representations of the life and times of Maharana Pratap Singh of Mewar. I provided small details of his life in many articles. But never have I ever made a separate historical post on him. It is very difficult to put together his life without the help of folklore because historical evidence is scarce. This one was requested, and hence here it goes. Needless to say, this one is very special. This is a blend of history and folklore. Leave your love. ❤️ Background and Birth: The year was 1540. Mewar was under a cloud of uncertainty. Banbir, their ruler for four years now, was a very incompetent ruler who always spent his time in luxury, drinking and dancing with girls. The crown prince Udai Singh was rumoured to have been killed by him. Chittorgarh was in darkness. Around March 1540, Mewar once again saw hope as some trusted generals, along with Kunwar Udai Singh, attacked Chittorgarh, taking Banbir by surprise. He was soon ...

Rakhi Tales

The year was 1535 CE. The Rajmata of Mewar, widow of Rana Sanga, was in a dilemma. On one hand was an attack from Bahadur Shah of Gujarat as a threat to her capital, Chittorgarh, and the throne of her beloved teenage son Vikramaditya. On the other hand, there was the son of her husband's archenemy, Humayun, who could be of some help. Rani Karnavati wrote a letter to Humayun, who was in the east at that time. Along with it, she sent a Rakhi, a thread of brotherhood, asking him, as a sister, for protection against the enemy. But the road was too long and time, of great essence. Humayun arrived at Chittorgarh, in response to her letter, keeping his end of the bargain but a little late. Rani Karnavati had already performed the Jauhar. They never met. Humayun established Rana Vikramaditya on the throne of Mewar, as he had promised as a brother, and returned to his post. Two dynasties, political rivals and sworn enemies, from Sanga-Babur to Pratap-Akbar and even Raj Singh-Aurangzeb, yet ...

Sisodiya: Kings, Queens and Princes (1538 - 1597)

I am back with another History post, this time it is on the wives and sons of Rana Udai Singh II of Mewar, his son and heir Maharana Pratap and Rana Amar Singh. This is a continuation of the Sisodia Family History I posted some time back. The information has been taken from Annals of Mewar by James Todd, Maharana Pratap by B.N. Rana, and Maharana Pratap by Rima Hooja. Udai Singh II was the son of Ranisa Karnawati and Rana Sangram Singh. He was born on 4th August 1 522, at Chittorgarh and died on 28th February 1 572 at Gogunda . He was the Ruler of the Sisodia Dynasty. He is believed to have 56 sons and 2 5 wives, apart from the many insignificant queens in his Rani Mahal. Here is a list of his main queens and their sons. Maharani Jaivanta Bai Songara of Jalore was his chief queen and consort. Her son is Maharana Pratap. He was married to her before he went to war with Banbir, as her father, Akshayraj Rao, was a friend and ally of his father, Rana Sanga. Saj...

The Emperor's First Wife

Ruqaiya Sultana Begum was born to Babur's second surviving son, Hindal Mirza, and his wife, Sultanam Begum, in 1542 C.E., merely a few months after Hamida Banu gave birth to the heir Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar. She was well-versed in Persian, Urdu and Arabic and was attracted to poetry and music. Being a proud descendant of the Timurid clan, most of Rukaiya's childhood was spent in Kabul, near the Bagh E Babur, built by Babur himself. From early childhood, she had seen the struggle of her family to regain their lost power in Hind. In 1551 C.E., just after her father died young at a battle for Humayun, leaving her and her mother in the harem of the emperor, it was Hamida Banu who wanted the marriage of Rukaiya to her first cousin, Akbar. Theirs was the first in-house marriage of the Mughals, soon to be followed by many more in the generations to come. At the mere age of nine, she had married the crown prince, and when Humayun won back Lahore, she was fifteen. At the mere age ...

Nawab E Bengal

Background: Nawab Alivardi Khan was ruling Bengal at the peak of Nawabi rule, expanding his strong empire. He had successfully suppressed the Marathas and had given a strong message to the British East India Company’s rising influence at Calcutta. Highly aware of the British Colonial policies across the globe, Nawab Alivardi Khan was strict with his policies and stronghold over Murshidabad, the then capital of Bengal (including present-day Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, and Bangladesh). He had two daughters and no sons. Amina Begum was the elder one, followed by Ghaseti Begum. Amina had three sons with her husband and courtier, Ahmed Khan. The second son, Mirza Mohammad, fondly called Siraj-Ud-Daulah (light of the country)by his grandfather, was born in 1733C.E. He was his grandfather’s favourite because he was born while he won over the Marathas. Alivardi Khan never let the “fortune child” of the family out of his sight. Siraj grew up accompanying his g...

The Reva Cries

Roopmati had watched the troops leave. She had stood behind the chief queen as she traditionally bid goodbye to her sons. She had waited for the Sultan to come to her. He did. He was confident that the sudden advancement of Akbar’s foster brother Adham Khan could be curbed. It was not war, just precaution. He reassured her. Malwa would never bow to the Timurids. And he would not let anything happen to her. To Her. Roopmati felt suffocated by her husband’s affectionate hug. She felt trapped in the scrutinising eyes of all the people in the palace. Angry, blaming eyes. She tried to pace herself and sing, but her voice cracked in fear. Her melody was drowned in tears. Every evening, a messenger would come to the chief queen with the news of war. Roopmati was kept in the darkness. She was not told about anything. She knew the rumours. She was a witch. A temptress who caused doom to the Sultan of Malwa. She was a spy of the enemy planted in his life to destroy him. She wondered if he came b...

Prithviraj Chauhan: A Saga

Note: This piece is a work of fiction based on folklore and the Prithviraj Raso, an epic saga by Chand Bardai, who happened to be the court poet of Prithviraj Chauhan. The dates corresponding to wars, names of people and places are, however, historically fact-checked from various sources, including the works of Todd (semi-historical), The Amir Khusrau and contemporary sources like R.C.Majumder. The incidents are fictionally woven. Rai Pithora Around the year 1140 A.D., Ajmer was ruled by Anangpal of the Tomara Dynasty. Delhi was the seat of power of the Sultanate, which was a constant power struggle for them. He managed to capture briefly most parts of west Rajputana, and present-day Haryana and Punjab were also part of his kingdom. The old king had a son and two daughters. His concern grew as his son Surya was not talented enough to rule Ajmer. His youngest daughter, Princess Karpuri Devi, was married to Someshwar Chauhan of the famous Chauhan clan. Their son, Rai Pithora, helped...

Mewar: Origin of Guhilots

Origin: Lord Rama had two sons, Labh and Kush . The Ranas of Mewar are descendants of the former. Labh had built his capital at Lah-Kot (Lahore) , and the branch from which the Mewar blue blood arrives resided there until Kanaksen (Often traced as the founder)moved to Dwarika, Saurashtra. "Sen" was used as a title term for many decades by this Suryavanshi clan until it later changed to "Dit" or "Aditya", names of the Sun. Aditya was changed to Guhilot permanently after the expulsion from Saurashtra when they settled in the Ahar valleys (Aravallis). The Sisodia clan sprang from a Prince of Chittoor who had killed a hard chase hare (sissoo in local dialect). The branch often used " Ranawat ", meaning "Royal Blood", as a title, but over time, Sisodia emerged as the retained branch name. Kanaksen wrestled dominance of the Parmar race and founded Birnagar in AD 144. Four generations hence, Vijay Sen ...

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