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:

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:

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:

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 have 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|

The Prince of Mewar

Born on 16 March 1559 in the Kumbha Palace of Chittorgarh Fort, Bhanwar Amar Singh was the eldest son of Kunwar Pratap Singh (later Maharana Pratap) and Kunwarani Ajabdeh Punwar. As the first grandson of Udai Singh I, his birth prompted the Maharana's celebratory hunting expedition, during which a sage forewarned of impending danger. Heeding this, Udai Singh established a new palace by Lake Pichola, founding Udaipur as Mewar's capital. Amar Singh exhibited extraordinary valour from a young age, inheriting his father's martial skills and his mother's reputed compassion. His training commenced early; according to James Tod's Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, he participated in his first battle alongside Pratap at age eight. By ten, amid Chittorgarh's fall and familial divisions, he assumed responsibility for his siblings. Historical accounts recount his defence of the queens' entourage against enemy soldiers en route to Kumbhalgarh fortress. He shared a clo...

Jahanara Begum Sahib: The Sufi Princess

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The Warrior and Princess

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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...

Rakhi Tales

A Rakhi to the Enemy: 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 was of the 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 R...

DAMODAR GANGADHAR RAO : The Ill Fated Heir

In the shadowed halls of Jhansi's royal palace, a nine-year-old boy named Ananda Rao stepped into a destiny of struggle he was not born into. Born in 1848 to Vasudeo Rao and his wife, Ananda Rao was surrendered to the childless King Gangadhar Rao and his fierce young queen, Manikarnika (Manu), better known as Rani Laxmi Bai. It was November 19, 1853, on the king's deathbed, amid whispers of adoption rites that bound the boy to a throne teetering on the edge of empire. Queen Laxmi Bai was just nine when she married the 29-year-old widower Gangadhar. She had already endured heartbreak. Her biological son, Damodar Rao, arrived in 1851 but slipped away after three short months. With Gangadhar's death in 1853, Vasudeo, a distant royal relative, was instructed to hand over Ananda's adoption papers. Renamed Damodar Rao, the boy became Jhansi's last hope. But hope was fragile under British eyes. Enter the Doctrine of Lapse, Lord Dalhousie’s ruthless policy that devoured pri...

Chawand: The Maharana's Capital

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History: A Political Storytelling

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Taj Mahal

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