The Moral Values Of Vyasa In The Mahabharata

2415 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Women roles in hinduism mahabharata

INTRODUCTION
Epic literature, with close bearing on the moral values, ethos and beliefs of society is of paramount significance. Epic stories have always been an integral part of any culture and as such are capable of generating interest of the learned as well as of the illiterate. In the recent past there has been a revival of the mythological themes in literature, theatre and television serials inculcating a new interest in the epics and its characters.
On the whole the living literary tradition like the Mahabharata, performs the dual function of recreation and reinterpretation of Indian society. Every period of social transformation tends to dig in this vast storehouse of knowledge for understanding the eras gone by and also for understanding …show more content…

Highlighting her pathetic situation, she laments:
Leave me alone! What will they say? There are elders and learned men in the hall. Look at my condition! To drag me in my period before a crowd of men … It is shameful, where is dharma of Kurus? (Lal 133)
But Dushasana drags her even harder and mercilessly replies: "It matters very little whether you are in menses or having only one cloth or none at all. You have become a bond-slave pledged in dice (Narar 58).
Yajnaseni realizes that all the so called great men, her husbands, other people sitting in the Sabha are cowards and can not defend a helpless woman. She stops praying for help and seeks justice as a living being from king, whose foremost duty is to provide justice to all his subjects. She asserts: “I do not beg anyone for pity, I demand justice. To protect the honour of woman is dharma of king. Then does it befit the Kuru kings to insult the bride of their own clan? (238)
It is Sabha Parva that jolts her completely and she takes control of her life after this traumatic episode in her life. Hereafter she empowers herself and challenges the Kuru …show more content…

In spite of being respectful towards the conservative and traditional roles assigned to her by the long standing mores, she has the courage to question the values that she finds suffocating her very being. The role model of Sita was acceptable in Indian society at one point of time for it represents the cardinal virtues of forbearance and self sacrifice and this role model does not carry currency now. Ray’s Yajnaseni by liberating herself from the Sita role model that she was happily emulating till the Sabha Parva proves the unsuitability of this self sacrificing role model. Yajnaseni exhibits the courage to fight the system to purgate it of the ills, so that no other Draupadi is humiliated in future. She rises to avenge her insult and does not sit quiet till is

Show More
Related

  • Two Ways to Belong in America

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mukherjee then begins to compare and contrast her sister in a subject-by-subject organization. She states, “…she clings passionately to her Indian citizenship and hopes to go home to India when she...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Gone With The Wind

    527 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the reading it described that epics are known for their extravagance and that often they have the characteristics of heroism and bravery. I...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Dadi's Family

    1900 Words  | 4 Pages

    There is no day off being a woman in a household, either being a sister, daughter, daughter in law, or mother in law there is always a task assigned to you. In Dadi’s family, Dadi describes being a woman as being an inferior caste. Being a woman includes being submissive and being able to work hard in a household for the family. Dadi sheds light on her experience when she was once a new daughter in-law. Women were to cover their face from father in laws and brother in laws as to show respect to the men. Dadi also expresses that as a new bride there were no rights for women, except though the men. Although times has changed from Dadi being a new bride, times has not fully changed completely as when Darshini and Sita became daughter in laws. The preparation of new brides shows a patriarchal mentality. The film expresses that women are taken away from their families and are married into a family of strangers as they join the male’s family. The brides are obligated to leave their homes and their past life all behind to live in their groom’s home. The women are forced to adapt to the male’s lifestyle and to subside the life they were living as individual women. Women’s main

    Read More

  • Coping With Death Essay: Coping With Death

    1175 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sripathi’s intolerance of spending money on anything but himself leads to the disgust of his wife. During the planning of Maya’s engagement, he worries about “how much that [would] cost” (102) and even calls his wife a “foolish woman” (102). This is significant because it shows that Sripathi cannot bear the thought of splurging on his daughter’s engagement. This shows that he does not care about pleasing other people who are invited to ceremony; rather, he cares about his own financial future. Through the exchange between him and his wife, Sripathi is portrayed as a selfish person who only cares about his own opinions. He even belittles his wife for not accepting his opinion as the best idea. However, after Maya’s death, Sripathi copes by becoming more empathetic. He recalls what he has done to Maya and wonders how he will be able to face his grandchild with the knowledge that he is responsible for her mother’s death (245). This is significant because Sripathi begins to reflect and consider how others feel. Through this personal thought, this reveals how much his character has changed since the death of Maya. He now understands that he will not be able to face his grandchild because of how disowning Maya contributed to her death. Sripathi now tries to atone for what he has done to Maya by attempting to get closer to Nandana. This helps him to

    Read More

  • Self-Interest as a Driving Force in Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things

    1426 Words  | 3 Pages

    Roy asserts that people’s fears of upsetting the power balance based in the caste system often leads to a blind acceptance of the status quo and a continuous sense of self-deprecation by individuals at the bottom of the hierarchy. When Velutha’s father fears that his son’s affair with a Touchable will have potentially disastrous consequences for him, he serves his own self-interest and is willing to endanger is son. He exposes the affair to the grandmother of the woman his son is having an affair with, revealing the extreme degree to which caste and conforming to societal norms drive the behaviors of individuals in Indian society; “So Vellya Paapen had come to tell Mamamachi himself. As a Paravan and a man with mortgaged body parts he considered it his duty…they had made the unthinkable thinkable and the impossible really happen…Offering to kill his son. To tear him limb from limb” (242). His fear of disrupting the status quo (i.e. the Indian social hierarchy) is so great that he is willing to sacrifice his own son’s life to protect his own. Rather than considering the genuine...

    Read More

  • Compare Aeneas And The Odyssey

    1405 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although both epics justify a status quo, codify a national mythology, preserve cultural memories, and establish literary tropes, they are united by sensibility and are traditionally poetic. They both almost have the same exact core values such as in the end, but project influence into a number to areas of cultural identity. Once more, after analyzing both texts, it is possible to conclude that Aeneas is the better leader, and The Odyssey is the greater epic. Knowing that this is the proper proposition made, this affects the readers of both well-known stories.

    Read More

  • Epic Heroes: Characteristics Of An Epic Hero

    1353 Words  | 3 Pages

    Greek mythology is a beloved part of literature that has given humans thousands of stories to tell. From stories about deadly quests, powerful deities, to the even more famed aspect of Greek Mythology, its epic heroes. One of the many authors who took inspiration from Greek Mythology, and will serve as reference for this paper, is Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. 1988. The most well known epic heroes from Greek Mythology which Edith Hamilton writes about in her book are Hercules, Jason, Perseus, and Theseus, but the debate lies in which of these heroes is the best. To which the answer is, Theseus is the better epic hero because he possessed superior strength, intelligence, and courage, he was the most just from all other heroes,

    Read More

  • Epic Hero In Beowulf

    1048 Words  | 3 Pages

    Beowulf is characterized as an epic hero by possessing qualities in which common mortals lack, battling for the common good, and displaying honor in every act. An epic hero is the central character in an epic, a long narrative poem that recounts the adventures of a legendary hero in pursuit of a goal. According to Jankowski, “Understanding the significance of Beowulf 's acts requires an understanding of the key figures in the epic poem” (1). Epics have been used to preserve values and traditions. They are a rich resource for exploring the history and values of different world cultures. The epic hero character is a larger-than-life figure who is typically of noble birth. An epic hero uses his/her courage, skill, and virtue against

    Read More

  • The Classical Mythology

    1184 Words  | 3 Pages

    Homer is credited for writing epics that generate source materials for the modern world. The Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer are captivating stories with fascinating heroic characters. The Homer stories share with classical mythology typical recurrent motifs. The two Homer epic poems focus on the Trojan War, and its result. The epic poems contain the Greek mythology featuring the Greek gods, goddesses, mythological creatures, and the Greek heroes, and heroines. In addition, the principal motifs typical of classical mythological hero stories are; the dominance of fate, evil fighting against the gods, and death. In both the classic mythology, and he modern fiction hero stories, the heroes always have a helper in their expedition, but ultimately, they have to stand alone, face the darkness, and conquer it in order to become victorious.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Menstrual Blood

    879 Words  | 2 Pages

    This reinforces the idea that the topic of menstrual blood and menstruation itself is an unsuitable subject for open discussion. These ideas about menstruation presented to us in religious texts and reinforced through mainstream media, are the main factors in the development of women's silence on the subject of menstruation.

    Read More

  • Roles of Women in Vedic Culture

    3373 Words  | 7 Pages

    “The general subject of [Jamison’s] book is the conceptual position of women in early Indic culture, but it is not designed as an inclusive overview of women in ancient India and all the institutions and attitudes affecting them. Rather it focuses on a single, apparently marginal female role-the activities of the wife in solemn ritual… and isolates a set of conceptual functions the wife fills in ritual practice” (Jamison 4).

    Read More

  • Comparing The Epic of Gilgamesh with The Odyssey

    1263 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey both are held in high respect by literature analysts and historians alike for the characterization of the hero and his companion, the imagery brought to mind when one of them is read, and the impressive length in relation to the time period it was written in. The similarities that these two epics share do not end with only those three; in fact, the comparability of these works extend to even the information on the author and the archetypes used. However, The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh contrast from one another in their writing styles, character details, and main ideas. Both epics weave together a story of a lost man who must find his way, but the path of their stories contrast from one another.

    Read More

  • Colonialism In Derek Walcott's Black Skins, White Masks

    2957 Words  | 6 Pages

    Madan Lal with his slippery morals and a general disregard for women denounces the very rubrics of nationalism constructed around the feminine. He openly flaunts his sexual prowess to seduce two women from the same family brazenly defying the codes of conduct befitting a nationalist. The death of Sabhrai in the end reinforces the image of the self-sacrificing mother (redeeming womanhood) which can save a nation/son in distress. Champak the transgressing wife shows the about face of the venerated woman who can forego her chastity to fulfill her carnal desires. The women amply project the double consciousness inveigling the colonized nation. The women as sole custodians of the so called immaculate nationalistic feelings are interrogated through characters like Beena and

    Read More

  • Mahabharata Case Study

    1478 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shakuni, the King of Gandhar kingdom and most intelligent and powerful villain of Drauparyug whose ego and resentment destroyed him, was again alive but this time he had no power with him. He couldn’t use his illusion or the power of hypnotism to make someone trust him the way he wants. Shakuni was still struggling to understand why Krishna sent him here, and then suddenly saw two women quarrelling with each other. He walked closer to them where they both were arguing in full enthusiasm.

    Read More

  • the title of Vijay Tendulkars SILENCE THE COURT IS IN SESSION

    838 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the present play Vijay Tendulkar chooses a term of judicial register as the title of his play to make a powerful comment on a society with a heavy patriarchal bias that makes justice impossible and that converts the august judicial system into an instrument of oppression of women and the vulnerable. Ideally justice can be provided only if the judge and the judicial system are objectively detached. But the same objective detachment can become the face of a very repressive and dehumanized system if the persons involved in the process of justice are themselves devoid of human value and compassion.

    Read More

More about The Moral Values Of Vyasa In The Mahabharata

Open Document