Gandhari –
Saddest and Most Powerful Woman
Gandhari is a
less sung heroine of Mahabharata. She was brave and powerful with deep traits
of dharma and adharma (for the better). She tried guiding Duryodhana through
righteousness and was sad on failing in it.
Gandhari was a
beautiful princess of Gandhar (Qandahar - a small kingdom with region
spanning northwestern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan) ruled by King
Subala who was the contemporary of Bhishma half-brothers, Chaitrangad and
Vichitravirya. Gandhari had obtained a boon of 100 sons from Lord Shiva and
Bhishma knew this.
Bhishma was
looking for suitable wives for his nephews - Dhritarashtra and Pandu (and
Vidura too). Bhishma felt that Gandhari would be an ideal wife for
Dhritarashtra, the eldest (blind by birth) prince. As he was blind, Pandu
became the ruler and hence Gandhari couldn't become the queen.
Gandhari faced a
difficult life. When she heard that she was to be married off to a blind
prince, she chose to blindfold herself for the rest of her life. There are many
opinions on this. Some (majority) say that this was the epitome of her
sacrifice and she thus qualified herself to be an ultimate pati-vrata (a devout
wife) and then sat in the ranks of Savitri, Sita, Damayanti, etc. Modern
thinkers say that this was her snub to the society for not having given her the
choice - a swayamvaram style.
Folklore says
that this marriage was brought out of force by a show of strength. This
"bulldozing" caused Shakuni, the brother of Gandhari, to flare up in
anger, but could do nothing. Folklore also says that he swore
eternal vengeance on the Kurus and made it his lifelong purpose. Movies
and films (as well as many books) liked this drama angle and happily adopted
the myth.
Gandhari bore a
hundred sons, (collectively known as the Kauravas), and one daughter Dhushala
who married Jayadratha.
After Pandu’s
death, Dhritharashtra was ruling and hence Gandhari became the queen. She was
always considerate to Pandavas and was always upholding Dharma.
That is why
though Gandhari's sons were portrayed as villains, the Mahabharata attributes
high moral standards to Gandhari. She repeatedly exhorted her sons to follow
dharma and make peace with the Pandavas. Gandhari was especially close to Kunti
who respected her like an elder sister.
Gandhari made a
single exception to her blindfolded state, when she removed her blindfold to
see Duryodhana rendering his entire body except his loins invulnerable to any
foe. This was however to prove fruitless as Bhima smashed Duryodhana's thighs
in their decisive encounter on the eighteenth day of the Kurukshetra battle, a
move both literally and figuratively below the belt.
The Kauravas,
principally Duryodhana and Dhushasana, were the villains of the Mahabharata,
and were all killed in their war against their cousins, the Pandavas, at
Kurukshetra.
Gandhari was
also devout; an ardent worshipper of Lord Shiva. Gandhari's sacrifice of her
eyesight and her austere life was to grant her great spiritual power.
Gandhari's anguish in the loss of her hundred sons resulted in her cursing
Krishna in effect ensuring the destruction of the Yadavas. It is also said that
through a small gap in the napkin in which her eyes were blindfolded, her gaze
fell on Yudhisthira's toe. The toe was charred black due to her wrath and
power.
Krishna came and
hugged her. She wept. And she felt Draupadi weeping next to her. Both were
being hugged by Krishna, the mother of villains and the mother of heroes, both
being comforted by him who they say is God. He said nothing. He allowed
Gandhari to vent out her venom and he accepted the curse quietly – no
retaliatory curse. Yes, his children would die as Gandhari had deemed fit and
so would he. Let his clan suffer so that the spiral of vendetta does not
continue. It must end sometime. And if this demands the sacrifice of his clan,
then let it be so.
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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