In the very beginning of the story Devavrata takes a vow of celibacy all because of his father. He does it so his dad can marry this random fisherman's daughter. His celibacy also plays a role later on in the story. It all started because his father loved this woman.
What other times in the Mahabharata can you think about how the importance of love impacted the story in a vital way?
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I guess I'd say there's no way five brothers can 'share' a wife without both loving and trusting each other first.
ReplyDeleteBhima's killing Kicaka after he humiliated Draupadi showed how much he loved his wife.
ReplyDeleteAlso the fact that Gandhari would go blindfolded for her husband (the blind Dhrtarastra) so as not to excel him shows how great her love and devotion was to him.
I really like the example of Gandhari blindfolding herself. I never really thought about it since I found that character kinda creepy and intense. I took the blindfolding as a sign of shame for being attached to a blind man. But now that I go back and think about how she acted, I think she really did honor him. She kept the blindfold on all the time to feel the way he felt. It does show a lot of love.
ReplyDelete~Mary
When Pandu, father of the Pandavas, received the curse that restrained him from begetting children or even touching his wives with passion, showed to me that he really loved his wives. He had an internal fight within himself and the thought of sharing affection with his wives crossed his mind many times. Nonetheless, as a human he could not hold his desires any longer. After having his five children by Kunti's mantra, he decided to embrace and love Madri in a passionte way, and following the curse, he died.
ReplyDeleteI also agree about Gandhari. At first I didn't know why she was blindfolding herself for a man she doesn't even know. Later i realized what a big sacrifice she made for love. But i don't know if she should have blindfolded herself (although it was very sweet) or she should have kept her eyes and sort of guide him through life. But i really respect her for what she did because it's not easy to keep a blindfold on your eyes and stop seeing everything permanently when you know that you have the eyesight and you can go back to seeing the world whenever you wish to. She was definitely very much motivated by love and respect for her husband that she continued to keep her eyes covered.
ReplyDeleteBhima shows his love for Draupadi numerous times including killing two men: Duhsasana and Kicaka. He kills Duhsasana after he tries to disrobe Draupadi in court and he kills Kicaka after he lusts after Draupadi and insults her too while in hiding. It's interesting that she goes to Bhima and asks him to kill for her, which he readily agrees. Another support of this is when Asvatthama kills the sons of Draupadi, who does she go to get her revenge? Bhima again kills for her. I know that killing is extreme, but to kill for someone...especially you wife, has to be love.
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