Women in Mahabharata - Gandhari
Gandhari, is a character noted to be the incarnation of Mati, the goddess of Analytical Thought. This categorization is so infinitely dynamic on Vyasa's part. She comes from a long line of educated women, who held their own against an arguably biased society.
Gandhara, despite being the first 'kingdom' associated with the Aryans in south-east Asia, even then, had lost its Vedic glory, and was classified as one of 'those' kingdoms where people had 'lost their scriptural purity' (basically they stopped being favoured for educational pursuits in favour of the Ganga valley and beyond) and were treated as such.
When Dhritarashtra comes of age, Bheeshma, through a careful selection process, decides that this Gandhari, with a boon to obtain a 100 children, is the best woman to be the first daughter-in-law of the Kuru dynasty. Contrary to popular opinion, Bheeshma doesn't threaten Subala, the then ruler of Gandhara. Instead, he offers a great deal of money, in order to essentially 'buy' the princess from her father. Despite his initial reservations, Subala finally agrees, by considering the Kuru family-name, Bheeshma's martial prowess, and of course, the money.
Gandhari is intimated about this, only when her father has already agreed to the match. Angry, frustrated, despairing, Gandhari wounds a piece of cloth several times around her eyes, vowing to never again set her eyes on her parents, her country or the husband they had all tied her to: "Aatmaanam ditsitaamasmayi pitraaa maatra cha bhaaratah" [she surrendered her self-expression to her father, mother and the Bhaarata-prince]. If her parents sold her like they would some cattle, then she would live life with no more agency than the same.
Hence, we see Shakuni taking her all the way from modern-day Kabul to India's Haryana to be married to the blind prince. Shakuni however returns to Gandhara after the marriage and reappears only after Duryodhana is an adult.
For a short while, we see Dhritarashtra's ambitions and self-doubt both infecting Gandhari. She says nothing when Pandu mysteriously leaves Hastinapura with his wives. When she hears that Kunti, her younger sister-in-law, has given birth to the oldest son of the next generation, without consulting anyone (not even Dhritarashtra) she hits her own pregnant belly, causing her to most probably go into premature labour (was she really jealous, or coming from a place of sympathy, actually terrified of letting Dhritarashtra down?).
We see that Vyasa has a soft spot for this woman, who was pulled into this mess through no fault of hers. When he hears of the mishap, he rushes to her side. Even when Gandhari accuses him of lying about her boon of having a hundred sons, Vyasa, instead of chastising her, quietly sets about making it a reality.
Now, we enter into a realm best described, in the absence of concrete proof, as brilliant science fiction, where we explore the concepts of cloning as well as test-tube babies. Socially, however, there can be another explanation: again, the word 'kumbha' is used, which, alongside being a type of utensil, is a common descriptor of women (usually of lower social standing, who were considered good 'only for generating children'). Dr. Bhaduri quotes a word called 'kumbha-daasi' or the slightly different 'kuttani' (again these are slurs, please do NOT repeat them), which were used to denote women who kept specifically to give birth to children within the world's oldest profession.
Maybe, Vyasa used several such women, and had the royal couple adopt their preferred kids from that pool to create the figure of '100'. Having said that, however, I think Duryodhana, Dushhasana, Vikarna etc. (the more famous Kauravas) and maybe even 10-15 more of them were most probably Gandhari's biological children from subsequent pregnancies (her daughter too), and the rest adopted in from the royal harem.
Surprisingly, Dhritarashtra is not at all involved at this stage, and is actually quite busy having fun with Gandhari's vaishya maid- the son from that relationship is Yuyutsu, who is only slightly younger than Duryodhana.
Finally, when Duryodhana is born, Vidura pleads with Dhritarashtra to abandon just him, with this invaluable proverb: A person may be sacrificed to save a family, a family may be sacrificed to save a village, a village to save a country, a country to save the world, and the world may be sacrificed to save oneself. However, neither Dhritarashtra nor Gandhari agree to give up their legitimate firstborn.
Here, interestingly, even after potentially offending Vyasa with her previous actions (hence, the soft spot), Gandhari walks up him and whispers, "If you are custom-mixing children, could I, maybe, have a daughter?" The dialogue and the premise might be mythical meandering, but to my knowledge, no other woman, in this entire epic has said the words aloud, I want a daughter!
Perhaps, this is what sets Gandhari apart: "Mameyam paramaa tushtir-duhitaa me bhavet yadi" (I would be completely satisfied if I had a daughter). In the same breath, Gandhari has started dreaming of her daughter's marriage. What her husband would look like, what gifts she'd give and what rituals she'd celebrate- everything she herself was deprived of so cruelly. She further thinks to herself, "Eka shataadhika kanya bhavishyati kaneeyasi" (the youngest daughter after a hundred brothers, how loved she will be), and "Krita-krityaa bhaveyam vai putra-dauhitra-samvritaa" (All familial obligations will be satisfied through sons and grandsons in one big, happy family). [These shlokas are from the Vangavasi edition of Mahabharata].
Unfortunately, no one but Yudhishthira remembers this quiet corner of Gandhari's heart as he warns Bheema to not kill Jayadratha: "Dushhalaam-abhi-sansmtriya Gandhari-ncha yashasvini" [Remember Dushhala, and her mother the illustrious Gandhari].
We see some continuing issues of 'blind' support of Dhritarashtra on Gandhari's part, when Kunti returns to the capital with her sons. Gandhari appears on the palace's doorsteps, but she stands there without a single word of sympathy to her sister-in-law who has just lost her husband, almost like she's there to watch a circus, not a funeral! She also says nothing when her sons appear in extravagant garments before their forest-dwelling cousins, to the point than an old, angry Satyavati makes a comment about it. She also stays silent when Kunti is not even allowed to occupy her and Pandu's previous quarters, and is made to stay, with her sons, in a rather rundown corner of the palace.
Vyasa's sneha for Gandhari, we see here as well. He utters not a single word hereafter about Gandhari, from the incident at Pramankoti, to Varanavat, to Draupadi's swayamvara to the first-half of the dyuta-sabha, carefully, lovingly smoothing over her fallacies as he launches vicious attacks on other members of this family for the same behaviour. However, this is Mahabharata after all, and silence speaks, between the lines, behind the scenes, Gandhari is no longer as innocent. She is after all the 'deergha-darshini' [farsighted] to Dhritarashtra's 'pragya-chakshu' [knowledgeable-beyond-eyesight].
Gandhari speaks against her husband for the first time towards the end of the dyuta-sabha. This is the point when she once and for all sheds the fog she had enveloped herself, courtesy her husband's disability, and speaks from her true intellect. Dr. Bhaduri assumes that Gandhari was very much seated in the sabha, not in some other place, like it is usually shown, and she had ignored the proceedings up until then as much as Bheeshma/Drona/Kripa etc.
Her first warning is Duryodhana is, "Striyam samabhaashasi durvineeta, visheshato Draupadim dharma-patnim?" [You dare address a woman, you impolite man, especially Draupadi, the wife of Dharma?] As a dialogue, this is quite tame, especially considering the verbal abuse that Duryodhana-Dusshana-Karna were subjecting Draupadi to at that moment, but we can see it as Gandhari addressing the issue with the greatest dignity she could muster. Hearing, alongside her children's words, alongside the powerless screams of frustration of her daughters-in-law [on both sides of the family], we see Gandhari finally realize what a monster she has created by intentionally staying away from her family, owing to an anger directed at her elders.
After this we see Gandhari speak up at every instance possible, even reiterating Vidura's warning to abandon Duryodhana, and urging her husband to that even now, but now the situation has, to her horror, spiraled well and truly out of her control. She is also horrified, to see her husband, in a new light. The person who she thought was a hapless, betrayed, old soul, she never realized when he became a person who would 'see' his daughter-in-law be assaulted in public, and take pleasure in it! Yet, she cannot bring herself to separate completely from this 'old child' [as per the brilliant analysis of Dr. Bhaduri], and speak up fully in favour of the Pandavas, who she knows in the deepest corner of her heart to be righteous!
When the Pandavas lose the second round too and are leaving for the forest, we see Kunti distraught and sheltered by Vidura. Dr. Bhaduri asks, was this not Gandhari's duty?! To take Kunti in, to shelter and protect her until her sons return? Or, despite all her sympathy, her intellect, her compassion, she still hasn't been able to forgive Kunti for 'showing her up' all those years back?
Thirteen years later, when both sides are gearing up for war, when Sanjaya returns with news of the Pandavas, Dhritarashtra calls him to his bedroom late at night, anxious for information. However, Sanjaya practically laughs at the old king's expectation- that he is going to say even a word when everyone knows the king is a different person in private and in public. Sanjaya therefore tells the king that he will not say a single word until a full sabha, and Gandhari and Vyasa are both called to bear witness. Somewhere, Sanjaya believed that if someone could stop this war at all, it would be either Vyasa or Gandhari. Alas, he was wrong.
In the sabha next day, when Duryodhana insults everyone again, Dhritarashtra accuses Gandhari of not correcting her son in time. Laughable! As if he hasn't done the exact same! Gandhari scolds Duryodhana, yes, it's more like she pleads with him to consider what might happen to his parents when Bheema does kill him, a sentiment repeated by Vidura in Krishna's presence.
After Krishna leaves, his mission a failure, Dhritarashtra calls Gandhari in Vidura presence and insults Duryodhana, but starts with, "Your son!" Gandhari listens with inhumane patience [dhairyasheela, after all], and then retorts with just one sentence, "And how did Duryodhana gain control of the kingdom, then?" Then, sort of the dam breaks, and Gandhari gives a long speech, directly holding Dhritarashtra (rightfully so) responsible for them being on the cusp of war now.
They finally both summon Duryodhana to the empty sabha. Gandhari has never been too maternal to Duryodhana, and has always maintained what could be best termed as a professional distance. Hence, even now, having already crossed all bounds of politeness, Duryodhana is not be eager to listen to her as well. Gandhari gives a long, detailed, philosophical lecture that Dr. Bhaduri says is well-structures to be retaught even today as Political Science 101.
Duryodhana, as the ultimate insult to his mother, especially for an intellectually prolific lady like Gandhari, walks out of the room without even looking at her, forget responding! It in fact takes Gandhari a few more sentences to even realize that she's speaking to the walls.
When finally, Bheema kills Duryodhana, we see Yudhishthira terrified. He goes to Krishna, begging him (and Vyasa) to take the first burst of her grief and save the brothers from Gandhari. Interestingly, Dr. Bhaduri, sees this fear as the inherent dark streaks in Gandhari's characters, fueled by which she had hit her own stomach all those years back, something that seems almost genetically passed on to Duryodhana.
Krishna, here plays a masterstroke, and before Gandhari can say anything, he presents a bulleted list of all the admonishments that Gandhari herself had subjected her son to. Using her previous words against her, Krishna gives Gandhari a strong warning against lashing out unfairly at the Pandavas.
Only after Duryodhana dies the next morning, we see, for the first time maybe since the vastraharana, Kunti and Gandhari in the same room, hand-in-hand.
When they are all finishing the funerals of all the warriors, Vyasa spots Gandhari fuming against from a distance, and runs to her, understanding that she's about to do something big (like, cursing the Pandavas), and just like Krishna, uses her words against her, by invoking her famous dialogue: "Uktavat-yasi Kalyani, yato-dharma-s-tato-jayah!" [You yourself said let the righteous side win!]
Gandhari calms herself, but she still complains to Vyasa, about how Bheema defeated her son by cheating. Bheema overhears this and tries to apologize (but with a thousand excuses). She also asks him to justify why he drank his cousin's blood, and Bheema is again forced to lower his head and admit that he didn't actually drink anything and just fulfilled his vow with a hand motion, that's all. However, Bheema is also bit of a child, so with tears in his eyes, he too asks Gandhari where she was when Duryodhana poisoned him, committed arson or assaulted his wife. How Gandhari could stand here, blaming Bheema, when she had never scolded Duryodhana in this manner. Gandhari then shifts to an emotional line, "Why couldn't you keep jsut one of my sons alive?! Why not even Vikarna?"
And then the moment she realizes that Yudhishthira has also come closer, her tone shifts to anger again, "Kkah Sah Rajeti?" [Where's your king?] She asks. Yudhishthira comes trembling with folded hands, and accepts the full blame for everything that has happened. Then Gandhari's eyes peeking out for a second and burns all of Yudhishthira's nails (mythical, yes, but also a manifestation of guilt and anger on both sides). We see Arjuna immediately slip behind Krishna, hiding.
Now, Vyasa does a strange thing (magical, again), which you may call a curse masquerading as a boon. He gives Dhritarashtra and Gandhari divya-drishti [magical sight] and an order, "You must walk through the entire battlefield and witness what you have brought about." To witness the objects of their such intense love, not alive but dead, what greater punishment could there be! (Dr. Bhaduri wonders whether Vyasa had forced at least her to open her blindfold to increase the punishment before she went out).
When Gandhari goes out on to the battlefield, to suffer her punishment, mostly to collect all the mourning daughters-in-law, Krishna quietly starts walking with her, guiding her around the corpses etc, and talking her through it. Gandhari gives a speech so mixed in grief, in regret and in pride. She blames Krishna and the Pandavas for being alive when her sons aren't!
Then, given Krishna is only one who had dared to accompany her, Gandhari's entire anger falls on him, and she curses him to one day sit among the corpses of his loved ones like she is today. Krishna almost laughs, as he tells her, given the intra-Yadava politics, that is going to happen even without any curse. Then he gets a little angry. He has been trying to placate this lady, one of the most intelligent of her time, for a long time, and has been getting nothing but curses in return, and all of that for a person like Duryodhana.
He then starts recounting Duryodhana's ill-adventures once more, and we see Gandhari a bit taken aback. Probably no one but her father in her childhood had scolded her in this manner. She then stopped responding and quietly just followed Krishna back to the tents.
After the war, Yudhishthira ensures that they are respected, even more so than Duryodhana had even done, but Gandhari is not accorded peace by Bheema's constant needling and belittling. Finally, tired of his sabotage, Dhritarashtra decides to go to the forest, and Gandhari follows without a single word.
Her life ends rather humbly, with her husband's, in a forest fire that they both are too weak to escape.
P.S. I know all depictions of Gandhari have her blindfolded, I just couldn't do it!
