Journal articles on the topic 'Women in Mahabharata'

It is said that “Whatever is here is found elsewhere. But whatever is not here is nowhere else.” These lines are said for the great epic of India The Mahabharata. The name means “great [story of the] Bharatas.” Bharata was an early ancestor of both the Pandavas and Kauravas who fought each other in a great war, but the word is also used for the Indian race, so the Mahabharata Sometimes is referred to as “the great story of India.” The portrayals of women Characters in this epic were left unsatisfied. It wasn’t as though the epic didn’t have powerful, complex women Characters that affected the action in major ways, for instance, there was the widowed Kunti, mother of Pandavas,who dedicates her life to making sure her sons become kings. There was Gandhari, wife of the sightless Kaurava king, who chooses to blindfold her in marriage, thus relinquishing her power as queen and mother. And most of all, there was Panchali, king Drupad’s beautiful daughter, who has the unique distinction of being married to five men at the same time-the five Pandava brothers, the greatest heroes of their time. Panchaali who, some might argue, by her headstrong actions helps to bring about the destruction of the third Age of man. But in some way, they remained shadowy figures, their thoughts and motives mysterious, their emotions portrayed only when they affected the lives of the male heroes, their roles ultimately subservient to those of their fathers or husbands, brothers or sons. Relevant to today’s war-torn world, The Palace of Illusions takes us back to a time that is half history, half myth, and wholly Magical. Narrated by Panchaali, the wife of the legendary Pandava brothers in the Mahabharat, the novel gives us a new interpretation of this ancient tale.

Mythological retellings have explored those issues of the epics which were submerged in the objective representation of the events. Redefining the existence of the epical characters, these revisionist writings have presented the events from the alternate perspectives. With an attempt to deconstruct the concept of ‘truth’, the contemporary mythological retellings have tried to demystify the dominant ideologies, and for this purpose they had brought into forefront the overlooked characters. In the grand narrative of the epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata the perspectives of the women characters were often overlooked; at the same time the objective representation of the events could not provide the necessary space to delve deep into their psyche. Therefore, ample numbers of the contemporary mythological retellings have highlighted the lives of the women characters of the epics, by presenting the events from their perspectives to explore those facets of the ‘truth’ which were overlooked in the source texts. This research article has attempted to reconstruct the identity of Draupadi of the Mahabharata by focusing on her character as depicted by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni in her The Palace of Illusions, a wonderful mythological fiction reinterpreting the events of the epic Mahabharata from Draupadi’s perspective. Adopting a feminist stance, this research article has explored Draupadi’s resistance to patriarchal domination, and in this way, here an attempt has been undertaken to reassert her individuality and to redetermine her role in the epic.

Epics are indeed an indelible part of our existence carrying us into the timeless history where reality and fantasy blends into a harmonious whole. A diasporic women writer re-creating myth and folklore in a contemporary context and re-telling a popular epic Mahabharata from Draupadi’s perspective is monumental and extraordinary. There have been sudden inclinations on part of the contemporary writers to re-interpret the epics in a new light highlighting the women characters who have been otherwise neglected in the original story as tangible subjects. Usually, epic narratives portray women on an ideological viewpoint; women being embodiments of perseverance and forbearance, mute spectators of misery and injustice perpetrated on them. But Divakaruni re-created the women characters by assigning them a voice of their own so that they become strong enough to express their choices and by living their own bodies vis-à-vis lives. The mystifying feminine psyche of the mythical women characters is unfolded before the readers and many unknown crevices of the inner mind are laid bare. These impressions and explorations of the epic characters were actually a hidden trope for self-discovery and articulation. The Palace of Illusions is a re-creation of the illusionary, magical world of Draupadi and her dream destination and how this world gets shattered in front of her eyes is not only literal but metaphorical in course of the novel. In an attempt to re-work the epic, the contemporary women writers deviate from the usual phallocentric thrust of the epic and make Draupadi the hero of the novel; subverting the stereo-typed gendered version of an epic. Divakaruni’s fiction strives to subvert the gendered binaries looking at the epic and its magnificent characters and events through Panchaali’s gaze. Thus, the Western model of the male gaze is repudiated and the female gaze is celebrated in an altogether new form. Is the story of Mahabharata a familial clash between fraternity or a woman’s personal desire and Panchaali’s revenge which drenched the country and its inhabitants in the blood is the question that is left open-ended for the readers who revisits Mahabharata through the eyes of Draupadi vis-a-vis Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.

The great Indian Epic Mahabharata celebrates the battle between Pandavas and Kauravas and signifies Draupadi as the fundamental cause of it. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni unwrapped this belief and made Draupadi a powerful woman with great determination and courage. The Epics all over the world has portrayed woman as pale shadows of men, and men as great warriors. This silence of women has triggered Divakaruni to retell the epic in female voice. Literature always tried to share the changes in society. Unveiling the perfect lady images to the woman, modern female writers made their own literature. This paper goes through the life of an epic woman who has strong cravings of liberation. Also tries to find out whether a female protagonist can undergo inclinations in the life of Male characters who always hold the seal of divine figure, who always live for the warfare.

A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult. – Melinda Gates. It is a general notion that there are not many good women speakers. However, on careful scrutiny, one can find that there have been impactful and wonderful women speakers since time immemorial. The world history is a testimony to this fact. Undoubtedly in Hindu mythology ample respect is given to women consorts, people take the name of a Goddess before the name of God which is why people say Radha-Krishna, Sita-Ram, Gauri-Shankar etc. Importance of women can be seen in Mahabharata where Draupadi had an important role to play. Undoubtedly the power of women is quite known to all of us, how they manage and organize everything so well. In the day to day life also, a lot of attention is given to women in every field, many beautiful adjectives are used for describing them. They are the centre of attraction all the time. But it is very surprising that when the discussion on the topic of rhetoric is done only a had full of people are able to remember the names of the women orators. In this context, it is imperative to analyse the following questions: 1. Why do people not remember the names of any woman orator? 2. Are there lesser number of women speakers? 3. Is there gender inequality in this field? 4. Do we have more strong male orators than the female orators? 5. Is it because males are better speakers than females? 6. How different are men and women when it comes to speaking in public?

One of the many evidences about the concepts of justice and gender equality in Islam can be seen in the creation of the plot and of a central female character in the Javanese puppet, namely Drupadi. This article employs a qualitative research with this literature study approach to determine the deconstruction character of Drupadi. The validity of the data is obtained by triangulating data sources and integrating data from journals and books about Drupadi characters in puppets, supported by analysis of gender studies and living Qur'an studies of the concept of polyandry. The results showed that there is a deconstruction of the character of Drupadi figures from the Hindu to the Islamic version. Drupadi, who is described in the Mahabharata story of having five husbands, in a Javanese puppet show, especially after the arrival of Islam, is described only married to Yudhistira. The deconstruction of Drupadi's character as a symbol of women is no longer objectified. Drupadi's new character reflects equality between men and women in Islam.Satu dari sekian bukti tentang adanya konsep keadilan dan kesetaraan gender dalam Islam bisa dilihat dalam pembangunan alur dan karakter tokoh perempuan sentral pada pewayangan Jawa, yakni Drupadi. Penelitian kualitatif dengan pendekatan studi pustaka ini, bertujuan untuk menentukan dekonstruksi karakter Drupadi di Wayang. Validitas data diperoleh dengan melakukan triangulasi sumber data, mengintegrasikan data dari jurnal dan buku tentang karakter Drupadi dalam wayang dengan berfokus pada analisis studi gender dan Living Qur’an mengenai poliandri. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa telah terjadi dekonstruksi karakter tokoh Drupadi dari versi Hindu ke versi Islam; Drupadi dalam cerita Mahabharata melakukan Poliandri dengan 5 suami, dalam pewayangan Jawa setelah datangnya Islam hanya bersuamikan Yudhistira. Dekonstruksi karakter Drupadi menjadi simbol bahwa perempuan tidak lagi menjadi objektifikasi seksual. Karakter Drupadi yang baru mencerminkan kesetaraan antara pria dan perempuan dalam ajaran Islam.

Karna’s Wife is the first work of the writer, Kavita Kane who is “trying to portray a small chunk, a small aspect which has not been dealt with yet” in the Mahabharata. In Karna’s Wife, Kavita Kane portrays female characters like Uruvi and Vrushali who are victims at the hands of men and fate and how they still balance their lives and endure it all. Vrushali is the first wife of Karna and her husband married Uruvi and was deeply in love with her. Her rights, his attention, his love, everything is distributed. Uruvi who is Karna’s second wife is constantly seen striving throughout the novel to keep her husband away from Duryodhana’s evil camaraderie because she fears that this alliance will certainly lead to her husband’s catastrophe. It would be very interesting to see how these two women have come out of these gritty situations, faced the veracity and still lived mightily.

Amba, a novel written by Laksmi Pamuntjak, is one of the leading works in Indonesian literature and is classified as a world-class novel. From its title, characters involved, theme and story ideas, as well as excerpts taken from Udyoga Parva at the beginning of each chapter, it can be concluded that Amba is a transformation of Mahabharata, a great and famous story. What is transformed? What are the underlying motif and ideology for the transformation? And what are their effects? Those three questions are the focus of this research. The study was conducted using intertextuality approach (comparison technique) and critical response perspective, which states that no text is neutral; each text has a certain tendency – certain ideologies exposed behind the text. Research findings indicate that it is the intrinsic element that is absorbed by the novel. The transformation is a contradictory transformation with the perspective of emancipation. The author rejects the weak-willed Amba in the story of Bhisma Parwa, and gives birth to a tough, brave, and rational Amba in her novel. The contradictory transformation gives birth to a great work that has the same theme, but different in the ways of cultivating the story and the portrayal of women. Keywords: contradictory transformation, novel amba, critical response, intertextuality approach, literatureCite as: Priyatni, E.T. (2016). Contradictory transformation of Amba novel: Critical response with intertextuality approach. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 1(1), 46-59.

Shakuntala is one of the most acclaimed women characters of Indian Literature. For the first time Shakuntala’s character originated in The Mahabharata. Since then she has been represented in various texts in various languages of India. The present paper is an attempt to analyze the representation of Shakuntala by the authors from ancient times to the present. For this purpose ancient work Abhijnana Shakuntalam by Kalidasa and the modern work Shakuntala: The Play of Memory by Namita Gokhale are studied. In Kalidasa’s Abhijnana Shakuntalam Shakuntala is the real daughter of Sage Vishvamitra and nymph Menka. However, she is adopted and brought up by Sage Kanva and his wife Gautmi. She is a rustic girl, brought up in a hermitage. With the progress of the play, she is married to King Dushyanta who forgets her because of a curse. Later, she was adopted by sage Kashyapa and his wife Aditi. She gives birth to a brave child Bharat and finally reunites with her husband. Shakuntala: The Play of Memory by Namita Gokhale was Published in 2005 and it is a challenging work of Indian English fiction. Like the remakes of films there may be re-invention and re-interpretation of old myths embodied in literary works. In her masterpiece Shakuntala, Namita Gokhale has portrayed the story of a woman named after the heroine of Kalidasa’s classic drama Abhijnana Shakuntalam. In contrast to her legendary namesake, she is bold, spirited and imaginative. Right from her childhood she is conscious of the discrimination towards female. In her marriage with a mahasamant, Srijan, she feels suffocated by social customs. Hungry for experience she deserts home to travel with a Greek horse merchant, Nearchus. Together they travel far and wide and surrender to unbridled pleasures. Shakuntala assumes the identity of Yaduri: the ‘fallen woman.’ But she forsakes this life as well to meet her salvation in her death at Kashi.

Queer theory is a realm of critical theory that developed within/in the early 1990s, out of the fields of queer studies and women's studies. Shikhandi is an important character in the Mahabharata. Hindu tales have many references to queerness; one among them is the story of Shikhandi, a woman who became a man. The gender of Shikhandi is a controversial subject, in epics especially in Mahabharata, men are considered as great warriors, full of masculinity and resilience. But while approaching the text from a postmodernist perspective, we can analyze the gender of Shikhandi as the ‘other gender’, Mahabharata, which means great India have much popularity in India, as Homer’s poems over the Greeks. This paper seeks to examine, how the character of Shikhandi in Mahabharata,who is neglected in the society, the queerness in Shikhandi which is flexible and fluid made him/her a remarkable character in the great epic.

Drupadi is one of the female characters who have important roles and positions in the epic Mahabharata or wayang purwa in Java. In the Indian version Drupadi married five Pandavas. However, in the Javanese version she was only married to Yudhisthira. This paper discuss Drupadi Perempuan Poliandris novel as one of the works which is the reception and transformation of Mahabharata version of India and Java, as a form of reception and transformation of Mahabharata version of India and Java, its existence is considered as a form of revitalization of the classic literary works, especially the character Drupadi using the perspective of feminist literary criticism. The results show that the Drupadi character depicted in the novel tends to return the identity of Drupadi in the Mahabharata of India as the wife of Pandawas after they won the competition held by King Drupada. This is in contrast to Drupadi in the Javanese wayang story depicting Drupadi as the wife Yudhisthira as the oldest Pandawa. In this novel Drupadi figure is also described as a woman who not only has perfect beauty, but also very critical of her destiny that must be lived.

??????????????????? ?? ????? ???????? ?????????????????? ?? ???????????????????2.47?? Meaning: Your right is to perform your work but never be oriented to the results. Never be motivated by the results of your actions, nor should you be attached to not performing your prescribed duties. The above mentioned philosophy however, can be best understood in the present scenario of the pandemic of COVID 19. The pandemic which has kept everybody unsettled, restless from within, Shrimad Bhagwad Gita serves a torchbearer to the humanity. It holds our faith in karma, the true meaning of life. As WHO reported, 2020 gripped the whole world into the saga of darkness which is started with a disease from animal. Not only that in fact it has engulfed the whole world into it. The entire world it seems has locked and blocked not only its movements but life. The numbers of death and patients increasing every day and with this increase in number is increasing the social stigma towards people. Health workers, women, children, sex workers, all are victim of it. This saga of disease has restricted not only our breathing but livelihood, happiness. We all succumb now to our own shell. Aristotle said once, “man is a social animal” and look at the world around today, a small little animal has brought that man to just a tiny individual who is always at the hands and prey to the nature. Be it Ebola Virus (EVD) of 1976 that was considered one of the deadliest viruses until then of its own kind, severely fatal to human illness or the Spanish Flu or the Bubonic Plague, Black Death epidemic. All these have always been fatal and deadliest in their own specific ways. Still, we human always feel surprised whenever we face such sudden outbreak of any disaster, what so ever. The catastrophic, xenophobic behaviour, subjects to be analysed from anthropological point of view try to justify one of the foremost evolution myths by Herbert Specncer, “Survival of the Fittest”. However, in literature, it is said that everything has a purpose in a narrative or a situation, it has a meaning to interpret. Things and situations are always interpretational. So is the case in this pandemic. This COVID-19 is much more than just a “disease”. It’s a social-cultural construct that shapes, reshapes or de-shapes humanities responses and behaviour. The objective of this paper is to look these constructs from a different lens and analyse the underlying existential philosophy, an existential absurdity drawing adjacent connections between the age old two classics piece of literature, The Bhagwad Gita (a long conversation between Arjuna and Lord Krishna before the battle of Mahabharata in the battle field Kurukshetra and The Plague by Albert Camus.

Arjuna, the third Pandava character in Mahabharata story which originated from India, has different characterisation when it spreads and develops in Java, Indonesia. This character is lovely, delicate, loves to dress up, smart in smooth talking, though mentioned as the most masculine character in the story. In the three different Wayang theaters which play the Mahabharata story such as Wayang Kulit (shadow puppet), Wayang Beber (illustrations on scroll-painted fabrics) and Wayang Wong (theatrical performance by humans), there is a distinct pattern to visualise Arjuna masculinity. The purpose of the research is to show how those three Wayangs visualise Arjuna’s masculinity. In doing so, we observe the artefact of Arjuna character in Wayang Kulit, Wayang Beber, and costume worn by Arjuna cast in Wayang Wong. The result shows that those three Wayang have a similar strategy to visualise Arjuna, they tend to emphasise on the physical subtlety of Arjuna, the softness of his behaviour and speech. It seems that to convey the masculinity of Arjuna, and there is a consistency to visualise it similar to the characteristic of a woman. Keywords: Arjuna, visualisation, character, Wayang, Javanese

<p><em>The purpose of this write is for describing “Citra Wanita Dalam Kitab Sabha Parwa”. It is the second parwa from Mahabharata. That telling about gamling story which do between korawa and pandawa and ended with pandawa defeat which hand over all the castle, wealth, soldies, family, even pandawa’s wife Drupadi.Based from the problem background above can be formulated as: (1) text structure of Kitab Sabha Parwa.,(2) Citra Wanita in Kitab Sabha Parwa and (3) hinduism knoledge value contained in Kitab Sabha Parwa.The story structure in Kitab Sabha Parwa consist of Sabha Parwa story synopsis and text search of Kitab Sabha Parwa. Citra Wanita that consist in Kitab Sabha Parwa (1) Loyality,(2) respectability, (3) glory, (4) woman as Sakti. This kitab Sabha Parwa have lots of Hinduism knoledge value such as: morality value, gender value, Nilai Pitra yadnya, Nilai Rsi Yadnya, Nilai Tat Twam Asi dan Nilai Matsarya.</em></p>

From the Paleolithic era till the modern times of current Pandemic, human race has witnessed not only biological evolution but also sociocultural one. Gender has always been an important consideration in development of civilizations. Without much change, the world has been perceived only in binary oppositions which consign the social structure only in heteronormative ideal of having an adamant notion of a man or woman, their social practice, behavior and fixed identities. Contemporary Post-modernist Indian writers through their writings shamble the power hierarchy and reconsider these social practices, softening the gender distinctions. Based on these literary texts of gender dichotomy in terms of non-normative sexual identities from the epic Mahabharata presented in the book The Pregnant King, this paper is an attempt to reinterpret the gender transgression and psychological issues which testifies unawareness of a double marginality, a perspective on latent conflict between society and individuals, an inequality felt by the victims in terms of gender from Mahabharata India till today. These complex areas need to be dealt with more conscious interventions, somewhat deconstruction of queerness is required and the ideas that question fixed notions of heterosexual society indicate empirical enquiries. Today’s society seems more sensitive towards understanding the difficult emotions connected to objective sexuality and preferences - a person’s discomfort in accepting gender-based restrictions. Need of the hour is to ponder on the subtle yet significant questions like-What happens if one desires toexperience life regardless of his/her gender? Why there is a contradiction on the part of how societies are preaching and practicing value systems which welcome idea of rainbow structure and individual freedom. Though many cultures have moved towards a more egalitarian social system over past centuries but still patriarchy has a strong influence on modern civilization especially in context of India. For improving life satisfaction and promoting happiness, there is need of a more aware society where one has the ability to choose circumstances of one’s life.

Abstract: The puppet arts in Bali can be found in the Wayang Kamasan painting at Kamasan Village, Klungkung Regency. This painting inspired the creation and development of new handicraft in Bali. The objectives this research: 1. To find the Wayang Kamasan painting in Klungkung Regency; 2. To find the development of handicraft types in Bali inspired by Wayang Kamasan painting. This research used a qualitative descriptive approach, and data collection by observation, interview, and documentation. The results that Wayang Kamasan painting is estimated to have existed since the reign of the ancient Bali kingdom, which was during the reign of King Dalem Waturenggong in Semarapura Klungkung. The Wayang Kamasan painting character painted on a canvas with a light brown base color, stiff, two-dimensional, and the description follows the applied standards. The figures depicted taken from Ramayana and Mahabharata story. The Balinese handicrafts inspired by Wayang Kamasan painting include ceramics, wovens such as sokasi/keben (basket made of woven bamboo), keris sheath, dulang (trays), bokor (bowls), guitars, beruk (coconut shell containers), and others. The authors expect in the future the Wayang Kamasan painting can survive, and emerges the world's concern for its preservation.

Our Indian education system is such that we are taught a lot about history, long fought battles, wars, invaders and kings and rulers who died when and how. In broader sense, history does not only about dates and battles, it associates and intersperses our past and present with social, cultural, religious and traditional discourses. Our history spanning over thousand years guide our present and future. Indian writers have given their thoughts flying colors making our history unbelievably great. They get inspired from our enormously vast past incidents and express them according to their views and idea. There is no particular parameter which may define the history as fiction. Indian mythological epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata have been described and redefined in numerous different ways. India and Indian people have suffered a lot when British army ruled us for more than 200 years. There were many brave patriots who fought for our independence. One of such fighters is Rani Lakshmi Bai. This paper explores her life validating history through the novel, Rani. This novel is written by Jaishree Misra. Indian writers have explored the life and bravery of this amazingly courageous woman who redefined the womanhood and valor in her own way making a wave for the revolutionary fight for independence.

The emergence of stories which had Islamic nuances in the puppet, known as Walisongo’s creation. Walisongo with the intelligence to read the situation and conditions of society at that time, adopt and remodel stories in the puppet by inserting the teachings of Islam. One of the stories in the puppet is Mahabharata.Those changes used by Walisongo as media of dakwah, so that becomes the problem in this research is how the development of Mahabharata story after Walisongo. The research had the purposes to know the development of Mahabharata story after Walisongo use it to propagate of Islam in Java, which has been inserted the teachings of Islam.<br /><br />This study is a qualitative research that focuses on the study of literature (library research) about the books Mahabharata, the Javanese culture (puppet), Walisongo, and dakwah. As well as data analysis in this research using descriptive analysis, an attempt to describe and analyze the development of Mahabharata after Walisongo and the continuer use it in the context of the spread of Islam in Java.<br /><br />The results showed that the development of Mahabharata story after Walisongo include: first, the Pandavas symbolized as pillars of Islam, in order to facilitate the public in the first time in knowing and understanding the five pillars of Islam. Second, the story polyandry character Draupadi in Mahabharata Hindu had changed by Walisongo into monoandri, because Islam prohibits women married to more than one males (polyandry). Third, the Heroine figure in the Hindu Mahabharata was transsexual then turned into a real woman, because in Islam are not allowed to violate their nature, are men who resemble women and women who resemble men. Fourth, the priest Drona good role models and wisely changed to a negative figure, interpreted as the views lowly clergy who abide the king. Fifth, Punakawan figure which is the native Java and then interpreted as a demonstration Walisongo or da’i. Sixth, comes pedigree Hindu god be the descendants of Prophet Adam to eliminate idolatry. Seventh, the emergence of new stories bouquet of the trustees containing the teachings of Islam, such as the story Dewaruci, amulets Kalimasada, mustaka Weni and Petruk Dadi Ratu.<br /><br />--------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />Munculnya kisah-kisah dalam pewayangan yang bernuansa Islam diketahui merupakan karya Walisongo. Walisongo dengan kepandaian membaca situasi dan kondisi masyarakat waktu itu, mengadopsi dan merombak cerita-cerita dalam pewayangan dengan menyisipkan ajaran-ajaran Islam di dalamnya. Salah satu cerita dalam pewayangan yaitu cerita Mahabharata. Perubahan-perubahan tersebut merupakan pemanfaatan media dakwah oleh Walisongo, sehingga yang menjadi rumusan masalah dalam penelitian ini adalah bagaimanakah pengembangan cerita Mahabharata setelah adanya Walisongo. Tujuan yang hendak dicapai dalam penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pengembangan cerita Mahabharata setelah digunakan Walisongo dalam rangka penyebaran ajaran Islam di Jawa yang telah disisipkan ajaran Islam.<br /><br />Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian kualitatif yang memfokuskan diri pada studi kepustakaan (library research) mengenai buku-buku Mahabharata, budaya Jawa (pewayangan), Walisongo, dan dakwah. Penelitian ini analisis data menggunakan analisis deskriptif, sebagai upaya untuk menguraikan dan menganalisis pengembangan cerita Mahabharata setelah digunakan Walisongo dan penerusnya dalam rangka penyebaran ajaran Islam di Jawa.<br /><br />Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pengembangan cerita Mahabharata setelah adanya Walisongo meliputi: pertama, Pandawa disimbolkan sebagai rukun Islam, agar memudahkan masyarakat pada waktu dulu dalam mengetahui dan memahami lima pilar agama Islam. Kedua, cerita poliandri tokoh Drupadi dalam cerita Mahabharata Hindu dirubah Walisongo menjadi monoandri, karena Islam melarang wanita menikah dengan lebih dari satu laki-laki (poliandri). Ketiga, tokoh Srikandi yang dalam Mahabharata Hindu merupakan waria kemudian berubah menjadi perempuan sejati, karena Islam tidak memperbolehkan menyalahi kodratnya, yaitu pria yang menyerupai perempuan dan perempuan yang menyerupai pria. Keempat, pendeta Drona tokoh panutan yang baik dan bijaksana dirubah menjadi tokoh negatif, dimaknai sebagai pandangan hina rohaniawan yang tunduk kepada raja. Kelima, dimunculkannya tokoh Punakawan yang merupakan asli Jawa kemudian dimaknai sebagai peraga Walisongo atau da’i. Keenam, muncullah silsilah dewa Hindu yang menjadi keturunan dari Nabi Adam untuk menghilangkan kemusyrikan. Ketujuh, munculnya cerita- cerita baru karangan para wali yang mengandung ajaran-ajaran Islam, seperti cerita Dewaruci, Jimat Kalimasada, Mustaka Weni, dan Petruk Dadi Ratu.<br /><br />

Universally bringing its philosophical implications that has been nurturing our minds, the Ramayana has had a huge impact on us and it still does. Often reckoning it for establishing prototypes of brotherhood and male companionship, the epic is laden with many such examples and the eminent amongst them is Ram and his three brothers. But imperceptibly we sense the similar relevance given to sisterhood and women companionship. Kavita Kane, a mythological-fiction writer is known for retelling the stories from the two Indian epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. In her novel Sita’s Sister, we stumble upon impregnable sisterhood. The novel is a narration of the Ramayana from perspective of Urmila, in which women-bonding is far and wide visible. From childhood to teenage, and to their adulthood, the four sisters in solidarity lead us on a road that ends in women camaraderie. We encounter many instances in the novel where women stand, speak and support other women. So as we learn principles and ethics from the set models of brotherhood, we can also grasp several virtues from the woman characters. Taking into consideration, how the relationship grows between them as they pass through different stages of their lives, the research paper will analyze how the writer has made their bond competent enough to be set on the pedestal of ideal sisterhood.

In this article Draupadi will be presented not only as an unsung heroine in the Hindu epic Mahabharata but also as a paragon of gender and resistance in the wake of the injustices meted out on her. It is her ability to overcome adversity in a venerable manner that sets her apart from other women. As a result Draupadi becomes the most complex and controversial female character in the Hindu literature. On the one hand she could be womanly, compassionate and generous and on the other, she could wreak havoc on those who wronged her. She was never ready to compromise on either her rights as a daughter-in-law or even on the rights of the Pandavas, and remained ever ready to fight back or avenge with high handedness any injustices meted out to her. She can be termed a pioneer of feminism. The subversion theory will be employed to further the argument of the article. This article, will further illustrate how Draupadi in the midst of suffering managed to overcome the predicaments she faced and continue to strive where most women would have given up.

Woman is the main part of human life. People often talk about woman that is very much concerned in the community. However, woman can not be positioned trivially without respecting her own dignity and prestige. Woman ought to be positioned at a special honor, merit, and harmonious role. Woman should not be discredited, but empowered according to her proportional and natural feminine characteristic. In Hindu literatures, woman is described in several manuscripts like Manawadharmasastra, Itihasa, especially the epics of Mahabharata, Ramayana and other literatures.

It is evident since ages that gender discrimination is a common feature in all societies. Even in developed countries, the prejudices and obstacles that women have had to encounter and surmount seem almost identical. The peculiar stigma attached to women all over the world is based on religious bias. “Woman” is depicted as a temptress and is warned against in almost all religions of the world. Woman’s basic stigma therefore originates in religion. The Rig Veda says, “The wife and husband, being the equal halves of one substance, are equal in every respect; therefore, both should join and take equal parts in all works, religious and secular.” The Upanishads clearly declare that we individual souls are neither male nor female. Rig Veda clearly proclaims that women should be given the lead in ruling the nation and in society, and that they should have the same right as sons over the father’s property. “The entire world of noble people bows to the glory of the glorious woman so that she enlightens us with knowledge and foresight. She is the leader of society and provides knowledge to everyone. She is symbol of prosperity and daughter of brilliance. May we respect her so that she destroys the tendencies of evil and hatred from the society. In ancient India, women occupied a very important position, in fact a superior position to, men. It is a culture whose only words for strength and power are feminine -“Shakti” means “power” and “strength.” All male power comes from the feminine. Literary evidence suggests that kings and towns were destroyed because a single woman was wronged by the state. For example, Valmiki’s Ramayana teaches us that Ravana and his entire clan were wiped out because he abducted Sita. Veda Vyasa’s Mahabharatha teaches us that all the Kauravas were killed because they humiliated Draupadi in public. Elango Adigal’s Sillapathigaram teaches us Madurai, the capital of the Pandyas was burnt because Pandyan Nedunchezhiyan mistakenly killed her husband on theft charges.

Susheel Kumar Sharma’s Unwinding Self: A Collection of Poems. Cuttack: Vishvanatha Kaviraj Institute, 2020, ISBN: 978-81-943450-3-9, Paperback, pp. viii + 152. Like his earlier collection, The Door is Half Open, Susheel Kumar Sharma’s Unwinding Self: A Collection of Poems has three sections consisting of forty-two poems of varied length and style, a detailed Glossary mainly on the proper nouns from Indian culture and tradition and seven Afterwords from the pens of the trained readers from different countries of four continents. The structure of the book is circular. The first poem “Snapshots” indicates fifteen kaleidoscopic patterns of different moods of life in about fifteen words each. It seems to be a rumination on the variegated images of everyday experiences ranging from individual concerns to spiritual values. Art-wise, they can be called mini-micro-poems as is the last poem of the book. While the character limit in a micro poem is generally 140 (the character limit on Twitter) Susheel has used just around 65 in each of these poems. Naturally, imagery, symbolism and cinematic technique play a great role in this case. In “The End of the Road” the poet depicts his individual experiences particularly changing scenario of the world. He seems to be worried about his eyesight getting weak with the passage of time, simultaneously he contrasts the weakness of his eyesight with the hypocrisy permeating the human life. He compares his diminishing eyesight to Milton and shows his fear as if he will get blind. He changes his spectacles six times to clear his vision and see the plurality of a reality in human life. It is an irony on the changing aspects of human life causing miseries to the humanity. At the end of the poem, the poet admits the huge changes based on the sham principles: “The world has lost its original colour” (4). The concluding lines of the poem make a mockery of the people who are not able to recognise reality in the right perspective. The poem “Durga Puja in 2013” deals with the celebration of the festival “Durga Puja” popular in the Hindu religion. The poet’s urge to be with Ma Durga shows his dedication towards the Goddess Durga, whom he addresses with different names like ‘Mai’, ‘Ma’ and ‘Mother’. He worships her power and expresses deep reverence for annihilating the evil-spirits. The festival Durga Puja also reminds people of victory of the goddess on the elusive demons in the battlefield. “Chasing a Dream on the Ganges” is another poem having spiritual overtones. Similarly, the poem “Akshya Tritya” has religious and spiritual connotations. It reflects curiosity of people for celebration of “Akshya Tritya” with enthusiasm. But the political and economic overtones cannot be ignored as the poem ends with the remarkable comments: The GDP may go up on this day; Even, Budia is able to Eat to his fill; Panditji can blow his Conch shell with full might. Outside, somebody is asking for votes; Somebody is urging others to vote. I shall vote for Akshya Tritya. (65-66) “On Reading Langston Hughes’ ‘Theme for English B’” is a long poem in the collection. In this poem, the poet reveals a learner’s craving for learning, perhaps who comes from an extremely poor background to pursue his dreams of higher education. The poet considers the learner’s plights of early childhood, school education and evolutionary spirit. He associates it with Dronacharya and Eklavya to describe the mythical system of education. He does not want to be burdened with the self-guilt by denying the student to be his ‘guru’ therefore, he accepts the challenge to change his life. Finally, he shows his sympathy towards the learner and decides to be the ‘guru’: “It is better to face/A challenge and change/Than to be burden with a life/Of self-guilt. /I put my signatures on his form willy-nilly” (11). The poem “The Destitute” is an ironical presentation of the modern ways of living seeking pleasure in the exotic locations all over the world. It portrays the life of a person who has to leave his motherland for earning his livelihood, and has to face an irreparable loss affecting moral virtues, lifestyle, health and sometimes resulting in deaths. The poem “The Black Experience” deals with the suppression of the Africans by the white people. The poem “Me, A Black Doxy”, perhaps points out the dilemma of a black woman whether she should prostitute herself or not, to earn her livelihood. Perhaps, her deep consciousness about her self-esteem does not allow her to indulge in it but she thinks that she is not alone in objectifying herself for money in the street. Her voice resonates repeatedly with the guilt of her indulgence on the filthy streets: At the dining time Me not alone? In the crowded street Me not alone? They ’ave white, grey, pink hair Me ’ave black hair – me not alone There’s a crowd with black hair. Me ’ave no black money Me not alone? (14) The poem “Thus Spake a Woman” is structured in five sections having expressions of the different aspects of a woman’s love designs. It depicts a woman’s dreams and her attraction towards her lover. The auditory images like “strings of a violin”, “music of the violin” and “clinch in my fist” multiply intensity of her feelings. With development of the poem, her dreams seem to be shattered and sadness know the doors of her dreamland. Finally, she is confronted with sadness and is taken back to the past memories reminding her of the difficult situations she had faced. Replete with poetic irony, “Bubli Poems” presents the journey of a female, who, from the formative years of her life to womanhood, experienced gender stereotypes, biased sociocultural practices, and ephemeral happiness on the faces of other girls around her. The poem showcases the transformation of a village girl into a New Woman, who dreams her existence in all types of luxurious belongings rather than identifying her independent existence and finding out her own ways of living. Her dreams lead her to social mobility through education, friendships, and the freedom that she gains from her parents, family, society and culture. She attempts her luck in the different walks of human life, particularly singing and dancing and imagines her social status and wide popularity similar to those of the famous Indian actresses viz. Katrina and Madhuri Dixit: “One day Bubli was standing before the mirror/Putting on a jeans and jacket and shaking her hips/She was trying to be a local Katrina” (41). She readily bears the freakish behaviour of the rustic/uncultured lads, derogatory comments, and physical assaults in order to fulfil her expectations and achieves her individual freedom. Having enjoyed all the worldly happiness and fashionable life, ultimately, she is confronted with the evils designs around her which make her worried, as if she is ignorant of the world replete with the evils and agonies: “Bubli was ignorant of her agony and the lost calm” (42). The examples of direct poetic irony and ironic expressions of the socio-cultural evils, and the different governing bodies globally, are explicit in this poem: “Bubli is a leader/What though if a cheerleader./The news makes her family happy.”(40), “Others were blaming the Vice-Chancellor/ Some others the system;/ Some the freedom given to girls;”(45), and “Some blame poverty; some the IMF;/ Some the UN; some the environment;/ Some the arms race; some the crony’s lust;/ Some the US’s craving for power;/Some the UK’s greed. (46-47). Finally, Bubli finds that her imaginative world is fragile. She gives up her corporeal dreams which have taken the peace of her mind away. She yearns for shelter in the temples and churches and surrenders herself before deities praying for her liberation: “Jai Kali,/ Jai Mahakali, Jai Ma, Jai Jagaddhatri,/ Save me, save the world.” (47). In the poem “The Unlucky”, the poet jibes at those who are lethargic in reading. He identifies four kinds of readers and places himself in the fourth category by rating himself a ‘poor’ reader. The first three categories remind the readers of William Shakespeare’s statement “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” At the end of the poem, the poet questions himself for being a poet and teacher. The question itself reflects on his ironic presentation of himself as a poor reader because a poet’s wisdom is compared with that of the philosopher and everybody worships and bows before a teacher, a “guru”, in the Indian tradition. The poet is considered the embodiment of both. The poet’s unfulfilled wish to have been born in Prayagraj is indexed with compunction when the poem ends with the question “Why was I not born in Prayagraj?” (52). Ending with a question mark, the last line of the poem expresses his desire for perfection. The next poem, “Saying Goodbye”, is elegiac in tone and has an allusion to Thomas Gray’s “The Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” in the line “When the curfew tolls the knell of the parting day”; it ends with a question mark. The poem seems to be a depiction of the essence and immortality of ‘time’. Reflecting on the poet’s consideration of the power and beauty of ‘time’, Pradeep Kumar Patra rightly points out, “It is such a phenomena that nobody can turn away from it. The moment is both beautiful as well as ferocious. It beautifies and showcases everything and at the same time pulls everything down when necessary” (146). Apparently, the poem “The Kerala Flood 2018”is an expression of emotions at the disaster caused by the flood in 2018. By reminding of Gandhi’s tenets to be followed by people for the sake of morality and humankind, the poet makes an implicit criticism of the pretentions, and violation of pledges made by people to care of other beings, particularly, cow that is worshiped as “mother” and is considered to be a symbol of fertility, peace and holiness in Hinduism as well as the Buddhist culture. The poet also denigrates people who deliberately ignore the sanctity of the human life in Hinduism and slaughter the animal cow to satisfy their appetites. In the poem, the carnivorous are criticized explicitly, but those who pretend to be herbivorous are decried as shams: If a cow is sacrosanct And people eat beef One has to take a side. Some of the friends chose to Side with cow and others With the beef-eaters. Some were more human They chose both. (55) The poet infuses positivity into the minds of the Indian people. Perhaps, he thinks that, for Indians, poverty, ignorance, dirt and mud are not taboos as if they are habitual to forbear evils by their instincts. They readily accept them and live their lives happily with pride considering their deity as the preserver of their lives. The poem “A Family by the Road” is an example of such beliefs, in which the poet lavishes most of his poetic depiction on the significance of the Lord Shiva, the preserver of people in Hinduism: Let me enjoy my freedom. I am proud of my poverty. I am proud of my ignorance. I am proud of my dirt. I have a home because of these. I am proud of my home. My future is writ on the walls Of your houses My family shall stay in the mud. After all, somebody is needed To clean the dirt as well. I am Shiva, Shivoham. (73) In the poem “Kabir’s Chadar”, the poet invokes several virtues to back up his faith in spirituality and simplicity. He draws a line of merit and virtue between Kabir’s Chadar which is ‘white’ and his own which is “thickly woven” and “Patterned with various beautiful designs/ In dark but shining colours” (50). The poet expresses his views on Kabir’s ‘white’ Chadar symbolically to inculcate the sense of purity, fortitude, spirituality, and righteousness among people. The purpose of his direct comparison between them is to refute artificiality, guilt and evil intents of humanity, and propagate spiritual purity, the stark simplicities of our old way of life, and follow the patience of a saint like Kabir. The poem “Distancing” is a statement of poetic irony on the city having two different names known as Bombay and Mumbai. The poet sneers at its existence in Atlas. Although the poet portraits the historical events jeering at the distancing between the two cities as if they are really different, yet the poet’s prophetic anticipation about the spread of the COVID-19 in India cannot be denied prima facie. The poet’s overwhelming opinions on the overcrowded city of Bombay warn humankind to rescue their lives. Even though the poem seems to have individual expressions of the poet, leaves a message of distancing to be understood by the people for their safety against the uneven things. The poem “Crowded Locals” seems to be a sequel to the poem “Distancing”. Although the poet’s purpose, and appeal to the commonplace for distancing cannot be affirmed by the readers yet his remarks on the overcrowded cities like in Mumbai (“Crowded Locals”), foresee some risk to the humankind. In the poem “Crowded Locals”, he details the mobility of people from one place to another, having dreams in their eyes and puzzles in their minds for their livelihood while feeling insecure especially, pickpockets, thieves and strangers. The poet also makes sneering comments on the body odour of people travelling in first class. However, these two poems have become a novel contribution for social distancing to fight against the COVID-19. In the poem “Buy Books, Not Diamonds” the poet makes an ironical interpretation of social anarchy, political upheaval, and threat of violence. In this poem, the poet vies attention of the readers towards the socio-cultural anarchy, especially, anarchy falls on the academic institutions in the western countries where capitalism, aristocracy, dictatorship have armed children not with books which inculcate human values but with rifles which create fear and cause violence resulting in deaths. The poet’s perplexed opinions find manifestation in such a way as if books have been replaced with diamonds and guns, therefore, human values are on the verge of collapse: “Nine radiant diamonds are no match/ To the redness of the queen of spades. . . . / … holding/ Rifles is a better option than/ Hawking groundnuts on the streets?” (67).The poet also decries the spread of austere religious practices and jihadist movement like Boko Haram, powerful personalities, regulatory bodies and religious persons: “Boko Haram has come/Obama has also come/The UN has come/Even John has come with/Various kinds of ointments” (67). The poem “Lost Childhood” seems to be a memoir in which the poet compares the early life of an orphan with the child who enjoys early years of their lives under the safety of their parents. Similarly, the theme of the poem “Hands” deals with the poet’s past experiences of the lifestyle and its comparison to the present generation. The poet’s deep reverence for his parents reveals his clear understanding of the ways of living and human values. He seems to be very grateful to his father as if he wants to make his life peaceful by reading the lines of his palms: “I need to read the lines in his palm” (70). In the poem “A Gush of Wind”, the poet deliberates on the role of Nature in our lives. The poem is divided into three sections, perhaps developing in three different forms of the wind viz. air, storm, and breeze respectively. It is structured around the significance of the Nature. In the first section, the poet lays emphasis on the air we breathe and keep ourselves fresh as if it is a panacea. The poet criticizes artificial and material things like AC. In the second section, he depicts the stormy nature of the wind scattering papers, making the bed sheets dusty affecting or breaking the different types of fragile and luxurious objects like Italian carpets and lamp shades with its strong blow entering the oriels and window panes of the houses. Apparently, the poem may be an individual expression, but it seems to be a caricature on the majesty of the rich people who ignore the use of eco-chic objects and disobey the Nature’s behest. In the third and the last section of the poem, the poet’s tone is critical towards Whitman, Pushkin and Ginsberg for their pseudoscientific philosophy of adherence to the Nature. Finally, he opens himself to enjoy the wind fearlessly. The poems like “A Voice” , “The New Year Dawn”, “The New Age”, “The World in Words in 2015”, “A Pond Nearby”, “Wearing the Scarlet Letter ‘A’”, “A Mock Drill”, “Strutting Around”, “Sahibs, Snobs, Sinners”, “Endless Wait”, “The Soul with a New Hat”, “Renewed Hope”, “Like Father, Unlike Son”, “Hands”, “Rechristening the City”, “Coffee”, “The Unborn Poem”, “The Fountain Square”, “Ram Setu”, and “Connaught Place” touch upon the different themes. These poems reveal poet’s creativity and unique features of his poetic arts and crafts. The last poem of the collection “Stories from the Mahabharata” is written in twenty-five stanzas consisting of three lines each. Each stanza either describes a scene or narrates a story from the Mahabharata, the source of the poem. Every stanza has an independent action verb to describe the actions of different characters drawn from the Mahabharata. Thus, each stanza is a complete miniscule poem in itself which seems to be a remarkable characteristic of the poem. It is an exquisite example of ‘Micro-poetry’ on paper, remarkable for its brevity, dexterity and intensity. The poet’s conscious and brilliant reframing of the stories in his poem sets an example of a new type of ‘Found Poetry’ for his readers. Although the poet’s use of various types images—natural, comic, tragic, childhood, horticultural, retains the attention of readers yet the abundant evidences of anaphora reflect redundancy and affect the readers’ concentration and diminishes their mental perception, for examples, pronouns ‘her’ and ‘we’ in a very small poem “Lost Childhood”, articles ‘the’ and ‘all’ in “Crowded Locals”, the phrase ‘I am proud of’ in “A Family by the Road” occur many times. Svitlana Buchatska’s concise but evaluative views in her Afterword to Unwinding Self help the readers to catch hold of the poet’s depiction of his emotions. She writes, “Being a keen observer of life he vividly depicts people’s life, traditions and emotions involving us into their rich spiritual world. His poems are the reflection on the Master’s world of values, love to his family, friends, students and what is more, to his beloved India. Thus, the author reveals all his beliefs, attitudes, myths and allusions which are the patterns used by the Indian poets” (150). W. H. Auden defines poetry as “the clear expression of mixed feelings.” It seems so true of Susheel Sharma’s Unwinding Self. It is a mixture of poems that touch upon the different aspects of human life. It can be averred that the collection consists of the poet’s seamless efforts to delve into the various domains of the human life and spot for the different places as well. It is a poetic revue in verse in which the poet instils energy, confidence, power and enthusiasm into minds of Indian people and touches upon all aspects of their lives. The poverty, ignorance, dirt, mud, daily struggle against liars, thieves, pickpockets, touts, politician and darkness have been depicted not as weaknesses of people in Indian culture but their strengths, because they have courage to overcome darkness and see the advent of a new era. The poems teach people morality, guide them to relive their pains and lead them to their salvation. Patricia Prime’s opinion is remarkable: “Sharma writes about his family, men and women, childhood, identity, roots and rootlessness, memory and loss, dreams and interactions with nature and place. His poised, articulate poems are remarkable for their wit, conversational tone and insight” (138). Through the poems in the collection, the poet dovetails the niceties of the Indian culture, and communicates its beauty and uniqueness meticulously. The language of the poem is lucid, elevated and eloquent. The poet’s use of diction seems to be very simple and colloquial like that of an inspiring teacher. On the whole the book is more than just a collection of poems as it teaches the readers a lot about the world around them through a detailed Glossary appended soon after the poems in the collection. It provides supplementary information about the terms used abundantly in Indian scriptures, myths, and other religious and academic writings. The Glossary, therefore, plays pivotal role in unfolding the layers of meaning and reaching the hearts of the global readers. The “Afterwords” appended at the end, enhances readability of poems and displays worldwide acceptability, intelligibility, and popularity of the poet. The Afterwords are a good example of authentic Formalistic criticism and New Criticism. They indirectly teach a formative reader and critic the importance of forming one’s opinion, direct reading and writing without any crutches of the critics.