Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata, Section C

The story I most responded to this week was...

...drumroll

Wife of the Five Pandavas

Stream of consciousness:

So when I got to this story, the title really intrigued me. As we have all caught onto by not I'm all for feminism and different gender interpretations in stories. Especially with this title. Wife of Five Pandavas??? This made me excited to hear about how she got all these men. I began the story and was immediately sort of taken back as the mom encourages them to share the gift, which unbeknownst to her is the new wife. Then, because she said so, they have to figure out how to share her? Anyways. Initially they are each like "You take her." "No you take her." This goes on even though they each secretly want her. So then they go to this woman's dad and her brother is like nope just one of yall. But then the gods say nope all of yall. So they decide to split her between the five of them. Then the dad approves and they each marry her. 

Gender take:

So I was really pumped to read a story about a lady who had wooed five husbands and how she was gonna rock that. But no. Just like the last story about the fish girl who got turned into a virgin again, the title was misleading and I got disappointed. The story is all about men. As the other story, this should have been titled: How Five Men all got to marry a single babe without her consent really. Super frustrating. Also frustrating is the language used about her. "Thy daughter, like to a lotus, hath been but transferred from one lake to another." I understand this is sacred imagery, but she is still depicted as an object. Not just an object. A fragile flower floating in water. Ugh. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913). 

IMAGE:

( The Wife and Five Husbands )