MAHABHARAT - a result of impulsive actions of the female characters

Mahabharata has seen ferocious female characters right from Ganga to Gandhari ; Hidimba to Ahilawati ; Kunti to Draupadi. The characters knew how to make their voice count , had numerous vardaans and some were just mystical beings.

However, the Mahabharata war ( originally known as the Jaya war ) can be loosely considered a consequence of the impulsiveness of these female characters.

Starting from Satyavati , the second wife of Shantanu ( the father of Bhishma Pitamah) - Satyavati was a daughter of a fishermen. Although , she loved Shantanu she was insecure about the future of her children ( who hadn't taken birth till now). She wanted her sons to sit on the throne but this desire of hers was threatened by Bhishma or Devratt , as he was known in his earlier days. To save his father's love and to make her step mother feel secure , Devratt vowed to stay a slave to the throne of Hastinapur , never become the king and observe celibacy. Though, Satyavati was satisfied at the moment , the consequences of her impulsiveness was bitter. Her sons Vichitravirya and Chitrangada died early and now Bhishma could not sit on the throne and neither could have sons who could. Later , Ved Vyas came to their rescue but let's leave that story for another day.

The second impulsive action was taken by Kunti ; she had a boon that she could receive a son by any of the Gods , she tried to test her boon and called the sun God - the sun God gave her Karna whom she had to abandon. Later , Karna fought from the side of Kauravas and proved to be a major tool against the Pandava army.

However , the impulsiveness of Kunti did not end here. It was because of Kunti's order that Draupadi has to marry the five brothers.

Coming to Gandari , the princess of Gandhar- the moment she came to know that she was going to marry a blind prince , she blindfolded herself and named it her tapasya without thinking of the future. Had she not been blindfolded, she might be able control her sons better, Shakuni wouldn't have vowed to destroy the kuru dynasty and things would be better.

However , these ladies hardly reacted where they should have. Satyavati abandoned the kingdom when the fishermen were attacked by Duryodhana who was a child at that time and Dhritarashtra eventually ended up ordering the fishermen to leave the kingdom. Satyavati could have used her powers at that time , show her manipulative side at that crucial moment but she chose to abandon the kingdom.

Kunti could have accepted Karna as his son when he saw him being insulted and living a life full of humiliation with no fault of his but she again chose to be quiet. Similarly , Gandhari and Kunti kept quiet during the dyut sabha , when Draupadi was insulted and only spoke when Draupadi was about to curse the whole sabha. Fierce women who couldn't protect the women of their family.

Each incident of the story led to the other and the Mahabharata episodes are definitely incomplete without the karmic lessons , philosophical ideas and behavioral rules it gifts the reader.

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