#hidimbaa

[friend-shaped-but]

I like to think Hidimbi was jacked af

YES SHE WAS AND I LOVE THOSE TWO SO MUCH. FAVE HET SHIP APART FROM IG SHALAKA X SHIKHANDI(which imo is more homemade)

Yk a cool thing I do? In his head, Bheem refers to hidimba as his lover. And Draupadi as his beloved.

Listen I have 2 hidimbaa wips no scratch that I have 3 and I'm gonna take this ask as an excuse to talk about them.

Beginning era, where it's just them falling in love. Age gap trope. Bheem is younger. Dogri Hidimbaa. Eldritch Hidimbaa. Hidimbaa so jacked bheem is smol and pookie by her standards. Starts crackily, Ends angstily. She wolf whistled. He looked back only once, only to see her tired smile as she held ghatotkach in one arm. She waved at him. "Don't shed tears for me, pretty boy!" she shouted. She was not following her own advice, bheem thought from her tone of voice. He swallowed the lump in his throat and waved at her only once before disappearing into the valley.

Hidimba and Draupadi meet. No cannibalism arc bcos we hate that shit. Gharjawai ghatotkach who stays with mauravi. Mauravi is suspiciously like bheem. "You'd like your brother, I think," Bheem said. "How old is he?" "He was fifteen when I had to leave," "And now?" "Must be about twenty two or so," "Baby!!!" Ghatotkach squealed.

Bheem visits hidimba in the forest after the war. Slowly, the crowd dissipated, only Hidimba left before the dying fire. She didn’t scream or cry or weep. He thought she would curse him, but even that would have been preferable compared to her icy calm. He thought she would wail, and he deserved it. He deserved everything she threw at him, and it still wouldn’t be enough to absolve him. He finally felt brave enough to approach her.  Sitting down beside her, he picked up a stick, trying to poke and rekindle the fire with it. But before he could, a hand on his arm stopped him.  “Let it be,” She sighed. “There’s no use trying to rekindle something that has already been extinguished.”     “Forgive me, Hidimba, I-” “I have, Bheem,” She said softly, her brown eyes boring into his soul. “It is the only reason you are alive,”

[heretostaybutnottoplay]

I guess this intelligent person missed the part about Shri Lakshmi having an actual swayamvara (a ceremony where the bride-to-be chooses who she wants to marry) after she came out of the Ocean of Milk. Even the asuras attended, and Lakshmi Devi chose Shri Vishnu anyway. Shri Lakshmi is not some object that the Devas and Asuras fought over, she was the one to choose Shri Vishnu. It is all there is only people bothered to look before they wrote such silly articles.

And does this person not know what an Asura means? What a demon means? Knowing this, would they want Shri Vishnu to let these evil people gain unlimited power to destroy everything? The Devas were there to restore their power, the asuras were there to gain more power to destroy the world, to put it simply. Shri Vishnu is the protector of us all, and he protected us at that time as well. And when Rahu and Ketu tried to gain the amrit for themselves surreptitiously, Shri Vishnu disposed of them accordingly.

As for the Ramayana, Shri Rama wanted to prove to the world that Devi Sita was pure, because people had doubts about her after she spent so much time in Ravana's garden. It is the people who are imperfect, not Shri Rama. OP has already explained the entire problem with considering Ravana, who kidnapped Sita Devi, violated many women and killed many rishis, a good person. And as for the story of sending Sita Devi to the forest, that is part of the Uttar Khand. Generally we don't read it because it does not matter. But it is also explainable. The first reason is that Shri Rama is a king. And a king is accountable to his people. If Shri Rama had not sent Sita Devi away, it would have been a violation of his Dharma as a king. And the second reason for this, is that this whole situation was manufactured so that Devi Sita could return to Vaikunta to wait for Shri Rama to return. So that the sons of Shri Rama could be taught and raised in the presence of Valmiki Maharishi and be taught the glory of Shri Rama.

Anyways Uttar Khand is generally not considered by most people because it was written after the original.

And clearly, they have no knowledge of the Mahabharata either. Hidimbaa was the sister of the rakshasa Hidimba (same name lol, it's not exactly the same in Sanskrit tho) who wanted to kill the Pandavas to eat them. She fell in love with Bheema and after he killed her brother, she followed them. Bheema married her and they spent 7 days with each other alone. Ghatotkacha was born during this time, and he grew into an adult the moment he was born. After this, Hidimbaa and Ghatotkacha spent many more days with the Pandavas, and they departed by themselves. And even after this, Ghatotkacha appeared many more times in the story to help his father, and they always spoke fondly with each other. Ghatotkacha's death in the war was a very big deal, as anyone who has actually read the Mahabharata would know.

And drawing from OP's words, I wonder if this writer knows why the Mahabharata is so important. The Pandavas were not perfect people. No one was perfect except for Shri Krishna. Despite living in the same era as Krishna and being in his presence the whole time, neither the Pandavas nor people like Bhishma and Drona go to Moksha. Only Vidura did. The reason the Pandavas are the "heroes" of the epic is because even though they were not perfect, they never strayed from doing what was right. They always followed their Dharma. They made many mistakes, but they never went down the path of Adharma, which is what Duryodhana, Karna, Dushasana, Shakuni and others did.

But you want to know what is the real reason the Pandavas are superior? Why they won the war and reaped the benefits? Why they prevailed in the end? Why we respect and revere them? It is not even simply because of their Dharmic qualities. It is first and foremost because they surrendered themselves to the feet of Shri Krishna Bhagavan. And Shri Krishna carried them to victory.

The most important part of Mahabharata is the Bhagavat Gita. The most important shloka is the 66th shloka in chapter 18. It means "Abandon all varieties of dharmas and simply surrender unto Me alone. I shall liberate you from all sinful reactions; do not fear." This is the most ultimate message from the Gita. This is the most important message for our religion in general.

Everyone says, "Follow Krishna, be like Rama." This is what that means. We should listen to the words of Shri Krishna on how to live a life of dharma, and we should implement it like Shri Rama did.

This entire article is a fundamental misunderstanding of our entire religion, and it is really worrying to see more and more people say such things.

This makes me so so soooo fucking angry I can’t be tamed. These people will fall to any level to make my religion look bad. Fucking shameless.

Now that some of my anger is out, lets get into this:

Shree Laxmi wasn’t given to gods, she isn’t a goddamn cattle animal like Kamdhenu, and the demons and gods respected her wishes as a supposed human being to choose either side. She chose devas, not because she was partial against the asuras, but because a) she’s the universal mother, she knows everything that goes on, including which side has bad intentions and which one will use her powers for the good, and b) she chose to be with her eternal Lover/Husband Shree Narayan, and since he was on the deva’s side (aka the good side), she was with them by default.

The fact that literal demons had more respect for her than our secular writer over here, *sigh*

The elixer was given to gods because it was to restore their powers? Like, you know, the ones that were taken away from them? Why the frick would the lord allow Demons to have elixir when he knows they don’t have any good intents? They are literally evil, and protecting against evil is like god’s whole job ffs🤦🏻‍♀️

Literally no one in Mahabharata except Shree Krishna is purely good, get that through your fucking thick skulls. That’s the entire point, you learn what you do from Ramayan and what not to do from Mahabharat. And the Hidamba Mata’s (aka the Danvi whose name you didn’t bother researching, great work 👍🏼) backstory is never discussed in detail, neither is Ghatotkach. For all you know, the pregnancy could have been hidden from him, atleast that’s what their first meeting shows. So if you plan on demonising sex, you proved no motive here.

“Ohh, Ravan never did anything wrong, bas kidnap hi to kiya tha akeli nari ka.” Is such a sad argument tbh, y’all literally see no issue with kidnapping and terrifying a women over your own sister’s lose character? What a shame. “He never touched her.” Social distancing se kidnap kiya tha kya bhenchod? He never touched her sexually you mean, not because he was a saint of a man, but because he was a verified rapist with a blue check. He had raped his own to be niece in law and was cursed by his nephew that raping another woman would lead to his death. He literally threatened to cook Devi Sita and eat her up if she didn’t submit. Another reason he didn’t touch her was because if he had touched her, It would be Jankiayan instead of Ramayan because she would fucking kill him before you all can blink.

“He humiliated her on more than one occasion” is a very sneaky way to say two occasions so that the number can be inflated, eh?

The first occasion: Calling her names so that she will submit herself to agni out of spite and emerge unharmed, which literally everyone condemned, including the loyal brother Lakshman who rebelled against his own brother (for whose wake he would pick up a sword against everyone , mind you) because he dared disrespect a woman like Maa Sita, and even Hanumanji who’s Shri Ram’s biggest, and I mean biggest devotee. Literally no one stood by Sita’s humiliation, and it was later revealed by Shri Ram that the act was staged by the him so that she can have an excuse to perform agni pravesh so that no lecherous person would dare point a finger at her in future. Even the shlokas say he did it so that no one would suspect his wife’s character. And before you say Shri Ram was “saving face”, one of his plus points as mentioned is that he doesn’t lie throughout the entire story, so think again. Y’all really think he spent the entire story worrying for her safety only to insult her in the end?

You think Seeta would have anyone humiliate her once and give them a chance for a second humiliation? Ohhh you dead wrong!

Second occasion: Shree Raghuvar sending Maa Sita to exile, which is a very infamously known interpolation denounced by many. So he only “insulted” her once and that too in a staged act. One of the shlokas he uses to coax his peers after agni pariksha is that a woman like her can never be denounced by him, and like I said, he never lies, sooo…… :P

Shree Ram decietfully killed Bali because Bali was a foe who could not be fought face to face? Do you even Know the story of Bali? Do you know he was such a bad guy he literally took his brother’s wife like she was property? Ugh, I can’t.

Guru Drona didn’t accept Eklavya not because he was “Tribal”, but because he had promised his loyalty to the Bharatvansh Clan. Had even Shree Krishna gone to him asking for training, he would have refused. Eklavya’s tribal background was never discussed in this context.

(Also sidenote to my followers but isn’t it funny how despite Eklavya having to lose his thumb Guru Drona’s boon to Arjun wasn’t fulfilled because he still couldn’t surpass Bhagwaan Ramchandra as the greatest bowman? Khaya piya kuchh nahi, paap sar chadhaya barah aana XD)

I mean, God really out to set a limit to hypocrisy now because the more I see these people the more I disagree with Modiji ki Hypocrisy ki seema hai. Agar hai bhi to ye namune kaise long jump krke laanhg rhe h unhe, oof.

[moistvonlipdig]

Why does no one talk about how marriage proposals are so casual in Hindu mythology:

“Yo Bheema I’m Hidimbaa I’m a demon and a cannibal and I know I just met you but please marry me you hot hot man”

“Hey Ganga, you just came out of the river looking gobsmackingly beautiful I literally cannot breathe right now please marry me please please yes of course I won’t question you every time you drown our children to death”

[ginazmemeoir]

okay so i know you're super interested and knowledgeable about mythology, so i thought that there's no harm in asking for help, right?

i kinda have to do a 60+ page project on the Mahabharata and the role of women in Mahabharata. do you have any fun facts or anything? all of it will be greatly appreciated

 ok the reason this has taken me a significant time to respond is because i was thinking - what best way to answer this. so i have chosen the analysis of different aspects of their lives, rather than do a full character-by-character analysis cause that would end up being a full fledged book. also this is still gonna be like 6 pages. so here we go.

1. BIRTH : 

Most of the women in the Mahabharata have an unusual birth, all predestined to do something. Ganga is said to be born from Vishnu’s feet and descended form the heavens. Urvashi and Menaka were the Queens of the Apsaras, born from Brahma’s thighs. Devayani and Sharmishtha were the daughters of Shukracharya and the asura king Virupaksha respectively. Shakuntala was Menaka and Vishwamitra’s daughter, who was found abandoned beneath some flying cranes. Satyavati was born out of a fish which ingested a king’s sperm and was then adopted by the chief of fishermen. Gandhari was born to bear a hundred sons, which she requested from Shiva in her previous birth (some also say her present birth). Amba was reborn as a transman after she burnt herself alive to have revenge on Bhishma. Draupadi was born out of literal fire, cursed to bring the destruction of a thousand clans, and gifted to marry five husbands, each with a quality she wanted. Subhadra was born as an incarnation of Yogamaya, while Kripi (Drona’s wife) was born from a deer.

2. LOVE AND MARRIAGE : 

There is a pretty contrasting change in the way women choose their partners, and got married in the Mahabharata. This reflects their declining status in society.

Urvashi and Menaka have had several affairs and marriages. Urvashi left Pururavas when he failed to fulfill her conditions, and later asked her descendant Arjun to have sex with her. When he refused, she cursed him to become a transwoman for a year, which he could choose. 

Devayani and Sharmishtha ended up getting married to the same man. Devayani’s husband Yayati, whom she married out of love, cheated on her with Sharmishtha. Devayani, however, had Yayati cursed with sterility and old age as revenge. So technically, women also had a right to a divorce i guess? not officially, but they could definitely leave their husband’s house or humiliate him.

Shakuntala marries Dushyant through the gandharva rites, with the forest as her witness. Their conflicting accounts about the end of her story - Vyasa states that mortified by her indignation at Dushyant’s hands, she leaves him with her son and returns to the forest. Kalidasa states Dushyant ends up remembering her and bringing her back as his lawfully wedded wife.

Ganga is the first wife of Shantanu, and she married him only on the condition that he would never question her. Finally, when he stops her from drowning their eighth son, she breaks her marriage and goes away with the child who grows up to be Devavrata.

Satyavati actually has two meaningful encounters - once with Parashara (son of Vashishtha) and the other with Shantanu. With Parashara, she was ferrying him across the Yamuna when he professed he wanted to have sex with her. Satyavati agreed on two conditions - if she gets pregnant, she would deliver within a day and the child wouldn’t be her responsibility and secondly, Parashara would grant her any boon she wanted. Thus, she gave birth to Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa (the dark skinned boy born on an island) who was brought up by Parashara, and plus got blessed by an intoxicating smell. With Shantanu, even though she was young enough to be his daughter, she holds up a condition that only her children would inherit the Kuru throne, to fulfill which Devavrata takes his terrible oath and becomes Bhishma. Only then does she marry Shantanu. She literally forged her own destiny and had control over her decisions, something which she herself denies later to other women.

Satyavati orders Bhishma to abduct the three princesses of Kashi - Amba, Ambika and Ambalika, as brides for her drunkard son Vichitravirya. Thus, she snatches away the same freedom of marriage she had enjoyed. Amba resists her abduction, however ends up being rejected from her boyfriend King Shalva, for she was now “another man’s property”. She demands Bhishma marry her to salvage her honor, which he denies due to his oath of celibacy. Satyavati could’ve made him break the vow, which she doesn’t. Amba goes to all the kings in the world, seeking one who would salvage her honor. None do, for all are afraid of Bhishma, so she curses all that their lineages would go extinct in a war fought to salvage another woman’s honour in another time. Finally she approaches Parashuram, Bhishma’s teacher. Enraged, Parashuram fights Bhishma but realizes that their fight could end the world. That is one Amba burns herself alive, and curses Bhishma that she would be reborn, and reclaim her revenge. Later, Satyavati forces Ambika and Ambalika to undergo niyog with Vyas after Virya’s death (niyog was practiced when a man died without an heir, so another male member of the family was called to produce an heir with the widow). Thus she also snatches the same sexual freedom which she enjoyed from her daughter in laws. Some say this was also a part of Satyavati’s plan to ensure that only her lineage sits on the throne, because biologically Vyasa is Satyavati’s son, and not Shantanu’s, thus making the children he fathered Satyavati’s blood, and not Kuru blood as they legally claim.

Kunti was forced to have a child with Surya, just because of a childish boon she wanted to try out. Later, she choses Pandu, Ambalika’s son, from a select swayamvara of princes. She couldn’t have chosen another man as others before her had.

Satyavati yet again snatches the same freedom she took for herself. Bhishma is ordered to march to Gandhara and get it’s princess, Gandhari, as a bride for the blind prince Dhritarashtra. When her father Subala resists, Satyavati has him destroy the entire kingdom and kill all of Gandhari’s family, sparing her and her youngest brother Shakuni. Thus Gandhari has no say in her own marriage, for the first time in the Kuru dynasty. Even her act of remaining blindfolded in solidarity with her husband is often pedestalized, the pain behind it overlooked. This is also what gives birth to Shakuni’s burning thirst for revenge and the destruction of the entire Kuru dynasty, just like his family was killed in front of his eyes. One has to understsand that the Mahabharata was simply the sum of past sins and curses and boons and births. Pinning it on Draupadi, who was the last character in this play of power, reduces this epic’s magnificence.

Duryodhana’s marriage with Bhanumati is like the typical fairy tale we hear - she specifically tells him to abduct her and marry her so she doesn’t end up marrying some random dick she doesn’t even know. Again, the woman is in control of her marriage, however the fact that a marriage is being forced on her comes to the fore now.

Hidimbaa, Bhima’s first wife, was a rakshas princess and she marries Bhima by having him kill her brother who wanted to eat him instead. Hidimbaa never goes with Bhima, and instead raises her son Ghatotkacha single handedly and looks after her queendom. This shows a major shift in the status of a woman - the so called “civilized” society keeps reducing the freedom and space given to them, while tribal customs continue to uphold individuality.

Draupadi’s marriage symbolises the status of women perfectly at the time. She’s not a woman with a say in her marriage - instead she’s reduced to a prize, a political alliance to be won in an archery competition. Had Arjun not won, Draupadi would’ve had to keep her head down and just marry the other person because she has no choice.

Subhadra’s marriage is in stark contrast. Arjun is her second cousin (barf) and she abducts him from her own wedding (which was happening to Duryodhana) and marries Arjun with Krishna’s blessings. Subhadra takes the same freedom that Draupadi was never offered. Also, Draupadi and Subhadra would become Arjuna’s only wives - none of his other “companions” would get the same title or status.

Dushala is married to Jayadrath, king of Sindh. The marriage was an unhappy one.

Balarama’s daughter Sulakshana runs away with Ghatotkacha’s help and marries her first cousin Abhimanyu, while Uttara is offered as a political alliance. Again there’s a stark contrast between the two, and it holds a mirror to society - how once the same freedom offered to women had now become a thing of legends.

3. POLITICS AND AMBITIONS

Devayani had wanted to snub Sharmishtha her whole life because of the one major fight they had which she lost. Being the daughter of Shukracharya, Devayani had more resources at her disposal, and she makes good use of them by transforming Sharmishtha, a princess, into her slave. Later, she also makes sure Yayati is punished for his adultery.

Shakuntala played kingmaker - according to the Mahabharata she went back to the forest only after securing her son’s right to the throne. According to Kalidasa, she has no ambitions whatsoever.

Satyavati’s political ambitions have already been discussed above - her rise to power, her way of ensuring that only her blood claims the throne, and the fact that she was willing to do anything for what she wanted. Another factor into this is caste - Satyavati is often ridiculed as Daseyi (daughter of a slave) and is discriminated against because of her caste as a fisherwoman.

Amba’s ambitions have also been discussed above - her burning desire for revenge. When she is reborn as Shikhandi, she deliberately has her gender changed before her marriage so that she transforms into a man.

The tussle between Kunti and Gandhari for power is an actual stuff of legends. While Kunti is mostly projected as a hapless widow raising five boys, most people forget that she’s a powerful princess, and was originally the Empress of Hastinapur, later turned widow. She knows the deadly game of politics and it's nuances, and the same goes for Gandhari. According to the epics, the game played between these two queens was subtle, and not open. For example, Gandhari had took over Kunti’s quarters and had her sleep close to the servant’s quarters. Kunti too secures her own future by convincing Bhishma to back her and her son’s claim to the throne. One famous tale recounts that during a particular festival, Gandhari calls in a hundred elephants covered in gold for the worship. Since Kunti has no resources of her own and instead has to use toy elephants made of clay, she asks Arjuna to do something, who promptly goes to the heavens and brings back Airavata, the king of all elephants and Indra’s vahana, for Kunti. This rivalry comes to the open when the kingdom is divided and the wastelands and forests, Khandavaprastha, is handed to the Pandavas. Kunti accuses Gandhari of deliberately giving the useless part to her sons, while Gandhari accuses her of nurturing the wish for the throne in her sons’ hearts. This rivalry, however, comes to an end with the war, and both reconcile.

Kunti is also shown to be heartless/overprotective when it comes to her kids, which is understandable given the circumstances in which they were brought up. However, that doesn’t justify the fact that she made Bhima leave Hidimbaa in the forest. It also doesn’t justify the fact that originally, when she got to know that she and her sons were to be burnt alive in the Varnavata Summer Palace, she burnt alive another mother and all her children who had come there from the forest as guests, along with the caretaker Purochana who was in on the plan, as a cover so they could escape. It also doesn’t justify her making Draupadi marry all five brothers so there could never be “a fight over a woman”. Her masterstroke, however, comes during the War. What I believe is, she should have told Karna the entire truth and accepted him the moment she saw him. However, she waited, and then finally when the War arrives, she tells him the truth and emotionally manipulates him. Softening Karna’s heart, she protects four of her sons, and she had enough faith in Krishna to protect the fifth. It could also be genuine affection, but I refuse to believe that.

Draupadi has to face a much tougher life though. Kunti had already tied her to all five brothers as their “mutual” wife. One can only imagine the pain and endurance she goes through, battling her in-laws and her own family. She later has the Pandavas promise that no other wife of their could get the title of wife or the status, and couldn’t enter the Kuru household or Indraprastha. Even Subhadra was never allowed inside Hastinapur and Indraprastha, and instead spent her entire life in Dwarka. Her “laugh” at Duryondhana’s stumble in Indraprastha could be genuine fun, and also her own way of getting back at him for all those years of injustice. In the forest during exile, she has to keep all her wits about her, as she encounters wrathful sages, vengeful spirits, and kings with ill intents. As a hairdresser, she had virtually no power and so could do nothing herself when the queen’s brother, Kichak, tries to rape her. However, she invites Bhima over (who’s living as a cook) and he easily kills Kichak. What’s really infuriating is the way people pin the entire carnage that follows on her head - essentially victim shaming. People say “so what if she was disrobed publicly? does that mean she would destroy that entire clan, who stood mum and watched?” Yes. Yes it does. And you can’t give the excuse “she is fire’s daughter” and all. NO. Then, she wasn’t the weapon summoned to destroy a thousand clans, daughter of fire, Empress of Indraprastha or Princess of Panchala. At that moment, she was a woman being disrobed publicly. A woman lost in a wager like cattle. Nobody rose to defend her, except Vikarna, a Kaurava and Krishna, the man she regards as her own brother. This is what makes a bold statement about women - she’s no longer a person, but a commodity to be owned by someone. It reflects the rot and decay of our society, which increases day by day. What I believe is, Draupadi’s demand for retribution is perfectly justified - her wish to bathe in the blood of the one who disrobed her, dragged her by her hair all the way to the Imperial Coury, perfectly justified. Her wish to see the corpse of all those who stood silent as she was being disrobed, or those who mocked, pile up in the great blood soaked field of Kurukshetra. Her heart however melts the instant she sees the “great army of widows and orphans” who arrive at Kurukshetra.

4. CHILDREN

A recurring, patriarchal theme in all Hindu epics is the fact that a woman’s happiness was linked to her children, most of all sons.

All of Devayani’s five sons were banished and cursed when they refused to take up their father’s old age and sterility while in their youth. The same fate awaited Sharmishtha’s sons. Only the youngest, Puru, agrees and is then pronounced king after a thousand years, when Yayati returns him back his youth. Moreover, Devayani has to give her daughter Madhavi to a priest on Yayati’s order, who is later raped by four kings as a teenager and gives birth to four great sons. These sons are later asked to give up a quarter each of their merit earned on earth to Yayati, who was denied passage to heaven for all of his sins. This shows the fact that Indian/South Asian society continues to be dominated by those before us – our parents and their parents – and we have to comply. This is in contrast with Western philosophy, which makes way for the younger generation. In South Asian society, both have to co-exist, with the older often domineering.

 Ganga’s sons were actually the eight Vasus who were cursed to live terrible lives as humans. By drowning seven of them the moment they are born, Ganga ensures that they spend minimum time in the mortal realm and return back to the heavens. The eldest, Prabhas, was cursed to live the most terrible life of them all, which ends up happening - Devavrata, later Bhishma, couldn’t be killed after birth. He lives a terrible life - a prince reduced to a slave of the throne, innocent blood on his hands, no family of his own, and he couldn’t even decide whom he wanted to fight for. This shows the theme of overlapping stories, something which keeps recurring in Hinduism in general.

Satyavati’s elder son Chitrangada was killed in a war with the gandharva king, Chitrangada. Her other son, Vichitravirya, gave himself up to wine and intoxication and died young. Her son with Parashara, though, outlives till the time of Janmajeya, Arjuna’s great grandson. Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa ends up compiling all the Vedas and writing the famous Mahabharata. He also keeps coming here and there in the epic, for example Satyavati inviting him to perfrom niyog forcefully with her daughter in laws and produce heirs.

Ambika had her eyes shut the entire time during her rape/niyog, and so the child born - Dhritarashtra, was blind. Ambalika was shaking and fearful the whole time, so her son Pandu was born weak. Vyasa had consentful sex with a palace maid, and the son born to her, Vidura, would’ve been the perfect heir. However, Dhritarashtra was denied kingship by virtued of his blindness, while Vidura was denied the throne by virtue of his mother’s caste. Pandu later retires following a curse, and so Dhritarashtra takes up the kingship. He is shown to be a spiteful character initially, frustrated that despite being the elder one and perfect, he was denied the throne because he was blind. He passes on the same frustration and poison to his children.

Gandhari’s pregnancy was special. She was pregnant for two full years, in which time Dhritarashtra had another son, Yuyutsu, through a palace maid. Gandhari’s gestation period was equal to that of an elephant, and had she had just a little more patience, she would’ve given birth to a literal god. however, frustrated with the fact that her husband had cheated on her, she kept beating her womb each night with a red-hot iron rod, until she gave birth to an undeveloped foetus. Vyasa intervenes by cutting it up into 101 pieces and “hatching” them in vats of ghee in an incubation chamber (historians and scientists say this could be the earliest documented evidence of IVF or incubation chambers), resulting in the 100 Kauravas and their only sister, Dushala. Some say that evil omens were there during their birth. This also demonstrates that a woman’s social holding was also related to the no. of children she had, especially sons. 

 Kunti had received a boon from Durvasa that she could have a child with any god she wanted. Her experimentation with the boon leads to her unwanted and forced pregnancy of Karna. Historians suspect this could be a teen pregnancy, logically, and ill equipped emotionally and physically handle a baby at that stage in her life, she cast him away in the river (still unjustified i think). This baby grew up to be Karna, filled with resentment over his fate. Later, when Pandu is cursed with sterility and the fact that if he dares touch a woman out of love he would die, Kunti uses this boon again to have three sons from three gods – Yama, the god of death and law; Vayu, the god of wind and Indra, the king of the gods and god of rain and thunder. Historians speculate this could be a cover for niyog (mentioned above). Later, Kunti begrudgingly bestows this boon upon Pandu’s favorite wife, Madri, who begets twins from the twin gods the Ashwin Kumaras.

Draupadi has five sons with her husbands - Prativindhya (from Yudhishthira), Sutasoma (from Bhima), Shrutakarman (from Arjun), Satanaka (from Nakul) and Shrutasena (from Sahadev). None of them have children of their of their own and die a gruesome death, killed by Ashwatthama in his murderous frenzy.

Subhadra’s son Abhimanyu features more prominently in the epic. Legends say he knew how to enter into a chakravyuh from the moment he was born, but not how to exit. During the war, he enters a chakravyuh formed by the Kauravas, where he is unfairly killed - surrounded by ten men, and defenseless. He dies trying to defend himself by using a chariot wheel.

The other wives of the Pandavas suffer for a war that they weren’t even a part of. Hidimba’s son Ghatotkacha helps the Pandavas and turns the tide towards them. He grows into a strong Asura and uses his magic, and is eventually killed by Karna using Shakti, the weapon he received from Indra. Uloopi’s (Arjuna’s Naga wife, daughter of the Naga king Vasuki) son Iravan is killed before the war itself as a sacrifice to appease Chamundi, and his head is mounted on a hill so he can survey the war. The same fate awaited Ghatotkacha’s son Barbareek. Since he was the strongest warrior any side and could finish the war in a second, Krishna demanded his head as a sacrifice so that he couldn’t participate in the war, in return promising him eternal worship (Barbareek is worshipped as Khatushyam in Rajasthan). Chitrangada (Arjuna’s androgynous warrior wife, Queen of Manipur) strategically protects herself and her kingdom from harm. However, owing to a curse Ganga gives to Arjuna, Chitrangada’s son Babruvahan ends up killing his own father Arjuna and then later commits suicide. They’re both revived by Uloopi using the Nagamani.

Duryodhana’s wife, Bhanumati, also suffers. Her son Lakshmana, who was originally a poet, was killef by Abhimanyu when he was defenseless, while her daughter Lakshmanaa was raped by Krishna’s son Samba and then later married to him to save face.

Karna’s first wife Vishakha loses all her sons and commits suicide. His other wife Uruvi’s only son, Vrishaketu, is spared because he was only 9 at the time of the War and thus, lived.

Dushala’s sons die defending Sindh from the Pandavas, and only Dushala and her grandson are spared. Another account says she forced her sons to enter the war, and they all died there.

Uttara’s son Pareekshit was killed within the womb by Ashwatthama, when he fired the most powerful missile in the world, the Brahmastra, at her womb. Krishna revives the child through his powers, and then curses Ashwatthama to remain immortal, yet suffer through a thousand diseases every second for the sin of trying to murder an unborn.

Vyasa’s son Sukadev, blessed with “the memory of a parrot” memorises the entire Mahabharata.

Pareekshit is later killed by the Naga king Takshak, as revenge for the murder of his family through Arjuna’s (Pareekshit’s grandfather) hands when he burnt the Khandava forest. In revenge, his son Janmajeya conducts a powerful Sarpa Satra where all the nagas of the world are killed. The genocide is stopped by Asita, a Naga sage, who along with Sukadeva and Jaimini recited the entire Mahabharata to him and made him revive the snakes killed.

5. DEATH

Satyavati dies along with Ambika and Ambalika in the forest after taking retirement. She drowns in the very same Yamuna which turned her life around.

Amba, reborn as Shikhandi, dies in the war.

Gandhari dies heartbroken, while Kunti dies in a fire.

Draupadi dies while trying to reach heaven via the Himalayas. None of her husbands so much as even look at her as she falls to her death.

Subhadra dies with the tsunami sent by Varuna (god of the seas) which destroyed Dwarka.

The deaths of all of these women are ironic, but also demonstrate the rule of Karma .

Not much is known of the death of the other women in this magnificent epic.

I hope this serves as a good and honest reminder about the women of the Mahabharata, and helps with your project.

[ginazmemeoir]

Women in the Indian Epics - 2

This is an addition to my earlier post, cause I am only human and I can fit only so much of awesome ladies in one post.

RAMAYANA : 

1. Ahilyaa : Daughter of the Creator god Brahma, Ahilya literally means “the perfect woman”. She was married to the sage Gautam, and was the foster mother of the Monkey Emperor Vali and his brother Sugreeva. One day, Indra (indian zeus) took on the form of Gautam and approached Ahilya because he lusted after her. Now, some people say Ahilya knew it was Indra and readily had sex with him (which is used by conservatives to call women sluts and by feminists for sexual liberation of women), while some say Indra revealed his true form after Ahilya accepted him into her home and then raped her (this version is more common). When Gautam got to know of this, he cursed Indra to be infected with a hundred festering sores, and cursed Ahilya to turn into stone. Afterwards, he modified the curse, stating that these sores would become Indra’s eyes when he truly repented, while Ahilya would turn back into a woman after Ram touches her (Ram accidentally stepped over Ahilya in the forest, turning her into a woman). A feminist icon, Ahilya is etched forever into history.

2. Taraka : Ravan’s maternal grandmother, Taraka was the daughter of the Yaksha king Suketu (yakshas are the hindu equivalent of dwarfs, but crossed with elves). Her husband Sumali was killed by the sages when he tried to reclaim the forest they had occupied. To avenge him, Taraka went there with her elder son Subahu and her army, but the sages instead cursed her to go insane and lose her divinity, turning her into a monster. She and her elder son were later killed by Ram on Vishwamitra’s orders in the Dandaka forest.

3. Gaargi : A female scholar, she was a fearless woman. She openly voiced her opinions, criticized men for their misogyny, and even challenged regressive traditions and rituals. Her rivals often used to taunt her by saying she might lose her head if she talked that much, to  which she replied “Yes. I would rather lose a head and grow ten more, one head alone won’t suffice me.” She was responsible for Sita’s education.

4. Shabari : A tribal woman, Ram and Lakshman had rested at her house in their search for Sita. She proposed to feed them berries, but tasted all of them beforehand, so that she could only serve the sweet ones. This angered Lakshman, but Ram ate them with pleasure. She has become a symbol of motherly devotion today. However, there is no mention of her in the Sanskrit Valmiki Ramayana.

5. Swarnapuchha : Literally meaning “the golden tailed one”, she was the Queen of Mermaids and protector of Lanka’s waters. She was convinced by Hanuman to oppose Ravan and join Ram. She’s mentioned in the Thai Ramayana.

MAHABHARATA : 

1. Shakuntala : Daughter of Vishwamitra and the apsara Menaka, Shakuntala was abandoned as a baby and raised by the sage Kanva. Her name means “she found below doves”. The King of Hastinapur, Dushyant, had fallen in love with her and they had married secretly. However, following a curse, Dushyant forgot Shakuntala. Shakuntala thus raised her son Bharat as a single mom, and the day Bharat asked about his father, she took him to Dushyant. The version mentioned in the Mahabharata says Dushyant remembered everything when he saw Shakuntala, but refused to accept her or her son. Only when the gods intervene did he recognize Shakuntala, but Shakuntala left her son with him and left to live in the forest. The more popular version in the Sanskrit poet Kalidasa’s Abhijnanam Shaakuntalam (think of it as early fanfiction) says that the curse was still in effect, and only when Shakuntala show Dushyant the ring he had given her did he remember her. He then readily accepted her and her son.

2. Chitrangada : The androgynous/non-binary warrior Queen of Manipur (present day Manipur, northeast India), she was Arjuna’s wife. Once Arjun had visited Manipur, and Chitrangada wanted to be with him, but she assumed he was straight and bigoted and thus asked Shiva to make her a feminine woman. However, on meeting her, Arjuna said he only wanted to meet with Chitrangada the warrior queen, for he loved her. Shiva then returned Chitrangada’s androgynous nature and her badass warrior skills. Arjuna and Chitrangada were then married and they had a son called Babruvahana (REALLY weird name). Chitrangada had strategically kept out of the Mahabharata war and thus saved her entire queendom. But as a result of a curse by the river goddess Ganga, her son ended up killing Arjun (his father) and then later committed suicide. They were both revived by the Naga princess Uloopi.

3. Uloopi : The daughter of the snake king Vasuki, Uloopi was a Naga princess who fell in love with Arjuna. One day, she dragged an unsuspecting Arjuna underwater to Nagaloka, where she professed her love to him, and Arjuna agreed to marry her. Her father however was unhappy with the alliance since Arjuna already had many wives and moreover, Arjuna had destroyed his brother Takshaka’s kingdom in the Khandava forest. Arjuna left her after they were married, and the Nagas then kicked her out. She was given refuge by Chitrangada. Her son Iravan was used as a human sacrifice in the Mahabharat war to guarantee success. After Babruvahana killed Arjuna, she revived both of them by using the mythical Nagamani (kind of like the Indian Philosopher’s Stone).

4. Subhadra : Krishna’s sister, Subhadra is said to be the incarnation of Yogamaya, Vishnu’s female essence. She kidnapped Arjuna on her wedding day, and eloped with him. She was his favourite wife, and also the mother of Abhimanyu.

5. Hidimbaa : The rakshasa princess, Hidimba was Bheema’s first wife before Draupadi. The story goes that both she and her brother Hidimba had initially wanted to eat the Pandavas in the forest, but Hidimbaa and Bheema fell in love with each other. Her brother got angry when he learnt his sister was with his food (humans), and so he proceeded to kill Bhima. It is said that Hidimbaa aided Bhima with her magic, so that he could kill her brother and marry her. She stayed behind to take care of her queendom while the Pandavas carried on. Her son Ghatotkacha helped Abhimanyu with his first marriage, and later turned out to be the fiercest warrior in the Mahabharata. He was so powerful that Karna had to use the weapon given to him by Indra to kill him.

6. Rukmani : Princess of Vidarbha (modern day Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh region) and Krishna’s first wife, Rukmani had called on Krishna to elope with her on the day of her marriage (she was being married off to some random dick). So she eloped with Krishna. She was the mother of Pradyumna.

7. Satyabhama : Third wife of Krishna, Satyabhama was the daughter of a noble (he had a fight with Krishna about this divine gem). She was proud and feisty and accompanied Krishna to all of his battles, most famously where she helped him kill the demon Narakasur. Her pride bordered on arrogance, with her repeatedly taunting Rukmani on how she ran away, demanding the gods that they give up the divine Parijata tree as payment for her husband helping them, and even once trying to measure and then give away gold equal to Krishna’s weight to prove that she is greater in status than Rukmani (surprisingly, she kept piling on gold but it never equaled Krishna’s weight but the moment Rukmani placed a leaf from her garden on it, it became heavier than Krishna.

8. Sulakshana : Balarama’s daughter, Sulakshana was initially betrothed to Duryodhana’s son Lakshman. However, she loved Abhimanyu (her first cousin. WHAT’S UP WITH PEOPLE FUCKING THEIR COUSINS Y’ALL jeez). Ghatotkacha helped her and Abhimanyu get married by rescuing her, and the union was blessed by Krishna.

9. Uttara : Daughter of Chief Virata with whom the Pandavas had sought refuge, Uttara was Abhimanyu’s second wife. She was the mother of the only surviving Pandava descendant Parikshit.

10. Lakshmanaa : Duryodhana’s daughter, Lakshamanaa was married to Krishna’s younger son Samba. The story goes that Samba had molested/raped her, so to save face Krishna had the two married. However, Lakshmanaa only agreed to the marriage once both Balaram and Krishna laid down beside her feet and begged her to marry Samba.

11. Bhanumati : Princess of Kalinga (present day Orissa, India), Bhanumati was Duryodhana’s wife. Her marriage with Duryodhana is described as a blissful one, with Duryodhana being described as a good husband and partner, despite being a bad person. 

12. Dushala : The only Kaurava sister, Dushala was married to Jayadratha the king of Sindhudesha (present day Sindh, Indo-Pakistan). She forced her children to participate in the war from the side of the Kauravas, and they all ended up dead. She refused Pandava authority after the war, and instead became regent of Sindh until her grandchildren came of age.

[ginazmemeoir]

oh also she was really into makeup and nail art, and she got these HUGE nails to work.

my dad called her hidimbaa, or pehelwan because of that.

I hate boys because they’re all taller 😑

well yeah we’re taller than girls ON AN AVERAGE.

i have seen like really SHORT boys (not dwarfism it’s just they are short), like really short, and i have also seen girls as tall as or even taller than me. My english teacher, a woman, was 6 FEET TALL. that is how she intimidated all of us.

[h0bg0blin-meat]

PLEASE THIS IS SO GOOD. Eldritch Hidimba supremacy 🗿🛐 (I should draw her lmao)

Also Ghatotkach as Gharjawai???? Real

THE ENDING

DON'T DO THIS TO ME PLS OMG😭

I like to think Hidimbi was jacked af

YES SHE WAS AND I LOVE THOSE TWO SO MUCH. FAVE HET SHIP APART FROM IG SHALAKA X SHIKHANDI(which imo is more homemade)

Yk a cool thing I do? In his head, Bheem refers to hidimba as his lover. And Draupadi as his beloved.

Listen I have 2 hidimbaa wips no scratch that I have 3 and I'm gonna take this ask as an excuse to talk about them.

Beginning era, where it's just them falling in love. Age gap trope. Bheem is younger. Dogri Hidimbaa. Eldritch Hidimbaa. Hidimbaa so jacked bheem is smol and pookie by her standards. Starts crackily, Ends angstily. She wolf whistled. He looked back only once, only to see her tired smile as she held ghatotkach in one arm. She waved at him. "Don't shed tears for me, pretty boy!" she shouted. She was not following her own advice, bheem thought from her tone of voice. He swallowed the lump in his throat and waved at her only once before disappearing into the valley.

Hidimba and Draupadi meet. No cannibalism arc bcos we hate that shit. Gharjawai ghatotkach who stays with mauravi. Mauravi is suspiciously like bheem. "You'd like your brother, I think," Bheem said. "How old is he?" "He was fifteen when I had to leave," "And now?" "Must be about twenty two or so," "Baby!!!" Ghatotkach squealed.

Bheem visits hidimba in the forest after the war. Slowly, the crowd dissipated, only Hidimba left before the dying fire. She didn’t scream or cry or weep. He thought she would curse him, but even that would have been preferable compared to her icy calm. He thought she would wail, and he deserved it. He deserved everything she threw at him, and it still wouldn’t be enough to absolve him. He finally felt brave enough to approach her.  Sitting down beside her, he picked up a stick, trying to poke and rekindle the fire with it. But before he could, a hand on his arm stopped him.  “Let it be,” She sighed. “There’s no use trying to rekindle something that has already been extinguished.”     “Forgive me, Hidimba, I-” “I have, Bheem,” She said softly, her brown eyes boring into his soul. “It is the only reason you are alive,”