The Hindu Epic Mothers
by We can find unique characters in the epics of all civilizations. They guide humanity in the path of dharma. There are wonderful cahracters of mothers in the Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. It is a tribute to the Mother’s day to think of them.
Mother is the lamp of home. She makes generations. The saying, ‘The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world’ is not an exaggeration. We find unique mothers in all the epics of the ancient world. In the great epics of Hinduism, Ramayana and Mahabharata, we find mothers with special characters who lived for their children.
Epic Mothers
Ramayana is the epic that narrates the story of Rama and Sita. Kowsalya, Kaikeyi and Mandodari are some of the mother characters of Ramayana. Mahabharata narrates ‘the war of Dharma’ between Pandavas and Kowravas. Draupathi, Kunti, Gandhari, and Satyavathi are some of the mother characters of Mahabharata. They represent the women of those ancient days depicting the characters of a woman and a mother. The great epics contain all the necessary guidance for human life. The conversion of the epics into religious literature in due course of time changed these characters into superhuman nature. It was then that these epic women became ‘Devis’ or goddesses.
The Higher Status of Epic Mothers
The epic mothers had been important to their societies, where being the mother of the first male child who inherited the throne, was a status. Without a child, especially a male child, a mother was bereft of everything including her royal status. It is therefore, surprising to see that the women of Ramayana and Mahabharata had been strong personalities, cherishing their autonomy and having no qualms about arguing for their rights.
The Brave Mother Sita
The epic Ramayana is in reality the saga of Sita. She was the mother heroine of Ramayana who stood unmoved by all the trials and tribulations and faced bravely even the cruel test that was proposed by her own husband Rama to prove her chastity. Sita experienced the blossoms and thorns of life to uphold dharma. She braved to accompany Rama even to the forest life. She was patient, bearing the torments of the monstrous women of Sri Lanka. It was really unfortunate that, even after her faithful perseverance, her husband Rama suspected her chastity. In Lanka, after the killing of Ravana, Sita proved her chastity through the ordeal of fire. Again Sita was abandoned in the forest by Rama when she was pregnant. But courageous Sita gave birth to the twins, Lav and Kush in Valmiki’s ashram. After twelve years, Ram asked Sita again to prove her chastity. At last she declares, “This earth is not for me, nor my husband and the people of Ayodhya whom no proof can ever convince.” Then she appeals to Mother Earth who draws her deep into her bosom. The quiet and selfless part played by Sita in Ramayana reiterates the philosophy of life.
Liked it
