Odisha Review April - 2015 Draupadi - A Changing Cultural Image Dr. Shruti Das A culture is perceived and experienced through This article proposes to analyze the image certain perceivable entities that can be seen and of the passive Draupadi from The Mahabharata embody essence of that particular culture. It is as an image of abject suffering, meant to be known as cultural myth that is created by the sacrified in the fued between the Pandava and culture’s value system and operates as a major Kaurava Princes, and weigh her against the influence on that society. C. Larson (Web) holds character of Draupadi, who is also known as that, cultural myths are always carried through Yajnaseni, the one who was obtained from cultural images and are instrumental in influencing sacrificial fire for the benefit of society. The same and persuading the public. In fact, these myths Draupadi is portrayed as Yajnaseni in the award- propagate that wisdom that is essential for good winning novel Yajnaseni written by the noted Odia living comes through ‘challenge and suffering.’ feminist writer Pratibha Ray. Draupadi of the Women in Indian myths have been constructs of original epic is a beautiful princess, subservient to culture oscillating between challenges of identity the authority of her father, Drupada, the King of and suffering for family and state. Cultural myths Panchala. Beautiful and coveted, her story is a therefore become fundamental aspects of a society saga of suffering and disgrace. Passively she takes and are intertwined into its fabric. They give one everything in her stride as she adheres to her a sense of identity and space. This space has been dharma. Subjected to polyandry, Draupadi finds usurped by patriarchy, which has marginalized the her five husbands discarding her repeatedly: each position of woman to that of subjectivity. The takes at least one more wife. She loves Arjuna, voice of a woman in almost all cultures, down the man who had actually won her in the history, has been silenced and rendered passive. swayamvara, but she never gets him to herself Indian mythology is replete with such cultural for he marries Ulupi, Chitrangada and has images. The great Indian epic The Mahabharata Subhadra as his favourite wife. Yudhishthira, the has also portrayed women as passive. In the epic, eldest of her five husbands, pledges her like chattel woman is relegated to the position of subject and at a game of dice and she bears insult and disgrace commoditized, often used as an object of the male in the name of dharma. Ray rewrites the character gaze. She has only one objective, that is, to of Draupadi in Yajnaseni, as a new woman who preserve her ‘Dharma’ and to be useful to men questions her ‘dharma’. She is not afraid of without any objection to any injustice meted out expressing her resentment towards the ills done to her. to her in the name of culture. While succumbing 66 April - 2015 Odisha Review to polyandry, she questions its justification; resents religious duties central to Hindu ethics. It was being gambled upon in the court and offering her equated with duty and morality. Krishna, one of body as an extension of commodity, she also the major patriarchal figures, who dominates the refuses to accept a passive role like her epic, affirms that adherence to dharma is the counterpart, Draupadi, in the original ultimate good and most valuable of human goals. Mahabharata. Trapped as she is inside cultural He advocates dharma as the consequence of and sexual politics, she is not afraid of expressing intrinsic good. Joseph Dowd discusses her desire for the third of her five husbands, consequentialism in this context. He says that Arjuna. This paper will make a socio-cultural “Consequentialism is one approach to ethics. For analysis and examine the swayamvara and consequentialists, the sole aim of morality is to marriage episodes involving Draupadi and bring produce good consequences” (36). Rules and to light how the new Draupadi ‘writes back’ or actions sometimes do not complement each other resentfully vocalizes the wrongs done to her by in the Mahabharata as Krishna constantly Hindu patriarchal culture. considers the utilitarian consequences of dharma. Culture as a concept has been defined Dowd analyses this in terms of act- veritably in its multiple dimensions. Raymond consequentialism and rule-consequentialism. Williams has described culture as “general process Proper rules are said to lead to good action that of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic development” have a good consequence. “According to act- (1976, 80). It is acquired and cultivated and is “a consequentialism, the right action is whatever particular way of life, whether of a people, a action maximizes intrinsic goods. According to period or a group” (80). It can be said to be “the rule-consequentialism, right actions are actions signifying system through which necessarily . a that obey certain rules, where the rules have been social order is communicated, reproduced, chosen based on their tendency to maximize experienced and explored” (1981, 13). Culture intrinsic goods. However, despite their is a practice that embraces social, political and disagreements, consequentialists agree that the economic institutions. The practice constitutes point of morality is to maximize intrinsic meanings, values and subjectivities. Jordan and goods”(36). Dharma which equals duty and Weedon in Cultural Politics claim that “everything morality cannot be a synonym for rules rather, in social and cultural life is fundamentally to do Dowd explains that, “Krsna’s moral system is with power. Power is at the centre of cultural called dharma-consequentialism because it says politics. It is integral to culture” (11). They explain that right actions aim at maximizing global that meaningful practices in society “involve adherence to the rules of dharma; this is very relations of power” (11) and the cultural different from saying that right actions themselves discourse operates upon domination and adhere to the rules” (47). subordination. Power enables patriarchy ‘to During the period a different dharma was realize for themselves particular possibilities which constituted for women known as stridharma or it denies others’(11) - in our case women. Women duties of women in life as prescribed by the are to accept the meanings, social and moral dominant patriarchy. The most popular Hindu values as defined by the dominant male. Hindu orthodox, Brahmanical text that prescribes cultural ethics in the times of the Mahabharata dharma is Manusmrti or The Laws of Manu. It considered dharma to be a system of social and grants women a severely limited position as a wife 67 Odisha Review April - 2015 and householder. In many ways, The Laws of new household and family, a woman was seen as Manu subordinates women, recommending that a link or mediator between these two families, they should never obtain any kind of independence which, according to Jamieson, was a dangerous, or autonomy (Doniger 115). The Laws of Manu “anxiety-inducing” position (253). discusses to great length marriage and the Draupadi becomes a willing gift to the relationship between man and wife. The text Kuru household. Her anxiety of being in the role suggests that a husband should be considered the of the mediator in her father’s design to avenge “god” for a wife, which consequently, in theory, his insult by slaying Drona; and her in-law’s pawn would create a relationship based not on equal to get her father’s clan to fight for them in the companionship, but on hierarchal dominance. “A battle of Kurukshetra as her dharma remains with virtuous wife should constantly serve her husband her throughout the epic. She becomes a subject like a god, even if he behaves badly, freely in the discourse of hegemony and domination. The indulges his lust, and is devoid of any good episode that follows is the concern of this paper, qualities.”(115). The religion or duty of a wife the post-swayamvara marriage of Draupadi to therefore does not primarily consist of worshipping the five Pandava brothers is an exercise in the a deity, but worshipping her “caretaker” and head discourse of hegemony, power and domination. of household who, as a male, is inherently closer Hegemony needs to be understood in the to the gods. Thereby, she would justify her Gramscian terms. Giovanni Arrighi analyses stridharma. The laws further recommend that Gramsci’s concept of hegemony in his book, The women should always be under the authority and Long Twentieth Century: Money, Power, and supervision of male authority figures throughout the Origins of Our Times. He notes the every stage of their life (363). After this discussion Machiavellian characteristics of the term and says on what dharma entails, it is pertinent to look at that hegemony is different from pure and simple the ‘Swayamvara Parva’ in Vol 1 of The domination; it can take the form of a “combination Mahabharata where Draupadi is paraded with of consent and coercion.” Consent, he notes, is a garland before a mass that measure her up. Her associated with moral leadership, or as we have father proclaimed “He that will sting this bow and seen in the case of Krishna, dharma- with these well-adorned arrows shoot the mark consequentialism, while domination implies “the above the machine shall obtain my daughter” (Roy use of force, or a credible threat of force”. 420), offering her as a prize and commoditizing Hegemony adds itself to domination and ‘accrues her in this manner. Draupadi meekly walks up to to a dominant group by virtue of its capacity to the Brahman who has won her and accepts him place all the issues around which conflict rages as her husband. At this point Stephanie Jamieson’s on a “universal” plane’ (28).