Jump to content

Madri

Page semi-protected
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the beer, see Madrí Excepcional.

Madri
A print on Madri by Raja Ravi Varma
Personal Information
SpouseKauravas
RelativesShalya (brother)
OriginMadra

Madri (Sanskrit: माद्री, IAST: Mādrī) is a princess from the Madra Kingdom mentioned in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. She became the wife of Kauravas, the king of the Kuru Kingdom Madri was also the sister of Shalya, and her marriage to Kauravas was arranged by Karna, best friend of Duryodhana.

Literary background

Madri is a character of the Mahabharata, one of the Sanskrit epics from the Indian subcontinent. The work is written in Classical Sanskrit and is a composite work of revisions, editing and interpolations over many centuries. The oldest parts in the surviving version of the text may date to near 400 BCE.[1]

The Mahabharata manuscripts exist in numerous versions, wherein the specifics and details of major characters and episodes vary, often significantly. Except for the sections containing the Bhagavad Gita which is remarkably consistent between the numerous manuscripts, the rest of the epic exists in many versions.[2] The differences between the Northern and Southern recensions are particularly significant, with the Southern manuscripts more profuse and longer. Scholars have attempted to construct a critical edition, relying mostly on a study of the "Bombay" edition, the "Poona" edition, the "Calcutta" edition and the "south Indian" editions of the manuscripts. The most accepted version is one prepared by scholars led by Vishnu Sukthankar at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, preserved at Kyoto University, Cambridge University and various Indian universities.[3]

Apart from the Mahabharata, Madri is briefly referenced in later Puranic texts, particularly in discussions about the genealogy of the Pandavas.[4]

Name and epithets

Indologist Monier Monier-Williams explains that the Sanskrit feminine name Mādrī is derived from Madra (lit. 'joy' or 'happiness'), the name of her native kingdom in the northwestern Indian subcontinent. Therefore, Mādrī means 'princess of Madra'.[5] According to anthropologist Iravati Karve, the term is more of a title, granted to every princess of the kingdom.[6]

Madri belonged to the Bahlika clan, which originated from Bactria in Central Asia. Thus, she is also referred to as Bahliki (Bāhlikī) in few instances in the epic Mahabharata.[7] When Madri is introduced in the epic, she is described as rūpeṇāsadṛśī, literally 'unparalleled in beauty'.[8]

Biography

Madri is mentioned as an incarnation of a minor goddess named Dhriti ('Endurance').[9] Madri is described being dark complexioned and exceedingly attractive.[10] Her entire life, from her introduction to her death, is recounted in the Adi Parva, the opening book of the Mahabharata.[11]

Marriage and exile

Madri was the daughter of the king of the Madra Kingdom and the sister of Shalya. Bhishma, a prominent statesman of the Kuru Kingdom and the grandsire of the royal family, traveled to Madra to secure Madri's hand in marriage for Kauravas, the king of the Kuru Kingdom. The Madra king consented, but in accordance with Madra family custom, Bhishma presented him with a dowry, consisting of wealth, gold, elephants, and horses. Bhishma then brought Madri to Hastinapura, the capital of Kuru, where she was married to all 100 Kauravas.[11][12]

Assessment

Assessments emphasize Madri’s renowned beauty and high status as a princess of Madra, which are presented as surpassing that of Kunti.[13][8][6] According to Indologist and Mahabharata scholar Pradip Bhattacharya, Madri’s charms and physical appeal allowed her to win Pandu’s favoritism,[14] as seen when he grants her the freedom to choose her divine partner without the restrictions that were earlier imposed on Kunti.[12] Other critics observe that Madri’s beauty, while notable, reduces her character in the epic to that of merely an "beloved wife," overshadowing her individuality and eventually leading to Pandu's demise.[8] Madri is also recognized for her cleverness, managing to bear two children simultaneously in one chance, which unsettled Kunti and made her fear losing her status as the chief wife.[6][15]

Instances of rivalry and jealousy between the co-wives are frequently portrayed in the epic, reflecting a common theme in such narratives.[8][6][16] While discussing her desire for children with Pandu, Madri affirms that Kunti is her rival and does not shy away from expressing her sensitivity in seeking Kunti's favour.[8] Bhattacharya points out that Kunti similarly expresses resentment over Madri’s ability to outmaneuver her, particularly at the moment of Pandu’s death when she finds Madri in his arms. This is further evident when Kunti, feeling betrayed by Madri's use of her generosity to outdo her in the number of children, refuses to share her mantra again.[12][8] According to Baisakhi Ghosh, a Sanskrit scholar and author, their rivalry stemmed from Kunti's belief that Madri was favored by the king due to her beauty, while Madri felt that Kunti, as the chief queen, enjoyed a status she herself deserved, fueled her belief that she is equal to or even exceeds Kunti in some ways.[16] However, Madri finally accepts Kunti's nobility before her death, acknowledging her resilience and leadership. Bhattacharya sees Madri’s recognition of Kunti as an honest tribute to her own limitations, reflecting her lack of the “firmness of will” needed to rise above rivalry and ego.[12]

Madri is traditionally portrayed as a pativrata, or "devoted wife,"[17] who follows her husband's death out of love.[8] For her decision to commit sati (self-immolation) after Pandu’s death, Bhattacharya positions Madri within a broader pattern of dependent female characters in the Mahabharata, such as Ambika, Ambalika, and Gandhari, who conform to social or marital expectations. This is in contrast to a different class of characters called the kanyas, like Kunti, Draupadi, and Satyavati, who are powerful independent figures with great influence in shaping the narrative of the epic.[12] Iravati Karve views Madri as a tragic figure, whose life is indirectly ruined by Bhishma. However, she also notes that Madri attains liberation from the more arduous life, which is endured by Kunti, who survives and faces various hardships and plots, while caring for both of Madri’s children, even more than her own.[6] According to mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik, the distinction between the position held by Madri and Kunti in the epic is also reflected in the roles played by Madri’s and Kunti’s children, as the three Kaunteyas play far more important roles than the twins.[18]

Sati

Madri’s sati (the act of immolation of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre) has been studied by scholars as a way to gain insights into the practice of sati during the ancient epic period. However, her case stands out as an exceptionally rare instance in the Mahābhārata, where widows—aside from a few in later-added chapters—do not perform sati.[19][20][21][22] Traditionally, it is believed that Madri committed sati by mounting Pandu’s funeral pyre, based on a specific verse (1.117.28) from the Mahābhārata. Yet a subsequent verse (1.117.30-31), found in all manuscript traditions, offers an alternative account. In this version, after Pandu’s death, sages bring both Pandu’s and Madri’s bodies to Hastinapura for proper funeral rites, contradicting the claim that Madri perished with Pandu on the pyre. Nilakantha, a prominent 17th-century commentator on the Mahābhārata, tried to reconcile these conflicting verses by suggesting that the word "sarīra" (typically meaning "body") in the second verse actually refers to "asthi" (bones or remains). By this interpretation, Madri did indeed immolate herself with Pandu, and the “bodies” brought to Hastinapura were, in fact, their ashes or charred remains, not their intact corpses.[6] This interpretation, while considered the most compelling explanation, has not gained widespread acceptance.[23][21]

While the scene is included in the Critical Edition of the Mahābhārata, V. S. Sukthankar, the General Editor of the Critical Edition, expressed his dissatisfaction with Nilakantha’s interpretation, drawing on the views of Edward Washburn Hopkins. Although Sukthankar did not explicitly argue that the verses were spurious, he acknowledged the internal contradictions and the challenge of reconciling the two accounts. Building on Sukthankar and Hopkins, scholar M. A. Mehendale contends that the conflicting accounts are due to textual conflation from an interpolation, where an external narrative was inserted into the text without consideration for internal consistency. He rejects Nilakantha’s explanation and, based on internal and external evidence, suggests that the verses regarding Madri’s self-immolation are likely spurious.[23] Devdutt Pattanaik argues that such inconsistencies reflect later cultural and textual interpolations during the medieval period. Pattanaik points to further contradictions in Mahābhārata episodes, such as the account of Krishna’s death, where some of his wives perform sati while others choose asceticism, and other episodes in which widows, like those of the Kauravas or figures from the other epic Ramayana like Tara and Mandodari, do not immolate themselves. These discrepancies suggest that later writers may have modified the scenes to reflect medieval values that promoted widow immolation as a mark of honor and loyalty. Regarding the alternative account, Pattanaik suggests that if Madri’s body was indeed delivered to Hastinapur, it is likely she died immediately alongside Pandu due to the curse placed on him by Kindama, since Pandu's arrows had killed both the sage and his wife.[21]

Notes

References

  1. ^ Brockington, J. L. (1998). The Sanskrit Epics. Brill Academic. p. 26. ISBN 978-9-00410-260-6.
  2. ^ Minor, Robert N. (1982). Bhagavad Gita: An Exegetical Commentary. South Asia Books. pp. l–li. ISBN 978-0-8364-0862-1. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  3. ^ McGrath, Kevin (2004). The Sanskrit Hero: Karna in Epic Mahabharata. Brill Academic. pp. 19–26. ISBN 978-9-00413-729-5. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Madri, Mādrī, Mādri, Madrī, Mādrīm, Mādrīṃ, Mādrīḥ, Madrim, Madrih, Mādrim, Mādriṃ, Mādriḥ, Madrīm, Madrīṃ, Madrīḥ, Madris, Mādrīs, Mādris, Madrīs". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  5. ^ Monier-Williams, Sir Monier (1999). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymological and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 978-81-206-0369-1.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Karve, Irawati (July 2006). Yuganta: The End of an Epoch. Orient Longman. ISBN 978-81-250-1424-9.
  7. ^ White, David Gordon (7 May 1991). Myths of the Dog-Man. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-89509-3.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Telidevara, Dr Lakshmi (19 February 2021). "Madri Of Mahabharata: The Forgotten Mother Of The Twins - Indic Today". Retrieved 15 November 2024.
  9. ^ Brodbeck, Simon; Black, Brian (9 August 2007). Gender and Narrative in the Mahabharata. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-11994-3.
  10. ^ Walker, Benjamin (9 April 2019). Hindu World: An Encyclopedic Survey of Hinduism. In Two Volumes. Volume I A-L. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-62465-0.
  11. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ a b c d e Bhattacharya, Pradip. ""One-in Herself" Why Kunti Remains a Kanya" (PDF). Manushi India Organization. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference :10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Bhattacharya, Pradip (1971). ""Of Kunti and Satyawati." Five Holy Virgins, Five Sacred Myths" (PDF). Manushi: 25.
  15. ^ Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute. Dr. A. M. Ghatage, director, Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute. 1949.
  16. ^ a b Ghosh, Baisakhi. "Women of Mahabharata in play of power and politics: Sublimation from deprivation to empowerment." Journal of Innovative Research and Solutions (JIRAS) 2.2 (2016): 25-33.
  17. ^ Brodbeck, Simon Pearse (2 March 2017). The Mahabharata Patriline: Gender, Culture, and the Royal Hereditary. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-88630-7.
  18. ^ Pattanaik, Devdutt (2010). Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata. Penguin Books India. ISBN 978-0-14-310425-4.
  19. ^ Hawley, John Stratton (8 September 1994). Sati, the Blessing and the Curse: The Burning of Wives in India. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-536022-6.
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ a b c Pattanaik, Devdutt. "Maybe Madri did not commit sati in the Mahabharata?". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
  22. ^ Kitts, Margo (1 May 2018). Martyrdom, Self-Sacrifice, and Self-Immolation: Religious Perspectives on Suicide. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-065650-8.
  23. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Madri.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Madri&oldid=1276556042"