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Re-Writing the Myth of Draupadi in Pratibha Ray’s 1

Yajnaseni and Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni’s The 2

Palace of Illusions 3

4

By Mohar Daschaudhuri1 5

6

All history, accounts of religion, social thought and philosophy reflect 7

woman as the “other” even while speaking for her. Myth constitutes the 8

elemental structures and patterns which shape the thought of a people. 9

This paper explores how Pritabha Ray’s novel Yajnaseni and Chitra 10

Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Palace of Illusions re-write the myth of 11

Draupadi, the legendary wife of the five Pandava warriors in the epic 12

Mahabharata. The two contemporary women writers from India recreate a 13

protagonist who voices her opinions, musings, desires in a first person 14

narrative from a woman’s point of view. As upholder of Dharma, she is at 15

once a player and a pawn in the patriarchal tale of jealousy and revenge. 16

Yet, remaining within the bounds of Dharma, Draupadi, the protagonist in 17

the novels, interrogates the symbolic values attributed to femininity, the 18

meaning of duty, loss and death. Through a feminist re-reading the 19

authors redefine the notion of Svadharma (an individual’s duties) vis-à-vis 20

the duties of a woman towards her husband and her society. The re-21

invented myth resists ‘spousification’ and deification of the woman, 22

rendering her instead, a palpable character, vulnerable as well as 23

independent. While Ray’s character is in a search of a spiritual rebirth 24

and relies on her inner deity, Krishna, for guidance all along the tortuous 25

path of Dharma during her life and after her abandonment by her 26

husbands, Divakaruni’s heroine is a modern day adolescent, impetuous, 27

intelligent and spontaneous. The two narratives may differ in their vision 28

and style, yet, both these narratives succeed, in their unique way, to 29

deconstruct the image of a deified ideal wife and to bring myth close to 30

life. 31

32

Keywords: epic, mythology, feminist rewriting, spousification, 33

marginalized, Dharma. 34

35

36

Introduction 37

38

The two novels which will be studied here, Pratibha Ray’s Yajnaseni 39

and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Palace of illusions, are both re-40

writings of the story of Draupadi, the enigmatic and powerful female 41

protagonist of the epic Mahabharata. Krishna Dwaipayana Veda Vyasa is 42

supposed to be the author of the Mahabharata though many critics point out 43

the differences in style in the epic, revealing that later poets added certain 44

verses and chapters in the course of time. The events which occur in the epic 45

1Assistant Professor, Department of Modern languages, 87/1 College Street, University of

Calcutta, India.

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took place around 1000 B.C.2 The Mahabharata, the Ramayana and the 1

Puranas are the oldest literature in Sanskrit and were transmitted orally 2

from one generation to the next and were distinct from the Mantra (hymn) 3

literature which consisted of philosophical and esoteric discourses. 4

Pratibha Ray’s novel (1995) was translated from Oriya by Pradip 5

Bhattacharya (1995) while Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, who is an Indian 6

writer living in the U.S.A. writes in English. Both are works of fiction 7

recounted from the point of view of Draupadi, the marginalized feminine 8

voice in a patriarchal society. The power to narrate the lives of women and 9

to create a mythical past is thus undermined. Both writers project Draupadi 10

as a symbol of retaliation, with the power to narrate myth and re-interpret 11

the events which are recounted otherwise only from a masculine view point. 12

Mythology if viewed as a symbolic capital which was dominated by the 13

masculine voice is thus challenged and reshaped to revision an epic story 14

from Draupadi’s perspective. 15

This paper aims to undertake a comparative study of Chitra Banerjee 16

Divakaruni’s The Palace of Illusions and Pratibha Ray’s Yajnaseni in order 17

to examine how the narratives deconstruct the idea of the ideal wife as the 18

ancient text prescribed in the form of wifely Dharma and proposes an 19

alternative reading where the woman regains her voice, her identity. At the 20

same time, the two novels differ in their idea of Draupadi as a contemporary 21

woman. They also differ in their treatment of the other characters and in 22

their narrative strategies which again interrogates the idea of womanhood in 23

conflicting feminist ideologies even within the context of Indian feminism. 24

25

26

Literature Review 27

28

The Primary works will consist of: 29

30

a) Yajnaseni, a novel by Pratibha Ray (Oriya, 1995, translated into 31

English by Pradip Bhattacharya) and 32

b) The Palace of Illusions, a novel by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni written 33

in English (2008) 34

35

Irawati Karve’s book Yuganta published originally in Marathi in 1967 36

was translated into English in 1969. The book is a collection of scholarly 37

essays based “on the critical edition of the Mahabharata published by the 38

Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute” (Karve ix). As a meticulous scholar 39

she delves into the various renditions of the Mahabharata in order to 40

analyse the nuances of its various additions, omissions, re-interpretation in 41

the course of time. Her essay on Draupadi (79-105) studies the character of 42

Panchali in comparison with the character of Sita, heroine of the Ramayana. 43

2Karve, Irawati. (1969) 2008. “Introduction”, Yuganta The End of An Epoch. Orient

Blackswan Private Ltd. India.

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Unlike the two novels under analysis, Karve’s scholarly article succinctly 1

summarises the character of Draupadi, her dilemma, her desires and thus it 2

renders clear the transgression or rather the innovations which have been 3

introduced in the novels. 4

Other scholarly works on Draupadi include Mahabharater Nari by 5

Nrisinghaprasad Bhaduri in Bengali. 6

Pradip Bhattacharya’s article on, “Five Holy Virgins, Five Sacred 7

Myths”3 mention Draupadi as one of the five virgins who are revered as 8

powers of Prakriti but concentrates the discussion on the other virgins, 9

Ahalya, Tara and Mandodari. 10

A few articles have been published on the two novels separately but no 11

comparative analysis exists of the two works. Secondly, the articles 12

produced do not examine the treatment of Dharma in the re-writing od the 13

character of Draupadi. 14

Mandakranta Bose has written on the women in the Mahabharata in her 15

book Women in the Hindu Tradition: Rules, Roles and Exceptions.4 16

Some recent critical articles on Pratibha Ray’s Yajnaseni are: 17

18

a) Choudhury, Sanchita and Sagarika Dash. “Yajnaseni: A Synonym of 19

Indian Woman.” 5 20

b) Nanda, Silima. “Revolting Gender in Mahashweta Devi’s Draupadi 21

and Pratibha Ray’s Yajnasen. ”6 22

c) Kumar, Amit. “Dharma A moral Code or a Force of Dominance: An 23

Exploratory Study on Pratibha Ray’s Yajnaseni.” 7 24

25

Research papers on The Palace of Illusions include: 26

27

a) Neha, Ms. “Draupadi’s Quest in Chitra Divakaruni’s The Palace of 28

Illusions.”8 29

b) Saumya T and Christina Rebecca S. “A Reading of Divakaruni’s The 30

Palace of Illusions.”9 31

3 Bhattacharya, Pradip. 2004. “Five Holy Virgins, Five Sacred Myths”. In Manushi. (Mar-

Apr. 2004), 4-11. 4 Bose, Madakranta. 2010. Women in the Hindu Tradition, Rules, Roles and Exceptions,

Routledge Hindu Series. Routledge, New York. 5 Choudhury, Sanchita and Sagarika Dash. 2010. “Yajnaseni: A Synonymn of Indian

Woman”. In The Criterion: An Indian Journal In English. 4, 6 (Dec, 2013); 249-256.

Web: www.the-criterion.com, http://www.the-criterion.com/V4/n6/Sanchita.pdf. 6 Nanda, Silima. 2018. “Revolting Gender In Pratibha Ray’s Yagnaseni and Mahashweta

Devi’s Draupadi”. In The Intenational Journal of English and Literature. 8, 6 (Dec, 2018),

87-90. Web:www.tjprc.org 7 Kumar, Amit. 2019. “Dharma A moral Code or a Force of Dominance: An Exploratory

Study on Pratibha Ray’s Yajnaseni”. In Think India Journal. 22, 10 (Nov 2019). 4679-

4689. Web: https://www.academia.edu/Library. 8 Neha, Ms. 2018. “Draupadi’s Quest in Chitra Banerjee’s The Palace of Illusions”. In

International Journal of Research (IJR). 5, 4 (Feb 2018), 2348-795X. Web:

https://journals.pen2print.org/index.php/ijr/article/view/12014.

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c) Ojha Meeti & Dr. L.S. Gorasya. “The Palace of Illusions: A Feminist 1

Critique.”10

2

d) Anantha, Shamila. “Draupadi as an Objectified and Dehumanised 3

Woman in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Palace of Illusions”. 4

e) Anantha, Shamila. “Voice of Conscience in Chitra Banerjee 5

Divakaruni’s The Palace of Illusions.”11 6

f) Bhattacharya, Monali & Ekta Srivastava. “Contemporary 7

Contextualisation of Paanchali and Penelope through Chitra 8

Banerjee’s The Palace of Illusions and Margaret Atwood’s The 9

Penelopiad.”12 10

11

12

Methodology 13

14

The methodology will consist of 15

I. Comparative analysis of the two novels from the thematic perspective 16

of Draupadi and her self-assertion challenging the notion of 17

Dharma though the following sub-divisions: 18

a. the epic period and the concept of Dharma in Hinduism; 19

b. Draupadi and her adherence to her Dharma as a woman 20

(Stridharma) and the Dharma of her clan or tribe (Jati-Dharma) 21

c. feminist interventions: interrogating the Father’s Law 22

d. feminist interventions: against ‘spousification’ 23

24

II. Differentiating the narratives: Ray and Divakaruni 25

26

a) feminisation and tradition 27

b) narrative strategies: voicing differences differently 28

29

30

31

This article attempts to examine the principal themes and the strategies 32

employed by Ray and Divakaruni to re-write the epic as a contemporary 33

feminist narrative. At the same time, the two writers are distinct in their 34

depiction of Draupadi as well as in their narrative style which will be 35

examined in the concluding part of this study. 36

9 Sowmya, T & Christina Rebecca S. 2018. “A Reading of Divakaruni’s The Palace of

Illusions”. In MuseIndia. 78 (Mar-April 2018). Web: www.museindia.in. 10

Ojha, Meeti & Dr. L. S. L.S. Gorasya. 2019. “The Palace of Illusions: A Feminist

Critique”. In IJRAR 6,2 (April-June 2019), 2349-5138.Web: http://ijrar.com 11

Anantha, Sharmila. 2019. “Voice of Conscience in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s The

Palace of Illusions”. In the International Journal of English language, Literature In

Humanities (IJELLH). 7,9 (Sep 2019), 570-581. 12

Bhattacharya, Monali and Ekta Srivastava. 2018. “Contemporary Contextualisation of

Panchaali and Penelope through Chitra Banerjee’s The Palace of Illusions and Margaret

Atwood’s The Penelopiad”. In Rupkatha Journal in Interdisciplinary Studies in

Humanities. 10,1. 2018. DOI= https://dx.doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v10n1.15.

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1

2

Findings 3

4

Pratibha Ray and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni maintain the principal 5

storyline of the Mahabharata and yet their feminist re-readings of the epic 6

interrogate the role of the woman as a wife and as a human being. The 7

heroines of the two novels are distinct from each other in their nature and 8

their outlook on life yet both re-define the role of Draupadi as perceived in 9

the popular imagination. Instead of being a victim of fate, she is a mover of 10

destiny, a woman wronged by her husbands, her elders and yet she is not 11

silent. Her voice is made audible, for the first time, through the re-writing of 12

the epic. 13

14

15

Discussion 16

17

Comparative Analysis of the Novels: 18

19

The Epic period and the concept of Dharma in Hinduism 20

21

S. Radhakrishnan states that the events related in the two epics, 22

“occurred in the Vedic period, when the early Aryans poured in large 23

numbers into the Gangetic valley and settled down, the Kurus round Delhi, 24

the Panchalas near Kanauj….We have no evidence to show that the epics 25

were compiled earlier than the 6th

century BC (223).” 13 The war of the 26

Mahabharata takes place between the two Kuru clans, the Kauravas and the 27

Pandavas where other kings such as the Panchalas (Draupadi’s family) 28

participate. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata were written around the 29

period of this Aryan expansion. Radhakrishnan is of the opinion that the 30

Ramayana deals with the wars of the Aryans with the then natives of India 31

while the Mahabharata written by VedaVyasa who also compiled the 32

Vedas, must have dated a little later approximately within a hundred years, 33

“…when Vedic hymns had lost their original force and meaning and when 34

ceremonial religion appealed to the people and caste grew into prominence. 35

We may therefore put the beginning of the epic period somewhere during 6th

36

century before Christ, though changes were introduced into the epics to suit 37

the conditions till the 2nd

century AD when they assumed their final form 38

(243).” 39

The Encyclopedia Britannica defines Dharma in Hinduism thus 40

“...[Dharma] is the religious and moral law governing individual conduct 41

and is one of the four ends of life. In addition to the Dharma that applies to 42

everyone, (Sadharana dharma) – consisting of truthfulness, non-injury and 43

generosity, among other virtues, there is also a specific Dharma 44

13 Radhakrishnan, S. 2008 (1923). Indian Philosophy Vol.1.OUP: New Delhi.

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(Svadharma) to be followed according to one’s class, status and station in 1

life.”14 2

Svadharma, according to V. Jairam is the duty that arises from one’s 3

birth, profession, gender or caste affiliation.15 4

S.G. Gupta explains the relevance of Dharma in the Hindu’s life: 5

6

“Dharma enjoins each person to follow a set of social and religious 7

duties appropriate to that person’s individuality (sva-dharma) and social 8

station that is usually in harmony with his or her religious or social 9

duties (jati-dharma) as a member of a particular jati- that is natal 10

community…A woman’s dharma is designated as stri-dharma.” (88) 11

12

Every Hindu has some idea of Dharma and there exists a social and a 13

personal dharma. By the time of the Mahabharata, the notion of Dharma 14

was quite entrenched in Hindu society. A woman could function only in the 15

socially sanctioned dharmic way. As the mistress of the house she was the 16

custodian of the family dharma; “she knows the rituals, teaches her children 17

the basic dharma, and is thus responsible for the dharmic structure of the 18

next generation. (89)”16 19

20

Draupadi and her adherence to her Dharma as a woman (Stridharma) and the 21

Dharma of her clan or tribe (Jati-Dharma) 22

Sita and Draupadi are the two heroines of the two great Indian epics the 23

Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Both are born of elements, Sita from earth 24

and Draupadi from fire. This also makes them orphans and supernatural 25

powers, beyond ordinary human origin. While King Janaka adopts Sita and 26

her mother remains unmentioned in the epic, Draupadi appears to be a 27

coveted daughter as she emerged out of her father’s sacrificial offering to the 28

Gods in order to avenge him. Her adopted father’s wife, Prishati is 29

mentioned in the epic. Moreover, Ray chooses the name Yajnaseni, which 30

means the one born of fire, to name her novel. This is the only instance in 31

the epics where a father renames himself from the daughter, as Draupadi’s 32

father is called Yajnasena after her birth (Karve, 81). 33

While the entire Ramayana revolves around the greatness of King 34

Rama, the ideal son, husband, brother and king, the Mahabharata has 35

numerous heroes and Krishna the God himself appears to play an important 36

role in it. While every Indian woman idealizes Sita, Draupadi remains an 37

awed figure. She is neither a goddess, nor a coveted human being despite the 38

fact that she is courageous, learned, and wise. Yet, no Indian daughter is 39

named after her for the fear that she might undergo the same fate as to marry 40

14 https://www.britannica.com/topic/dharma-religious-concept

15 https://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/dharma.asp

16 Gobrich Gupta, Samjukta. 2000. “The Goddess, Women and Their Rituals in the

Hinduism”. In Faces of the Feminine in Ancient, Medieval and Modern India. Mandakranta

Bose, Ed. OUP, New Delhi, 87-106.

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five husbands and to be humiliated by the entire society during the infamous 1

rape she had to undergo in the hands of Duryodhana, her family’s enemy. 2

Needless to say, as the entire purpose of Draupadi’s birth according to 3

the Mahabharata was to avenge her father, her responsibility lay in being 4

effective for that vengeance. Her father Drupad had been humiliated by his 5

childhood friend, Drona when he had refused to acknowledge the latter as 6

his equal. Drona, many years later had returned with his five young pupils, 7

the Pandava brothers, adept at warfare to defeat the mighty army of Drupad. 8

He succeeded and thus took possession of the better half of Drupad’s 9

kingdom, proving himself to be the king’s equal. In order to teach a lesson 10

to Drona, who was a mentor at the kingdom of Hastinapur, Drupad 11

conducted a sacrificial offering inviting the best sages of the time in order to 12

beget a worthy son who would avenge his honour. From the sacrificial fire, 13

instead of a son, were born two children, Drhishtadyumna, a boy and 14

Draupadi, a daughter. Both were pledged since their birth to the vengeance 15

of Drupad’s pride. 16

In both the re-creations this pupose of Draupadi’s birth has been cited. 17

Divakaruni’s Draupadi even as a girl remains conscious that she and her 18

brother are mere tools in the hands of their ambitious father. The young girl 19

instigates the brother to revolt against the father. Ray’s Draupadi knows her 20

duty and remains committed to it, though she tries in vain to avoid the 21

foreboding. 22

23

Feminist Interventions: Interrogating the Father’s Law 24

25

Both the novels reveal the independent character of Draupadi which is 26

itself a leap from the Hindu traditional way of thinking about a woman. 27

Even goddesses, more powerful than the human female, are rarely seen as 28

wielding power independently of any male counterpart. As Mandakranta 29

Bose observes; “In traditional Indian society, even powerful goddesses are 30

seldom imagined-just as mortal women are seldom imagined-as single, self-31

determined persons unattached to a male figure. In Hindu religious thought 32

and practice, particularly in its evolved form, a goddess is always linked to a 33

male figure as his mother or wife or daughter or sister, which suggests that 34

her very identity rests on her relationship with males, with rare exception 35

(14).” The duty of the wife is to follow the ideal of the goddesses, such as 36

Sita, Lakhsmi and therefore to follow her husband in this life and even in 37

her after-lives. 38

Since the very beginning of the novel, Ray’s Yajnaseni reflects on her 39

role and Dharma: 40

41

“…-my birth was not from my father’s seed but from the sacrificial alter 42

built for fulfilling a vow. From even before birth I was destined to 43

avenge my father’s insult! I was going to be a weapon for preserving 44

Dharma on this earth and destroying the wicked. It was for this that I 45

was born. Should only woman be forced to be the medium for 46

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preserving Dharma and annihilating evil throughout the ages? Is it 1

woman who is the cause of creation and destruction?” (8) 2

3

Underneath the outward compliance of a docile Draupadi to the Dharma 4

as laid down in the Hindu scriptures which demand that a woman should 5

sacrifice her demands and wishes in order to obey the eldest male in the 6

family, first her own father and brothers and then after her marriage, her 7

husband, Ray points out the injustice suffered by Draupadi in clearer terms 8

through the heorine’s self-interrogation at the time of her death which forms 9

the introduction to the novel. 10

Ray’s Yajnaseni rises above her personal wishes in order to uphold the 11

family’s honour or Dharma, time and again. Betrothed to Arjun, she faces a 12

dilemma when a Brahmin youth appears to win the competition at her 13

wedding ceremony and wins her hand. Her brother reminds her in the court: 14

“‘Not for Arjun but for the preservation of dharma has your birth taken 15

place. It is to dharma you are offered.’ …Even if my dharma was destroyed, 16

my father’s dharma must be preserved. (46)” Thus Svadharma becomes 17

secondary to pitr-dharma (father’s honour). Once married, she is asked to 18

walk barefoot by her husband Arjun who lives in the disguise of a 19

mendicant. Being wife to a mendicant she must transform herself from a 20

princess to a mendicant too. Draupadi happily accepts this part, and leaves 21

behind her royal dresses, ornaments as according to her own confession, to 22

follow her husband is her proper dharma. (48) 23

Divakaruni’s heroine is a girl who may be born in the times of yore but 24

her expectations from life, her desires, her outlook of the world is that of a 25

twentieth century girl. While in Ray, Draupadi is a cherished youngster full 26

of admiration for her father, in Divakaruni, the father is a cold, haughty 27

figure and Draupadi, even as a teenager despises his motives and his palace: 28

“I turned the resentment I couldn’t express toward my father onto his palace 29

(6).” 30

31

Feminist Interventions: Against ‘spousification’ 32

33

A.S. Altekar17 examines how the position of women deteriorated with 34

time when it came in contact with other cultures. However, other critics 35

disagree and it is from the time of the Upanishads and later during the age of 36

the Epics that the role of women was restricted and primarily subordinated 37

to patriarchal norms. Anwesha Arya in her article, “Devi: The 38

Disempowered Goddess”18 examines the process of ‘spousification’ of Devi 39

or Goddess and its negative ramification on female autonomy. Arya 40

concludes that “...two distinct patterns emerge in this journey: One of the 41

existence of an independent, almost feared entity, the independent Devi; and 42

17 Altekar, A. S. 1999. The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation. Motilal Banarsidass,

New Delhi. 18

Arya, Anwesha. 2004. “Devi: The Disempowered Goddess”. In Rinki Bhattacharya Ed.

Behind Closed Doors: Domestic Violence in India. Sage, New Delhi, 35-49.

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two, of the submissive role-playing ideal wife personification, what Lynn 1

Gatwood (1985) calls the spouse-goddess (37)”. 2

Draupadi’s image is often conflated with the “spouse-goddesses”, who, 3

according to Julia Leslie are subordinate to their husbands and therefore 4

unthreatening19 (320). In Ray and Divakaruni’s re-interpretation of 5

Draupadi, her terrible aspect of the essential woman is revealed as against 6

the portrayal of the ideal wife in the most part of the Mahabharata. For 7

example, though the epic recounts her marriage to the five Pandava brothers 8

in an impersonal short verse, Ray and Divakaruni elaborate on the dilemma 9

of the woman who had loved Arjun as her husband and who is subjugated to 10

the law of the society to marry five husbands. Veda Vyasa is consulted as 11

well as Krishna to resolve the dilemma. But both insist that it is necessary 12

for her to string the Pandava brothers in one bond through a common 13

marriage. Divakaruni’s heroine is surprised by Vyasa’s verdict, made her 14

feel angry and helpless “my situation was very different from that of a man 15

with several wives. Unlike him I had no choice as to whom I slept with, and 16

when. Like a communal drinking cup, I would be passed from hand to hand 17

whether I wanted it or not. (Divakaruni 120)” Needless to say, such 18

reflections voice the woman’s misery which remained muted in patriarchal 19

renderings of the epic, find a voice in this story. 20

Mandakranta Bose remarks, “In traditional Hindu society the obvious 21

site for women to exercise any kind or degree of authority is the family, 22

where again we may observe the ambivalence inherent in an individual’s 23

exercise of authority solely in the service of the group, often if not usually 24

through self-sacrifice (9). ”20 The right of women, in traditional Hindu 25

society is subservient to the duties she must fulfill towards her tribe, her 26

caste, her family and her husband. The authority she wields is dependent on 27

her position in the family. As a mother she is revered while as a wife she 28

must obey her elders. Both Ray and Divakaruni’s Draupadi adheres to the 29

norms yet they interrogate it and sometimes transgress their right. Draupadi 30

is feared not just because of being a Sati (a perfect wife) but also for the fact 31

that she had the intelligence and astute nature to free her five husbands, their 32

weapons and their kingdom of Indraprastha (which Yudhishthira lost again 33

the following day) when they had lost everything in the dice game, through 34

the three boons granted to her by Dhristarashtra, the emperor of the 35

Kauravas after her insulting rape at his court. Both Divakaruni and Ray 36

elaborate on this episode of their life. At every important dilemma of life, 37

Draupadi, unlike Sita, must face grave consequences for actions which are 38

not of her doing, but a result of destiny. She is impetuous, haughty and 39

therefore more human of the two heroines. It is her human weaknesses, her 40

enforced subservience to the laws of an extremely patriarchal society and 41

19 Leslie, Julia. 1995. The Perfect Wife:The Stridharmapaddhati of Tryambakayajvan.

Trans. Julia Leslie. Oxford University South Asia Series. OUP Penguin Books, New Delhi. 20

Bose, Mandakranta. 2010. Women in the Hindu Tradition: Rules, Roles and Exceptions.

Routledge, New York.

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her wisdom to overcome them that reveal her ingenuity and vulnerability 1

and bring her close to our hearts. 2

Yajnaseni in Ray’s version, is human yet most courageous and 3

challenges her husband’s knowledge of Dharma when in spite of losing 4

himself, her eldest husband Yudhisthira has the audacity to pledge his wife 5

as prize for the dice game. She is menstruating, and is in one cloth when 6

Dusshasana (her husbands’ rival, the second eldest of the Kaurav brothers) 7

drags her from the inner chambers to the palace hall, before a court filled 8

with men who look at her with lustful eyes and enjoy her distress. Even the 9

greatest of the elders, such as Bhishma who had vowed celibacy and had 10

been granted eternal life, the emperor father, Dhritarashtra, Dronacharyya 11

the sage and mentor of the entire Kuru clan, remain silent spectators of this 12

disgraceful scene. Here too, transgressing her rights, Draupadi questions her 13

elders whether the wise men of Aryavarta would endow this shameful act. 14

Ray’s feminist re-reading points out at the indiscrepancy of this act: “A mild 15

murmur arose and died down. Would any woman dare to demand an 16

explanation of her elders with such firmness? (Ray 238)” 17

The episode of Draupadi’s rape is rendered in the Mahabharata but in 18

Ray, Draupadi’s reflections and her spiritual inclination, her total surrender 19

to Krishna renders the incident humanist and philosophical: “Without total 20

surrender of the self, God’s compassion is not found. The moment this 21

thought came to me, I forgot all shame, modesty, doubt. Leaving hold of that 22

single cloth, I raised up both my hands. In anguish I cried, ‘Lord, I am not 23

mine own. This body is not mine. Therefore the whole responsibility of this 24

body is yours. All is yours…It is you who are the primal cause. I know 25

nothing (243).” 26

27

Differentiating the narratives: Ray and Divakaruni 28

29

The Hindu tradition itself being full of contradictions in its definition of 30

Dharma, the role of women as goddesses and human figures, the portrayal of 31

Draupadi is bound to be distinctive in each rendition of her story. In this 32

part, the distinctive nature of the two novels will be elaborated keeping in 33

mind that the novels were penned at almost the same time, Ray’s novel 34

preceding that of Divakaruni by only three years. 35

36

Feminisation and tradition 37

38

As Divakaruni mentions in the “author’s note”, she was left unsatisfied 39

with the part the women play in the epic, “somehow they (the women) 40

remained shadowy figures, their thoughts and motives mysterious, their 41

emotions portrayed only when they affected the lives of the male heroes, 42

their roles ultimately subservient to those of their fathers or husbands, 43

brothers or sons (xiv).” The re-writing of the epic was for Divakaruni, a way 44

to give voice to the women, to “place the women in the forefront of the 45

action…to uncover the story that lay invisible between the lines of the men’s 46

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exploits (xv).” And thus it is that Divakaruni portrays the heroine of the 1

Mahabharata, a reflection of a modern day girl and woman, re-telling her 2

story, “with all her joys and doubts, her struggles and her triumphs, her 3

heartbreaks, her achievements, the unique female way in which she sees her 4

world and her place in it….It is her life, her voice, her questions, and her 5

vision that I invite you into in The Palace of Illusions. (xv)” The notion of 6

Svadharma or Dharma does not appear in the narrative except in a few 7

instances. 8

Draupadi’s image as portrayed by Ray is not that of a woman whose 9

merit lies in revolting against the fabric of the society itself, but being that 10

princess who submitted herself to the laws of the ideal Hindu woman, 11

within the very structure of the family, yet interrogated them. 12

Divakaruni’s Draupadi is of more lighthearted character, appears less 13

burdened by her dharma as daughter and wife. It is Vyasa (appearing in the 14

role of a fortuneteller in this novel) who makes her aware of her impending 15

fate: “You will marry the five greatest heroes of your time. You will be 16

queen of queens, envied even by goddesses…You will be remembered for 17

causing the greatest war of your time…Yes, indeed, you will leave a mark 18

on history.(39)” 19

Unlike Ray’s Yajnaseni who seems aware of her duties and of her 20

destiny from the moment of her birth and is constantly reminded of the same 21

by her mentor Krishna, Divakaruni’s protagonist is childlike, enjoys her 22

days of innocence and she appears saddened by mundane incidents in her 23

father’s palace, by the treatment of other step-sisters or by the cold stony 24

look of the building. In fact the word Dharma, which appears thirty-eight 25

times in the first fifty pages of Ray’s novel, does not appear even once in 26

Divakaruni in the same number of pages. 27

Not only is Divakaruni heroine unmindful of her duties, her eventful life 28

but her mentors too, especially her elderly mother-like dhai-ma, do not seem 29

to prepare her for her fate. She too is oblivious of her ward’s destiny and 30

behaves with her as with any little girl not even of the rank of a princess. 31

32

Narrative Strategies: Voicing Differences Differently 33

34

Susan Lancer’s article, “Toward a Feminist Narratology” poses the 35

feminist question vis-à-vis narratology, that most theories of the narrative 36

have been based on “men’s texts or texts treated as men’s texts (676)”21 37

writing and therefore lack the tools to differentiate the writings of women 38

and to examine their specificity. She suggests a re-writing of narratology 39

“that takes into account the contributions of women as both producers and 40

interpreters of texts (677).” In this regard, the text of Ray and Divakaruni 41

could be re-examined as unique works which have adopted strategies of re-42

writing the story of Draupadi with a specific feminist narrative strategy. 43

21 Lancer, Susan. 1986. “Toward a Feminist Narratology”. In Feminisms: An Anthology of

Literary Theory and Criticism. 1991. Robin R. Warhol and Diane Price Herndl, Ed.,

Rutgers University Press, 675-689.

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Both the novels are written from the perspective of Draupadi, in the first 1

person and thus the voice of the heroine can be heard. History has been 2

nuanced with personal beliefs, philosophy, hurt pride - thus humanizing the 3

stiff structure of the third person epic narrative. Yet the novels differ in their 4

style, their voice and structure. Yajnaseni’s introductory chapter is a 5

philosophical reflection on life, on the past where Draupadi, befallen at the 6

path to heaven has been abandoned by her five husbands while her sons are 7

far away ruling their kingdom at Hastinapur. Divakaruni’s novel follows a 8

fairy-tale chapterisation, each chapter being titled with a single noun, such 9

as “fire”, “cosmology”, “blue” and the protagonist appears from the very 10

beginning as a prisoner to her fate, a little girl trapped in a dark, stony and 11

lonely fortress at Panchal. Various incidents, such as the appearance of a 12

sorceress at her father’s palace who teaches her the secrets to be a good 13

queen, a good cook as well as to live the austere life of a mendicant – all of 14

which will later enable her to live her days with the vagrant Pandavas- have 15

been introduced by the author and do not exist in the main text. Such 16

incidents as the predicaments by the VedaVyasa who foretells her future, the 17

gift of the parchment and a tale by the sorceress are elements which 18

romanticize the story and don it with a fantastic fairy-tale atmosphere. 19

Ray introduces characters such as Nilambani, the princess’ maid and 20

Maya, a caretaker from Krishna in order to facilitate the narrative with these 21

women as Draupadi’s confidantes. However, unlike the sorceress, these 22

characters are not new, but find their brief mention in the epic itself. 23

The principal events of the Mahabharata have been recounted in both 24

the novels: the story of enmity between Drupad and Dronacharya which 25

leads to the sacrificial fire and the birth of Draupadi, the marriage of 26

Draupadi to the five Pandava brothers, Draupadi’s molestation and rape at 27

the dice game and the great war. In Ray, the voice of Draupadi is grave and 28

wise even at its most personal moments: “At the very first sight of Karna, I 29

do not know why, a fountain of maternal love gushed forth from my heart 30

(117) while the same incident of encountering the illegitimate son of Kunti, 31

the handsome Karna is recounted differently by Divakaruni. On seeing the 32

portrait of Karna Draupadi feels attracted by the solitude in his eyes: “His 33

eyes were filled with an ancient sadness. They pulled me into 34

them….Absurdly I wanted to be the reason for his smile (69).” 35

Ray’s narrative is interspersed with philosophical musings, and the 36

impersonal objectivity of the third person narration is more abundant in her 37

narrative: “The inner being that is pervaded by Krishna is bereft of pride. 38

Where pride rules, there only the shadow of Krishna resides, not 39

Krishna….for getting rid of pride the ego has to be eliminated. One has to 40

surrender. It is necessary to offer one self before others like the offerings 41

made to a deity (208).” Thus Krishna remains a central character in 42

Draupadi’s life and musings. It is to him that Ray’s Yajnaseni dedicates her 43

life, her suffering and her freedom. It is for him alone that she lives. Ray’s 44

heroine is not an ordinary human being. From the very onset of the novel, 45

the reader is aware of the towering feminine personality who not only 46

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shaped an epoch, but also shaped the spiritual destiny of a nation. Her life 1

appears to be an adventure as well as an inner journey towards self-2

realisation. 3

4

5

Conclusion 6

7

Reinterpretations and re-writings of the myth of Draupadi exist in 8

various oral and folk traditions, in India as well as in the Far-East. Poets, 9

novelists in various Indian and foreign languages have re-told the story and 10

comparative study of these stories would entail a separate research. This 11

article has concentrated on two re-appropriations of the story of Draupadi 12

which are available in English and are contemporary in their production. 13

Both the novels evolve around the story of the epic Mahabharata and 14

re-define the idea of Draupadi being a woman like any other human being 15

with her opinions, desires and expectations from life for which she had to 16

challenge the notion of ‘Stri-dharma’ (woman’s Dharma). While popular 17

mythology and religion define Draupadi as the ideal wife, a suffering 18

woman who obeyed first her father, her brother and then her husbands, these 19

two novels endow her with a voice of her own, if not rebellious yet 20

unrelenting in her questioning. The novels differ in their treatment and style. 21

While Ray’s Yajnaseni is a regal, wise and patient queen, engaged in a 22

spiritual quest, Krishna being her ultimate friend and master to whom she 23

dedicates her desires and her calumny, Divakaruni portrays a spirited young, 24

impatient and yet strong woman who is perhaps beleaguered by fate, but 25

who has the tenacity to persist in her own path of liberation from a society 26

which misunderstood her. The narrative structure and tone of Yajnaseni is 27

serious, grave, the story going to and fro the present and the past, thus 28

allowing self-reflection and philosophical after-thoughts to its subject-29

narrator. Divakaruni has modeled her novel in a quasi chronological manner 30

interspersed with stories recounted by other voices, such as the dhai-ma, or 31

Krishna who substantiate the narrative with stories of the past, and 32

forebodings of the future. The novel abounds in dialogic conversations 33

while Ray’s work is replete with reflective monologues. 34

35

36

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38

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