Mother Gandhari - a strong and constrained woman

Mother Gandhari - a strong and constrained woman

Who was Gandhari who wanted to make Duryodhana as Vajra body

Gandhari is one of the influential female characters of Mahabharata.  Gandhari was Dhritarashtra's wife and Duryodhana's mother.  Shakuni was her brother.  Let us know who Gandhari was and what power she had.

Gandhari's character is at the forefront of India's glorious women who had learned to live by ideals as well as her principle of husband's devout.  She had prevented the husband and her sons from going on unrighteousness and wrong path.  Her life is the story of a woman forced into the love of husband and son.

 One of the women mentioned in the Mahabharata story is Gandhari.  Gandhari is considered a virtuous woman and an ideal woman.  Gandhari  was the daughter of a king named Subal of the Gandhar country.  Being Gandhar country, she got his name Gandhari.  Gandhari was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva.  After the war of Mahabharata ended, Gandhari went into the forest with her husband, Kunti and Vidur.

Was blindfolded only after getting married to Dhritarashtra

 When Gandhari was married to the blind Dhritarashtra, Gandhari also blindfolded.  Gandhari said that when my husband is blind, she has no right to see the world.  Gandhari's brother Shakuni was not happy with this marriage.  Being a devotee of Shiva, Gandhari was given the boon by Lord Shiva to become the mother of hundred sons. When Gandhari was married to blind Dhritarashtra, she too had her blindfolded.  As long as she lived, she did not remove her blindfold.  He had not even seen the face of his 100 sons.

Many ominous incident occurred on Duryodhana's birth

Gandhari named his first son Duryodhana.  It is said that when Duryodhana was born, at that time there were many ominous things.  Duryodhana started speaking as soon as he was born.  Then Vidur and the scholars asked Dhritarashtra to abandon this child.  Scholars and astrologers said that if you want to protect the Kaurava dynasty, then abandon Duryodhana, otherwise no one will be able to stop being evil.  But Duryodhana could not be abandoned in Putramoh(Affection of son's love).

Gandhari did not want the Mahabharata war

When her husband Raja Dhritarashtra agreed to Duryodhana and gave his consent to play the game of gambling, Gandhari warned Dhritarashtra that " should never take such an incurious decision by complying in the words of the moron children, the old and the wicked intellectuals."  You should not get your entire family destroyed by complying into the words of the son with affection. 
”After recognizing the character of Duryodhana, she always asked Dhritarashtra to bring him on the path of dharma, calling him arrogant, sin-wise, greedy, bad companion , inconsiderate.  Even the Dushasanas were prevented from making mistakes, considering Krishna and Arjuna invincible and suggested way to compromise them.

Gandhari termed the 13-year exile given to the Pandavas as an unfair, unjust decision .  The obstinate Duryodhana never obeyed his mother Gandhari.  While going to war, she told Duryodhana how she can bless him, while the innocent Pandavas are the victims of his injustice.

Gandhari did not want the war of Mahabharata.  Before the war of Mahabharata started, when Lord Krishna went to Hastinapur as a peacekeeper for the treat0y, he proposed to give five villages to the Pandavas in front of Duryodhana, but Duryodhana rejected this proposal.  When Gandhari came to know about this, she asked Duryodhana to accept Sri Krishna's proposal.  Gandhari also told Duryodhana that it is in your welfare  to accept the things that Lord Krishna, Bhishma, Dronacharya and Vidur have told you.  But Duryodhana did not listen to the advice of Mata Gandhari and the result came in the form of war of Mahabharata.

Gandhari wanted to make Duryodhana's body like as a vajra 

It is said that in order to provide like iron-strength to his son Duryodhana, she told him to stand before her with an open body, then the light of her eyes would make his body become iron-like.  Duryodhana was in semi naked , so his half body only got iron power.

When all the Kauravas died in the war of Mahabharata, Gandhari decided to make Duryodhana as a vajra.  Gandhari had received this boon from Lord Shiva that whomever she would open her eyes and see anyone in nagnavastha(naked), thereof whole body would become of vajra.

Gandhari told Duryodhana that after bathing in the Ganges, he should appear in naked  in front of her .  But Lord Krishna knew this and on the way, Shri Krishna stopped Duryodhana and said that even after being so young, you would go in naked form to the mother.

Duryodhana got into the words of Shri Krishna and wrapped the leaves on the thigh and appeared before Gandhari.  When Gandhari opened the bandage with his eyes and saw him, her divine vision could not fall on the thigh, due to which the thighs of Duryodhana could not be of the vajra and in the end this led to the death of Duryodhana.

When Gandhari's hundred sons were killed in the fierce struggle of Mahabharata, she cried up in a sad mood that despite being the mother of hundred sons, she became sonless.  All her daughters-in-law are mourning as widows.  In the pile of dead bodies, looking at her dead sons, she looked very helpless, screaming with compassion. When Bheem, Yudhishthira, Nakula, etc. went to console Gandhari and apologize for the crime of her daughter-in-law, when forgiving, as soon as Gandhari's eyes fell on Yudhishthira's fingernails from the lower part of her eyes, his nails became black. Bhima and his brother hid in fear behind Yudhishthira. She considered as main factor the death of all her sons to Sri Krishna.  Gandhari, distraught at the sons's death, cursed Sri Krishna by saying: "If my dynasty is destroyed, then your dynasty will be destroyed and you too will be killed like an orphan."

Later Gandhari apologized to Krishna for these misdeeds.  Krishna smilingly said this: “Mother Gandhari!  This curse of yours is the law of God.  Your words will be true literally.  Please accept my greetings. "

Yudhishthira and all his brothers left no stone unturned in the service of their uncle and aunt Gandhari, but they also had to listen to the satire of being killer of sons from time to time.  For 15 years they lived in the palace with Yudhishthira.

From Yudhishthira, they asked for the permission to going to forest , which was rejected by Yudhishthira, but at the behest of Maharishi Vyasa, he ordered the exile along with Gandhari, Kunti, Vidur and Sanjay.  Going to the ashram of Maharishi Ved Vyasa in the forest, Gandhari expressed her desire to see the 100 dead sons again for the peace of mind of her husband Dhritarashtra and widow daughter-in-law. At the same time, Abhimanyu for Subhadra, and the five sons of Draupadi again show glimpse, they prayed to reduce their attachment and grief, which was completed by Ved Vyas.  In the last moments of life, Gandhari, Kunti and Dhritarashtra self sacrifice their lives.

In the history of Mahabharata, the character of Gandhari emerges not only because of her superiority in female characters, but also presents a psychological form of both good and bad feelings of the heart.  Her life is a great character saga of a forced woman trapped in the dilemma of wife and affection of sons.