|
|
|
The Subversive Nature of Virtue in the Mahabharata: A Tale about Women, Smelly Ascetics, and God
| Title: | The Subversive Nature of Virtue in the Mahabharata: A Tale about Women, Smelly Ascetics, and God
| | Author: | Arti Dhand | | Publication: | Journal of the American Academy of Religion / Oxford University Press | | Enumeration: | vol. 72, no. 1, pp. 33-58, March 2004 | | Abstract: | This article focuses on one key episode of the great Hindu epic, the Mahabharata: the scene in the first book in which the Bharata widows Ambika and Ambalika are impregnated by their brother-in-law, Vyasa. The article is composed of two parts. The first examines narratives surrounding the practice of niyoga, or levirate, and reflects on its significance to the construction of the epic plot. The second reflects on the personality and motives of Vyasa, uncompromising brother-in-law, formidable sage, and near-divine author of the text. The link between the two parts is important for unpacking a key religious orientation of the Mahabharata. The article argues that Vyasa's curse of the Bharata widows is not idiosyncratic but, rather, is a stern example of the author's specific interpretation of virtue, which in turn bespeaks the overarching religious worldview of the text—the karmayogic ideal of equanimity. Source of Abstract: Provided by Publisher | | See Also: | | Tools: |
| |
|
