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Every important discussion in India on women safety is always shrouded with comparison of femininity with Maa Durga, rightfully so the discussion stays valid. But comparing us mere mortals to Adi Shakti (primordial goddess of prakriti) herself is not an adequate analogy. There are many powerful women icons of ancient Bharat & no one stands on top as Pancha kanya's. Anyone who is familiar with our Itihasa (i.e. Ramayana & Mahabharata) are aware of these Pancha kanya's. Though they are referred as Kanya, it is not the literal translation of it, the usage of word Kanya here is a fancy way to refer a daughter. There is a well known hymn that is taught to children for the morning prayer, and it mentions these 5 women of greatness.
अहल्या द्रौपदी सीता तारा मंदोदरी तथा ।
पंचकन्या स्मरेनित्यं महापातक नाशनं।।
Translation - Ahalya, Draupadi, Sita, Tara & Mandodari; remembering all these five daughters everyday is enough to cleanse us from gravest sins.
It is very much necessary to understand more about these women to understand why these specific women were referred as the greatest. All of their stories have been told several times & I wish not to repeat the same, I will highlight certain topics of interest to express my point. So kindly note that I'm basing this whole discussion on Sri Valmiki Ramayana & Sri Vyasa Mahabharata. Though there are multiple interpretations of these texts, I'm not considering all of them but the original.
Ahalya - Daughter of Bramha Ahalya has a very tragic story which is a real issue of modern world as well, infidelity. Ahalya is the beloved daughter of Lord Bramha, she was the most beautiful maiden that was created in known universe! She married the great sage Gautama, who played a significant role in formulation of Rig Veda as we know today. She is also the first teacher of Shatananda (priest advisory to King Seeradhwaja Janaka, father of Sita), her only son. She was well versed in Shastra, Purana, Vedas & also practiced Adhyatma (spirituality). Despite all of these accomplishments, unfortunately she did gave into her desires momentarily when Indra requested her for an indulgement. Sage Gautama who catches them red handed, finds it hard to accept what transpired in his ashram. He angrily hexes Indra to be covered with phallus & drives him away. He grievingly turns towards Ahalya curses her to stay unseen to the outside world until she atones for her sin, post which he will unite with her. Ahalya did not deny what happened, she accepted the consequences & spent a considerable part of her life in Tapasya (spiritual discipline that involve deep meditation). This remained the situation until Rishi Vishwamitra brings Prince's of Ayodhya Rama & Lakshmana to visit Janakapuri and happen to pass Gautama's ashram. After narrating the incident rishi Vishwamitra asks the brother's to go seek the great Ahalya's blessing. Arrival of Ikshavaku brother's marked success of Ahalya's Tapasya, Gautama had informed her that the day Rama & Lakshmana will visit her, is the day she had atoned & meant that her Tapasya has come to an end. Her story is a good example on how even extraordinary people can make irreversible mistakes. She is referred as noble women not because she happened to meet Lord Rama in person, but because of her persistence to atone for her actions.
Draupadi - Daughter of King Drupada certainly had a notable life. Time is of constraint to go through every major incident of her life, so it is safe to summaries that Draupadi represents the epitome of Kshaatra (spirit of courage) in women. Draupadi was very intelligent, she knew what kind of impact words has on people, two very good examples of her communication skills are a) in spite of her humiliation in the Kuru court she confidently spoke to Dhritarashtra & showed the errors of his son's, b) she instilled the fire of justice & dharma when her husbands feared the negative consequences in asking for their kingdom back from Kaurava's, Queens are often assumed as damsel's in distress, but there is a beautiful conversation we get to see in Vana Parva between Draupadi & Satyabhama (wife of Krishna), that shows a different side. Draupadi explains to Satyabhama that as Queen of Indraprastha she was responsible of entire palace's work force, which included animals like horses, oxen & elephants. During every meal nearly 10,000 people were fed & she was in charge of it as well. She took care of her husbands' schedule & made sure that things were set in motion accordingly before they could even request her. It is evident from this that she was more than ordinary. The horrors that Draupadi faced was of unimaginable heights as well, she not only faced public humiliation in Kuru court, but also faced physical abuse from Keechaka (surrogate ruler of Virata), & she was also abducted by Jayadratha (her brother in law) who tried to indulge with her, She lost all her children during Kurukshetra war & saw death of her family & closest friends. Despite going through these fiercest of situations, Draupadi steadfast in path of dharma. It is sad to see that mainstream narrative often paints Draupadi as a victim, but she was a Kshatriya woman through and through. Her valor & strength stood exemplary among her contemporary women as well, & thus she was well respected. She also was a prominent thread in reestablishing dharma in Sapt Sindhu!
Sita - Daughter of Mithila, wife of Ramachandra is the most devout & just women of all time. Even the best of writers fail to express her fortitude with words. Her story from birth, marriage, exile, abduction to coronation as Queen of Ayodhya has been retold several times, thus I won't cite it again. But there is one incident I wish to talk about which clarifies why Sita is respected with such a high regard. That is the incident of Sita & Rama's separation during her pregnancy. This was a devastating decision for the couple, Rama knew in his heart that Sita will understand the reason behind such a cruel resolution. He did not had the heart to tell her in person & asked his brother Lakshmana to have the hard talk when he drops Sita in ashram of Rishi Valmiki (Sita had wished to visit ashram's of sages during her pregnancy). It is suffice to say that this verdict hurt Rama as much as it did Sita. Any other person in her place would have reacted much different to this news, but Sita was no ordinary person. She understood the dilemma of Raja dharma that Rama faced, she also understood why he chose to do what he did. She did not faze from the problem, but rather embraced it & made the best out of it. Sita the Queen of Ayodhya, transformed to Sita mother of Lava & Kush that day. Like the wise quote, every cloud has a silver lining, two important things happened from this sentence, a) the future Kings of Ayodhya got best of education from Rishi Valmiki & b) Sita was a reliable witness for composing the mahakavya Ramayana. There has been several ill mannered comments on why Rama exiled Sita to forest, how it makes him a jealous & a vile man etc. What people fail to understand is that this is precisely Rama's point. Rama wished to erase this bad remark that Sita got, though as a husband what he did seemed adharmic, as a king he ensured that this poisonous rumor dies then & there. And it did, Even today we may hear such a cruel comment about Rama's verdict but not on Sita's character. Sita is not an example of sacrifice, but an impartial idol of honor.
Tara - Daughter of Sushena (physician of Vanara's) & wife of Vali, is a less known woman of Ramayana. She & her sister Ruma were married to Vanara brothers Vali & Sugreeva. During a battle with demon Mayavi, Vali is assumed to be dead as he goes missing in action. Sugreeva unknowingly performs last rites to the fallen brother & takes his throne. Vali who later returns to Kishkindha (capital of vanara's) after killing the demon, sees his brother on throne & assumes that he yearningly betrayed him. He quarrels with Sugreeva & kicks him out of the kingdom. But with malicious intent he captures Sugreeva's wife Ruma & keeps her captive. Tara who couldn't see her sister being in this condition negotiates with her husband and prevents him from having his ways with Ruma. Since then she made sure that he won't influence their son Angadha. She relentlessly tried to wake up Vali from his blind ego to return Ruma back to Sugreeva & stop this pointless war. She also warned Vali saying that Sugreeva is not a fool to approach Vali for a duel leaving the safety of Rishyamukha hills, as he must have had some plan. She told him that defeat is imminent. But Vali chose to ignore her words & got what he deserved. Tara though she became a widow after Vali's death, did not had any enmity towards Rama or Sugreeva. She had in fact asked her son Angadha to serve Rama & his cause. Tara is mentioned as a great negotiator by Rishi Valmiki, as she was the one who rekindled the friendship between Sugreeva & Lakshmana when they had a kerfuffle. We can see her influence in Angadha's great verbal prowess, when he goes to Ravana's court to give a last warning before the war.
Mandodari - Daughter of Mayasura, wife of infamous Ravana is a woman of absolute resolve. She married Ravana who charmed her to fall in love, she was a necessary piece for him to expand his kingdom. Soon realizing the political plot behind her marriage, Mandodari strives hard & becomes Ravana's dearest advisor. She was an outspoken woman of truth & has often debated the asura king in front of his minions. She was successful in influencing even Ravana himself to abandon his abusive behavior. But the unfortunate incident of Shurpanakha rekindled his monstrous ego & abduction of Sita marked the end of Pulatsya lineage. There are several incidents where Mandodari has saved Sita's life, Ravana made sure Sita had a hellish condition so that she'll snap and accept his desires. It was evident that Ravana wanted to replace Mandodari with Sita as chief Queen of Lanka, but Mandodari never doubted Sita and was very protective of her. She made sure Sita has at least some peace during her stay in Ashoka garden. She personally appointed Trijata (daughter of Vibhishana) to guard Sita from other demon guards. During the final battle, Mandodari took up a yajna, Vibhishana who got this information from his spies informs this to Vanara's & they assume that it was to ensure her husband's victory against Rama. Fearing the worst, Angadha approaches Mandodari to disturb her, where she informs that this yajna was dedicated to victory of dharma & not for her husband. She tells Angadha that she always believed the her beloved would change, she fell in love with him for his strength & valor, but alas vidhi (flow of time) had other plans; she asks him to rely her last words to Ravana & takes her last breath. Mandodari was the last family that Ravana had, & her death had a significant toll on him. When Rama asks Ravana to at least surrender Sita seeing that even Mandodari died, he replies "I lost everything including my wife, I have no hope left now, it is either Vijaya or Veera Marana (victory or death)" & presumes the battle.
Whether you believe in these epics or not, it is very clear that these stories have a powerful underlying message. We see what kind of impact an abusive husband has on his wife. We see how a man with malicious intent can cause great pain to people closest to him. We also see a very important lesson from female characters as well, the severity of a situation completely depends on our reaction to it. We can either complain or actually try to solve it. It is important to accept that the actions have consequences & no one can escape from it. Let's educate our future generation on our Itihasa & sow the seeds of Dharma in them.
धर्मो एव हतो हन्ति धर्मो रक्षति रक्षितः
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