LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 21:4 April 2021
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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Symbol of Valour, Dharma and Liberation: Pratibha Ray’s Yagnaseni

Seema Dutta


Courtesy: https://www.amazon.com/Yajnaseni-Story-Draupadi-Pratibha-Ray-ebook/dp/B015P6AZ4O/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Yagnaseni&qid=1617507227&s=books&sr=1-1

Abstract

The character of Draupadi or Yagnaseni in the Mahabharata shows the subaltern position of women in the society. Her character portrayal is of immense interest to women writers who explore the various dimensions of her personality and study it from a feminist point of view. Pratibha Ray’s Yagnaseni is one such work that delineates the character of Draupadi from a feministic perspective and establishes her as one of the greatest women characters of time who preserved the dharma, displayed courage and nurtured feminine liberation. The current research paper aims to study Pratibha Ray’s delineation of Draupadi in her novel Yagnaseni. The character of Draupadi has been critically examined to establish the fact that Draupadi is a representative of the womankind and womanhood. She is a symbol of valour, dharma, feminity, and liberation.

Keywords: Pratibha Ray, Mahabharata, Yagnaseni, feminine, valour, liberation, dharma.

Introduction

The core Indian culture is reflected in the myths that form an integral part of the Indian history. It can be said that the thoughts, ideas, and ideologies that govern the Indian way of life have most often been the result of the various myths that provided a pattern and shaped the thoughts of generations. The myths are a reflection of the state of the society during most of the times and also throw light on the gender divide that amounted to discrimination during the era. Mahabharata, the greatest epic of the mythical history of our country, is a repository of the true reflection of condition of the society of the age. Interestingly, it stands relevant even today. In the words of Deshpande: “If there is one single work that which has proved to be of the greatest significance in the making of life and thought of the Indian people and whose tradition continues to live even to this day and influence, in one way or another, the various aspects of Indian life, it is the Mahabharata”. (199). It is also an account of how the male and the female had different and defined codes of conduct that essentially bordered on discrimination.

Sunal Sharma remarks “every generation writes its own new history” (139). This history is the mirror of the society of that times. The great history and myths of India have given a true picture of the society and always presented woman as the ‘subaltern’ with their position and status clearly defined. And that is why women writers have continued to explore the realms of myth and tried to study the women characters from a feminist point of view. Deshpande’s statement can be considered pertinent in this regard: “…the basic problem is that not only myths have originated with men, their interpretation has also been in male hands.” (87). Thus, women writers have often tried to provide a fresh perspective to the understanding of the woman characters in the mythical history and attempted to voice the anguish that enveloped the lives of these female characters who were always under the constraints of the boundaries defined for them by the conventional patriarchal society of the age.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Seema Dutta
Lecturer in English, Junabhadra College, Jajpur 755013
Odisha, India
shyama.ruchi@gmail.com
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