Dharma

Chapter 7: Two Dharma Biographies? Sītā and Draupadī

CHApTEr 7 Two Dharma Biographies? Sı̄tā and Draupadı̄ Turning to women and dharma, we continue to explore the relationship between narrative and norm. Brahmanical norms for women are set forth broadly through the concept of strīdharma, “law(s) for women” or “women’s dharma.” In many of our classical texts, these norms come with some version of an adage that Manu 5.147–148 elaborates as follows: Even in their own homes,a female—whether she is a child,a young woman, or an old lady—should never carry out any task independently . As a child, she must remain under her father’s control; as a young woman, under her husband’s; and when her husband is dead, under her sons’. Such a norm will have narrative subversions. Narrative Openings of Women’s Dharma A heroine of one of the Mahābhārata’s famous substories gives testimony in court when she demands that a king attest that he is the father of their son (Mahābhārata 1.67–68).The pair had met when the king was out hunting and found Śakuntalā alone in a forest hermitage. She had been conceived by a man of princely pedigree and a celestial nymph, left there at birth, and raised by Brahmin hermits as a foundling .The king cites Manu Svāyambhuva on the eight types of marriage in the same order as Manu, and praises the Love marriage mode,seeking to seduce her. She agrees on condition that her son be his heir, and soon he goes on his merry way. Some six years later, she demands that he acknowledge his paternity of the boy she has with her: Your heart knows the truth of it! Good sir, alas, you yourself are the witness to your truth and your lie.He who knows himself to be one 90 DHARMA way and pretends it is another is a thief who robs his own self— what evil is beyond him? You think “I am alone,” but don’t you know the ancient Muni who dwells in the heart? Him who knows your evil deeds? It is before him that you speak your lie! A man who has done wrong thinks, “Nobody knows me.” But the gods know him, and his inner soul. Sun and Moon,Wind, Fire, Heaven, Earth, and Water, the heart and Yama, Day and Night, both Twilights, and Dharma know a man’s conduct. A Muni is a sage, but especially a silent sage—this one in the heart. In court,the inner witness in the heart is also the sage and godYama, god of karmic justice as king of the dead in his heavenly court.A good conscience in court saves one’s merits both in this world and the next. Manu provides a similar speech by which a judge (who could be a king) should admonish court witnesses to be truthful. The judge should say: Whatever good deeds you have done since birth, dear man, all that will go to the dogs, if you testify dishonestly. “I am all alone”— should you think like that about yourself, good man; there dwells always in your heart this Muni, who observes your good and evil deeds. This god, Yama Vaivasvata, dwells in your heart. (Manu 8.90–91) This speech resonates with a recurrent notion in Manu that a spiritual inner witness is the “friend” or “escort” that accompanies a man to the afterworld. Manu says nothing about women’s testimony here.Yet even as the epics expand women’s worlds, Manu still leaves the tiniest room for such narratives to breathe. Although it is problematic, Manu says just before this, When there is no one else, even a woman, a child, an old man, a pupil, a relative, a slave, or a servant may give testimony. Manu quickly contradicts himself, as if wanting to take this back, saying women may never be appointed as witnesses, “even if they are many and honest, because the female mind is unsteady.” But the possibility of women giving testimony could recall Śakuntalā, whose day Sītā and Draupadī 91 in court foreshadows Draupadī’s. On “Law Concerning Husband and Wife,” Manu 9.1 begins,“For a husband and wife who stay on the path pointed out by the law, I shall declare the eternal laws for both when they are together and when they are apart.” Such a...