As I mentioned in my previous blog (Part 2), Gandhari had blessings that
she would give birth to 100 children. Now it’s time to fulfil that. After her marriage
with Kuru prince Dhritarashtra, Gandhari got pregnant before Kunti. But two years
had passed. No child was born. Gandhari heard from a priest coming from Satasingha
mountain that Kunti, a wife of Pandu (Dhritarashtra’s brother) gave birth to a
son named Yudhishthira. Then Gandhari got jealous.
Now we have to think
about the reason behind Gandhari’s jealousy. Gandhari’s husband couldn’t become
king because of his blindness. Now Gandhari who had blessings that she would give
birth to 100 sons, couldn’t gave Dhritarashtra a boy faster. Now Yudhishthira
will become king of Kuru dynasty. We couldn’t say that this resentment was
Gandhari’s alone. Dhritarashtra’s desire was reflected by Gandhari’s action.
Now back to our story. Gandhari
got jealous. Then she hit her womb with her hand and she had an abortion. Dhritarashtra
didn’t know any of that. She couldn’t fulfil Dhritarashtra’s desire, may be that’s
why she didn’t tell her husband. After abortion she gave birth to an iron hard
immovable flesh. This news was sent to Krishna Dvaipayana Veda Vyasa who gave
blessings to Gandhari. Veda Vyasa said, “My benedictions never go wrong.” He instructed
Gandhari to soak the flesh in cold water. After some time 100 embryos were separated
from the flesh. He asked Gandhari to bring 100 clay pitchers full of ghee (clarified
butter). He transferred each embryo to a clay pitcher one by one and incubated.
This narrative is strongly reminiscent of in vitro fertilization. After one
year first child was born named Duryodhana. On that day Pandu and Kunti gave
birth to their second son named Bheem. Just in the appearance of a son,
Gandhari thought of a daughter. Veda Vyasa blessed her to have a daughter in
addition to a hundred sons. After one month 99 brothers and one sister of Duryodhana
were born. Only daughter of Dhritarashtra and Gandhari was Duhshala.
Now the analysis. There
is hint of miracle in this incident. But use of low temperature, clay pitcher
full of ghee resembles some chemicals. May be there was a scientific approach. In
the epic Mahabharat, Gandhari was portraited as a victim of situation. But that
is not always true. Her decision was responsible for her life as we have discussed
about early stage of Gandhari’s life. We will discuss more when we do a character
analysis of Gandhari.
End…..
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