LangLit ISSN 2349-5189

An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal

SEXUALITIES, DESIRE AND THE TRUTH OF DESIRE IN STORIES

OF THE MAHABHARATA: A STUDY OF SELECTED STORIES FROM
THE MAHABHARATA
ANJALI RAMARIA
Assistant Professor
Mewar University
Gangrar, Chittorgarh, Rajasthan

ABSTRACT
The Mahabharata teaches us that the deepest meaning of life is
not in the acquisition of knowledge, or in the conquest of the
self, rather it is in the fullest expression of the self. Although
men and women everywhere are troubled by the apparent
conflict between the truth of desire and the knowledge of what
is right, the Mahabharata reflects unreservedly upon this
question through the stories of Urvashi and Arjuna in the Vana
Parva, Devayani and Kacha in the Adi Parva and Uttaradisha
and Ashtavakra in the Anushava Parva of the Mahabharata.
Conflict may be strong and its resolution difficult, yet in the
final analysis, the conflict between desire and Dharma
(Righteousness) may be satisfactorily resolved.

The perception of woman and the nature of her desires is fast undergoing a change in the
post-feminist world. Scholars of repute, both from the Eastern and the Western world are
taking a second look at Sita , who has long been upheld as the model of excellence in woman,
with qualities worth being emulated by all women in India. Ancient texts however present
another picture of woman as a temptress, the eternal seducer whose wiles and seductions man
is helpless against. If desire itself is natural, then succumbing to that desire is just as natural.
This brings up the question, where does the balance lie and where does one draw the line.

The Mahabharata teaches us that the deepest meaning of life is not in the acquisition of
knowledge, or in the conquest of the self, rather it is in the fullest expression of the self.
Although men and women everywhere are troubled by the apparent conflict between the truth
of desire and the knowledge of what is right, the Mahabharata reflects unreservedly upon
this question through the stories of Urvashi and Arjuna in the Vana Parva, Devayani and
Kacha in the Adi Parva and Uttaradisha and Ashtavakra in the Anushava Parva of the
Mahabharata. Conflict may be strong and its resolution difficult, yet in the final analysis, the
conflict between desire and Dharma (Righteousness) may be satisfactorily resolved.

The story of Urvashi and Arjuna appears in chapters 43-46 of the Vanaparva in The
Mahabharata. Indra had appointed Chitrasena, the celestial teacher of music and dance to
teach Arjuna , Stri-sanga-Visharada or the graces befitting Company of woman. Indra also
gave chitrasena the specific task of persuading the celestial beauty Urvashi to go to Arjuna.
Chitrasesa rushed to Urvashi, hoping to persuade her, but Urvashi said words to the effect
that she did not really require any external promptings, since from the movement she had set
her eyes on Arjuna, she had been burning with desire for him.

Vol. 1 Issue - 4 785 May, 2015

www.langlit.org
 LangLit ISSN 2349-5189

An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal

The celestial nymph, her mind full of pictures of a celestial bed and visions of the handsome
prince Arjuna embracing her with a look of love and desire in his eyes, adorned herself
carefully with exquisite clothes and jewels. However at the appointed place and time, Arjuna
declared that in his mind and heart ,Urvashi held a position similar to that of his mother Kunti
. He placed the palms of his hands over his ears when Urvashi acknowledged her desire for
him and urged him to accept her. It was clear that Urvashi‟s senses were all aflame. In Osho‟s
opinion: “A woman is almost like a musical instrument, her whole body has immense
sensitivity and that sensitivity should be aroused.” (Osho 25)

Like most other things in Indian culture, sex is perceived at many different levels. Sexual life
in Indian society was almost completely centered in the functionality of human life.
However, it often took a course that was regarded as socially reckless. Thus the idea of sex
came to assume two positions; one of functionality and the other of ecstasy or sex for
pleasure. Through its stories, the Mahabharata tells us that the prescriptive ordering of the
sexual impulse within marriage was bound to be transgressed, given the fact that men and
women being human could not be always expected to contain the sexual appetite within the
bounds of marriage:
ukfXuLr`I;fr dk’Bkuka ukixkuka egksnf/k %
ukUrd % loZHkwrkuka u iqalka okeykspuk AA
(Panchatantra 1.148)
Fire cannot be satisfied with all
the wood, the ocean cannot be
satisfied with all the rivers,
death cannot be satisfied by
consuming all lives, nor a
woman with all men.
(translation mine)

Alongside the image of woman as Shakti or Feminine Power, stood the woman as Maya or
the base deluder, which made woman a source of both fascination and fear. The nature of
desire and its workings in one of the more important concerns in the Ancient texts like the
Mahabharat and the Upanishads. The quest for pleasure and happiness as well as the
gratification of the sexual appetite was from the very beginning; acknowledge being the
mainspring of human action. Self understanding is the idea of experiencing oneself as a
whole and not as a fragmented being. The acknowledgement of the sexual appetite and the
sexual desire in woman and by women is a crucial step in individual self representation.
Every time a woman acknowledges her right to desire through the institution of her physical
self, she is taking a giant step outside the imprisoning ideological walls that keep her
confined:
Libidinal desire which is at
odds with social sanction and
norms, constitutes a mode of
individual resistance, even if
it remains at a latent level
and is not expressed in action.
(Menon 161)

Vol. 1 Issue - 4 786 May, 2015

www.langlit.org
 LangLit ISSN 2349-5189

An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal

The story of Devayani and Kacha appears in chapters 76-77 of the Adi Parva of the
Mahabharat. kacha arrived at the hermitage of the great guru Shukracharya hoping to learn
the secret art of bringing the dead back to life; an art which was known only to the great
preceptor. Kacha became acquainted with Devayani, the daughter of his guru or preceptor
and the two young people sat together and frolicked with each other. Devayani became
enamoured of Kacha and could not bear to be separated from him. The Asuras however killed
Kacha on three occasions, and on all three occasions, the preceptor brought Kacha back to
life, knowing that his daughter could not bear to live without the young man. But the Asuras
had been clever the third time and had lodged Kacha in the preceptor‟s stomach. The only
way Kacha could be brought back to life was by cutting open the sage‟s stomach, which
meant that the sage would have to die. Kacha thus had to be initiated into the secret art and
the sage taught the art to Kacha even while he was in the sage‟s stomach. Through his
knowledge of the art, kacha was able to revive shukeracharya and he did it.The art having
been learnt, Kacha decided to leave the heritage and when Devayhani expressed her love for
him, he declared that being his preceptor‟s daughter, she was like a sister to him. He
admonished Devayani saying that what she had said had been impelled, not by what was
right, but by mere desire.

Earlier, Urvashi had cursed Arjuna and now Devayani cursed Kacha. The Mahabharat
acknowledges the force of desire but it does not disregard righteousness. The force of desire
need not imply the negation of that which is right. But the Mahabharat also subtly poses a
question as to whether the invocation of the ethical right is indeed a cover up for the fact that
men often fear a woman in the full force of her desire. In his excellent study on the
Mahabharat ,Chaturvedi Badrinath opines :
There are familiar conflicts between
What is right and what is wrong;
„right‟ and „wrong‟ being
understood not just in conventional
terms of conventional morality;
and one makes a choice between
the two…..But there is yet another
area of conflict, which is a conflict
not between „ right‟ and „ wrong‟
but between „right, and „ right‟.
That produces moral dilemma,
of having to make a choice
between two equally inviolable
duties when they are also in
serious conflict with each other.
(Chaturvadi 18)

The Mahabharata points out that desire has to take into account the scruples of the other
individual, failing which, it loses its capacity to offer genuine joy. When men and women
have different natures, different scruples and different temperaments, it is often very difficult
to bring about a resolution of certain kinds of conflict.

The story of Uttaradisha and Ashtavakra appears in chapters 19-21 of the Anushasna Parva
of the Mahabharat. Ashtavakra, a handsome virile young man desired to marry Suprabha the
daughter of sage Vadanya. Suprabha was a watchless beauty, renowned for her pure

Vol. 1 Issue - 4 787 May, 2015

www.langlit.org
 LangLit ISSN 2349-5189

An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal

heartedness and virtues. Sage Vadanya however wanted Ashtavakra to make a journey to a
distant place and meet an old woman living in a deep forest. Ashtavakra was told that the
land he was to visit was a land of fascination and magic. Ashtavakra journeyed to the strange
place and met the old woman who was old and wrinkled. He was forced to spend the night in
her company and as he lay down to sleep, the woman came over to him begging him to enter
into a sexual union with him. Repelled by her Ashtavakra however told her politely that he
desired to marry Suprabha and that he would never touch any other woman when morning
came, Asthavakra found that the ugly old woman had become transformed into a dazzlingly
beautiful young girl, and although he was greatly astonished, he remained firm in his resolve.
Finally the woman, Uttaradisha told him that he had been sent to her by the sage to be tested.
Through the voice of Uttaradisha , the Mahabharata provides a fitting resolution to the
conflict between desire and righteousness. Wherever men and women happen to be in close
proximity, the impulse for physical union is likely to be present. However , the real test for
the individual is to resolve, not to be carried away in the flow of desire, disregarding his
„dharma‟. A man worthy of a virtuous woman is a man who exercises self control in
situations where it is easy to be wayward and swayed by passions. This is what gives true
disha or direction to a relationship. The truth of this is pronounced by uttaradisha.

REFERENCES

1. Chaturvedi, Badrinath. The Mahabharata : An Inquiry in the Human Condition . New

Delhi : Orient Longman, 2007.
2. Menon, Nivedita ed. Sexualities. New Delhi : Women Unlimited, 2007.
3. Osho. A New Vision of Women’s Liberation. New Delhi : Full Circle, 2006.
4. Sharma , Vishnu . Panchatantra. Gorakhpur: Gita Press, 2002.

Vol. 1 Issue - 4 788 May, 2015

www.langlit.org