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Madri

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Madri
Mahabharata character
A print on Madri by Raja Ravi Varma
Personal Information
SpousePandu
ChildrenSons Step-sons
RelativesShalya (brother)
OriginMadra

Madri (Sanskrit: माद्री, IAST: Mādrī) is a character in the Mahabharata, one of the two major Hindu epics. She is the princess from the Madra Kingdom, who becomes the second wife of Pandu, the king of the Kuru Kingdom. She is the mother of the twins Nakula and Sahadeva, the youngest of the five Pandava brothers who play a central role in the epic.

Madri is also the sister of Shalya, and her marriage to Pandu is arranged by Bhishma, the grandsire of the Kuru dynasty, in exchange for a heavy bride price. Following a curse placed upon Pandu, which would lead to his death if he engaged in intimate relations, Madri accompanies him in his self-imposed exile, along with Pandu's first wife, Kunti. Using Kunti's divine boon, Madri invoke the twin deities collectively known as the Ashvins, receiving their blessing and subsequently giving birth to her sons, Nakula and Sahadeva.

Madri is renowned for her beauty and is described in the epic as being exceptionally attractive. One day, Pandu succumbs to desire and attempts to make love to her, which leads to his death due to the curse. Overcome with remorse and grief, Madri entrusts her sons, Nakula and Sahadeva, to Kunti’s care and chooses to jump into Pandu's funeral pyre, joining him in death.

Literary background

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Madri primarily appears in the Mahabharata, one of the Sanskrit epics originating from the Indian subcontinent. Composed in Classical Sanskrit, the text is a composite work shaped through centuries of revisions, editing, and interpolations. The oldest portions of the extant text likely date to around 400 BCE.[1] Manuscripts of the Mahabharata exist in numerous versions, with substantial variations in the details of key characters and events. An exception is the section containing the Bhagavad Gita, which remains notably consistent across different manuscripts.[2] Significant differences exist between the Northern and Southern recensions, with the Southern versions generally being more elaborate and extended. Scholars have undertaken the creation of a critical edition, primarily drawing from the "Bombay", "Poona", "Calcutta", and "South Indian" editions of the text. The most widely accepted version is that compiled by a team led by Vishnu Sukthankar at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, with copies preserved at Kyoto University, Cambridge University, and various institutions across India.[3]

Madri's entire life—from her introduction to her death—is recounted in the Adi Parva, the first of eighteen parvas or 'books' of the Mahabharata.[4][5][6] She continues to be mentioned in following parvas, often due to her twin sons being referred to by matronymic epithets.[7]

Beyond the epic, Madri finds mentions in the Puranic genre of Hindu literature, such as the Bhagavata Purana, Matsya Purana and Vayu Purana, which attest mythological stories and genealogies.[8] Madri is also adapted in various folktales across the sub-continent, as well as the Jain versions of the Mahabharata.[9]

Name and epithets

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Indologist Monier Monier-Williams expounds that the Sanskrit feminine epithet Mādrī derives etymologically from Madra, designating the northwestern Indian subcontinental kingdom from which she hails. Thus, Mādrī connotes 'pertaining to Madra' or, within this specific context, 'princess of Madra'.[10] While the epithet is most commonly associated with Pandu's second wife, it has also been applied to other princesses of Madra.[11][8]

Additionally, a cognate epithet, Madravatī, occasionally appears in reference to Madri, though Madravatī more frequently denotes the wife of Parikshit in epic literature.[7][12][8] Madri belonged to the Bahlika clan, originating from Balkh in Bactria.[13][14] Thus, she is also referred to as Bahliki (Bāhlikī) in few instances in the epic Mahabharata. When Madri is introduced in the epic, she is described as rūpeṇāsadṛśī, literally 'unparalleled in beauty'.[4]

Biography

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Madri is mentioned as an incarnation of a goddess named Dhriti ('Endurance') in the Adi Parva.[15] Madri is mentioned as exceedingly attractive,[16] and sometimes even described being dark complexioned.[17]

Marriage and exile

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Madri is introduced as the daughter of the king of the Madra Kingdom and the sister of Shalya. Bhishma, a prominent statesman of the Kuru Kingdom and the grandsire of the royal family, travels to Madra to secure Madri's hand in marriage for Pandu, the king of the Kuru Kingdom. The Madra king consents, but in accordance with Madra family custom, Bhishma presents him with a bride price, consisting of wealth, gold, elephants, and horses.[18][19] Bhishma then brings Madri to Hastinapura, the capital of Kuru, where she is married to Pandu on an auspicious day.[20][5][16]

Pandu has a first wife, Kunti, with whom Madri shares an amicable relationship, despite an underlying rivalry between the two.[21] Shortly after his marriage, Pandu embarks on a series of military conquests to expand his kingdom’s influence. Following these successful campaigns, he goes to tapovana (forest of austerities) south of Himalayas, accompanied by both his wives, Kunti and Madri. During the expedition in a forest, he observes a deer and a doe in the act of coitus and desiring to hunt them, shoots arrows at them. Upon approaching, he realizes that the deer is, in fact, the sage Kindama, who assume the form of deer to enjoy privacy with his wife, who is the doe. As he lies dying, the sage pronounces a curse upon Pandu, decreeing that he dies instantly should he ever attempt to have sexual intercourse. Disturbed by the gravity of his actions and seeking repentance, Pandu chooses to relinquish his royal duties and live an ascetic life in the forest. Both Kunti and Madri accompany him in his self-imposed exile.[22][23] After travelling to various pilgrim sites, they settle in the Shatashringa forests under the care of sages who live there.[5]

Birth of Nakula and Sahadeva

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Due to Pandu's curse, each of the five Pandavas is fathered through the practice of niyoga (levirate) which allows a reputed man to father children on behalf of the husband, with the children being acknowledged as the husband's alone. Madri's twins are fathered by the twin gods, the Ashvins (pictured).[24]

Kunti, the first wife of Pandu, possesses a mantra granted by the sage Durvasa prior to her marriage, which allows her to summon any deity of her choice and bear a child by them. She keeps this boon a closely guarded secret. During his exile, Pandu, hindered in fulfilling his religious duties due to his lack of an heir, discusses the matter with Kunti, urging her to "raise offspring in this time of distress." He cites six types of sons as recognised by religious doctrines, include those born through the practice of niyoga, with an additional six types in a supplementary list. At this juncture, Kunti discloses her boon, though she initially resists using it. Only after Pandu’s fervent pleas does Kunti invoke her boon, resulting in the birth of her three sons—Yudhishthira, Bhima, and Arjuna—each fathered by a different god chosen by Pandu after an interval of one year each.[5] When Pandu requests Kunti to bear more children, Kunti firmly refuses, stating that doing so would diminish her dignity and reduce her to the status of a prostitute.[25]

Madri, in a private moment with Pandu, expresses her fear of remaining barren and confides with him that she feels overshadowed by Kunti, as her position seems secondary to Kunti’s in both Pandu’s affections and household dynamics. She conveys her grief over being childless and requests that Pandu seek Kunti’s assistance to allow her to become a mother. However, Madri is hesitant to approach Kunti directly, referring to her as her 'rival'. Upon Pandu's request, Kunti generously shares the boon with Madri, who invokes the twin-gods, the Ashvins, to beget Nakula and Sahadeva at once.[26] The Kaunteyas (lit. 'sons of Kunti') and Madreyas (lit. 'sons of Madri') are raised together in the hermitage, and they are collectively referred to as the Pandavas.[5]

After some time, Madri, through Pandu, asks Kunti for the assistance to bear more children. However, Kunti firmly refuses the request, expressing her frustration by noting that Madri had "deceived" her by using a single mantra to gain two sons. She voices her regret, fearing that Madri might end up with more children than herself, and admitted she would have also summoned the Ashvins to obtain twins had she known. Concluding her response, Kunti insists that Pandu "not come to [her] again" with requests to give Madri the mantra.[27][25][28]

Death

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A folio from the Razmnama (16th century Persian translation of the Mahabharata) depicting scenes of Pandu's life. At the bottom right, Madri is depicted jumping into his funeral pyre.

During spring—the season linked with erotism in Hindu tradition—in the forest of Shatashringa, Pandu is deeply influenced by the intensity of the atmosphere.[29] One day, while walking alone with Madri in this setting, Pandu sees her in translucent clothes and succumbs to desire. Despite Madri’s repeated protests, Pandu makes love to her, forgetting the curse placed upon him by the sage Kindama, which forbids him from intimate relations on penalty of death. The curse takes immediate effect, and Pandu falls dead in Madri’s arms.[5] Upon Pandu’s death, Madri cries out in sorrow, summoning Kunti but asking her to come alone, leaving the children behind. Kunti, seeing Pandu and Madri together, blames Madri for the incident. Madri explains that despite her resistance, Pandu’s overwhelming desire fulfills the curse's terms. Kunti sorrowfully notes that Madri is "fortunate" to see Pandu's face radiant in intimacy—a moment Kunti herself never experiences.[30][5] Following this, Kunti, as the senior wife, claims the religious duty to accompany Pandu in death, believing it her responsibility to follow him to the afterlife. She asks Madri to relinquish his body and take on the task of raising their children.[29] In the Southern recension of the Mahabharata, Pandu's death occurs on the day of Uttara Phalguni Nakshatra, coinciding with Arjuna's birthday.[4]

Madri, however, resists Kunti’s request, stating that she feels bound to Pandu by an unfulfilled union, as he approaches her in desire at the time of his death. Madri expresses her wish to follow Pandu into the afterlife to fulfill his desire, also fearing she might not be able to raise Kunti’s children with equal dedication and affection.[31][29] She appeals to Kunti to care for her own children, Nakula and Sahadeva, in her absence, trusting in Kunti’s ability to provide for them impartially. During Pandu's funeral, Madri jumps into Pandu's burning pyre, thus performing the act of sati.[32][33][34][31] The Critical Edition of the Mahabharata presents a brief exchange between Kunti and Madri, after which it simply states that "the daughter of the king of the Madras, Pandu’s revered wife, follows the noble one onto his funeral pyre." In contrast, the Southern Recension offers additional details, describing how the sages and the "foremost Brahmanas" attempt to dissuade both Kunti and Madri from their intent to perform sati.[35] The Southern Edition also adds a dialogue between Madri and Yudhishthira, in which she implores Yudhishthira to take care of his younger brothers like a father.[36]

However, this account is contradicted by the very next stanza, which states that her dead body and that of her husband are handed over by sages to the Kaurava elders in Hastinapura for the funeral rites.[37][38]

The Svargarohana Parva (the final book of the Mahabharata) mentions that in the afterlife, Madri resides in the heavenly realm of the god Indra.[5]

Assessment

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Madri is traditionally portrayed as a pativrata, or "devoted wife," who follows her husband's death out of love.[39][4] Assessments emphasize Madri’s celebrated beauty and elevated lineage as a princess of Madra, qualities that are frequently portrayed as surpassing those of her co-wife Kunti.[4][40][28] According to Mahabharata scholar Pradeep Bhattacharya, Madri’s charms and physical appeal allowed her to win Pandu’s favoritism,[41] as seen when he grants her the freedom to choose her divine partner without the restrictions that were earlier imposed on Kunti.[25] Other critics observe that Madri’s beauty, while notable, reduces her character in the epic to that of merely an "beloved wife," overshadowing her individuality and eventually being blamed for Pandu’s death due to sexual exertion.[4][42][28] Simon Brodbeck suggests that Madri’s sexual nature, linked to her choice of the twin Ashvins—"two for of price of one"—and her role in Pandu's death, aligns with stereotypes of Madra women as sexually rampant, a reputation highlighted by the warrior Karna’s fierce denouncement of the Bahlika clan during the Kurukshetra War, targetting the relatives of his foe—Shalya.[7][13]

Madri’s strategic thinking and cleverness are also highlighted—rather than directly asking Kunti, she convinces Pandu by making it about his legacy and also manages to gain two children in a single opportunity, the latter of which Kunti views as "wicked" and "deceitful".[4][43][44] This tension between the two co-wives is a recurring theme in the Mahabharata, portraying a rivalry common in polygamous settings.[4][45][21] While discussing her desire for children with Pandu, Madri affirms that Kunti is her rival and does not shy away from expressing her sensitivity in seeking Kunti's favour.[4] Bhattacharya points out that Kunti similarly expresses resentment over Madri’s ability to outmaneuver her, particularly at the moment of Pandu’s death when she finds Madri in his arms. This is further evident when Kunti, feeling betrayed by Madri's use of her generosity to outdo her in the number of children, refuses to share her mantra again.[46][25][4] According to Baisakhi Ghosh, a Sanskrit scholar and author, their rivalry stemmed from Kunti's belief that Madri was favored by the king due to her beauty, while Madri felt that Kunti, as the chief queen, held a status she herself deserved, fueled by her conviction that she equalled or exceeded Kunti.[21]

Bhattacharya positions Madri within a broader pattern of dependent female characters in the Mahabharata—like Ambika, Ambalika, and Gandhari—who conform to social or marital expectations, contrasting them with powerful kanyas like Kunti, Draupadi, and Satyavati, who shape the epic’s narrative.[33] Mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik further highlights the distinction between the two co-wives, noting that while Kunti’s sons—Yudhishthira, Bhima, and Arjuna—become central figures in the epic, Madri’s twins, Nakula and Sahadeva, play relatively minor roles.[47] Anthropologist Iravati Karve regards Madri as a tragic figure,[48] yet observes that within her brief lifespan, Madri experiences all the pleasures associated with traditional womanhood and achieves liberation from the more burdensome existence borne by Kunti, who faces numerous hardships and intrigues, while assuming the responsibility of nurturing Madri’s children—Nakula and Sahadeva—often with greater devotion than she extends to her own.[49]

Bhattacharya sees Madri’s recognition of Kunti's superiority in resilience, leadership and impartiality before her death as an honest tribute to her own limitations, reflecting her lack of the “firmness of will” needed to rise above rivalry and ego.[30]

Sati

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Madri’s sati (the act of immolation of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre) has been studied by scholars as a way to gain insights into the practice of sati during the ancient epic period. However, her case stands out as an exceptionally rare instance in the Mahabharata, where widows—aside from a few in later added chapters—do not perform sati.[50][29][34][29] Traditionally, it is believed that Madri committed sati by mounting Pandu’s funeral pyre, based on a specific verse (1.117.28) from the Mahabharata. Yet a subsequent verse (1.117.30-31), found in all manuscript traditions, offers an alternative account. In this version, after Pandu’s death, sages bring both Pandu’s and Madri’s bodies to Hastinapura for proper funeral rites, contradicting the claim that Madri perished with Pandu on the pyre. Nilakantha, a prominent 17th-century commentator on the Mahabharata, tried to reconcile these conflicting verses by suggesting that the word "sarīra" (typically meaning "body") in the second verse actually refers to "asthi" (bones or remains). By this interpretation, Madri did indeed immolate herself with Pandu, and the “bodies” brought to Hastinapura were, in fact, their ashes or charred remains, not their intact corpses.[40] This interpretation has been considered the most compelling explanation by many scholars.[37][51] Many cite this as the earliest clear mention of the practice in Indian literature, although they also note that, in this instance, the practice is entirely voluntary—even discouraged by sages—in contrast to the medieval period, when it became widespread and often forced.[29][50]

Few scholars disagree with Nilakantha’s interpretation. While the scene is included in the Critical Edition of the Mahābhārata,[38] V. S. Sukthankar, the General Editor of the Critical Edition, expressed his dissatisfaction with Nilakantha’s interpretation and acknowledged the internal contradictions and the challenge of reconciling the two accounts, drawing on the views of Edward Washburn Hopkins. Building on Sukthankar and Hopkins, scholar M. A. Mehendale contends that the conflicting accounts are due to textual conflation from an interpolation, where an external narrative was inserted into the text without consideration for internal consistency. He rejects Nilakantha’s explanation and, based on internal and external evidence, suggests that the verses regarding Madri’s self-immolation are likely spurious.[37] Devdutt Pattanaik argues that such inconsistencies reflect later cultural and textual interpolations during the medieval period. Pattanaik points to further contradictions in Mahābhārata episodes, such as the account of Krishna’s death, where some of his wives perform sati while others choose asceticism, and other episodes in which widows, like those of the Kauravas or figures from the other epic Ramayana like Tara and Mandodari, do not immolate themselves. These discrepancies suggest that later writers may have modified the scenes to reflect medieval values that promoted widow immolation as a mark of honor and loyalty. Regarding the alternative account, Pattanaik suggests that if Madri’s body was indeed delivered to Hastinapur, it is likely she died immediately alongside Pandu due to the curse placed on him by Kindama, since Pandu's arrows had killed both the sage and his wife.[51]

References

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  1. ^ Brockington 1998, p. 26.
  2. ^ Minor 1982, p. 1-11.
  3. ^ McGrath 2004, p. 9-26.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Telidevara, Dr Lakshmi (19 February 2021). "Madri Of Mahabharata: The Forgotten Mother Of The Twins - Indic Today". Retrieved 15 November 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Mani 1975, p. 564, 565.
  6. ^ Buitenen 1973.
  7. ^ a b c Brodbeck 2017, p. 226.
  8. ^ a b c Dikshitar 1952, p. 651.
  9. ^ Sharma 2007, p. 289, 255.
  10. ^ Monier-Williams 1999, p. 779.
  11. ^ Karve 2006, p. 154.
  12. ^ Mani 1975, p. 460.
  13. ^ a b White 1991, p. 120.
  14. ^ Buitenen 1973, p. 459.
  15. ^ Brodbeck 2007, p. 181, 136.
  16. ^ a b Brodbeck 2017, p. 169.
  17. ^ Walker 2019, p. 202.
  18. ^ Bhattacharya 2013, p. 26.
  19. ^ Karve 2006, p. 48.
  20. ^ Buitenen 1973, p. 241-2.
  21. ^ a b c Ghosh, 2016, p. 25-33
  22. ^ Buitenen 1973, p. 249.
  23. ^ Karve 2006, p. 46.
  24. ^ Brodbeck 2017, p. 63-65.
  25. ^ a b c d Bhattacharya 2013, p. 27.
  26. ^ Buitenen 1973, p. 258.
  27. ^ Buitenen 1973, p. 259.
  28. ^ a b c Bhattacharyya 2012, p. 126.
  29. ^ a b c d e f Kitts 2018, p. 165-166.
  30. ^ a b Bhattacharya 2013, p. 28.
  31. ^ a b Doniger 2014, p. 544-5.
  32. ^ Buitenen 1973, p. 262.
  33. ^ a b Bhattacharya 2013, p. 32.
  34. ^ a b Sagar 1992, p. 291.
  35. ^ Sharma 1988, p. 25-26.
  36. ^ Mani 1975, p. 227.
  37. ^ a b c M. A. Mehendale 2001, p. 200–201.
  38. ^ a b Chakrabarti 2017, p. 35.
  39. ^ Brodbeck 2017, p. 197, 171.
  40. ^ a b Karve 2006, p. 50.
  41. ^ Bhattacharya 1971, p. 25.
  42. ^ Brodbeck 2007, p. 188.
  43. ^ Karve 2006, p. 47.
  44. ^ A. M. Ghatage 1949, p. 423.
  45. ^ Karve 2006, p. 49.
  46. ^ Buitenen 1973, p. 16.
  47. ^ Pattanaik 2010, p. 52.
  48. ^ Karve 2006, p. 14.
  49. ^ Karve 2006, p. 54, 49-50.
  50. ^ a b Hawley 1994, p. 52.
  51. ^ a b Pattanaik, Devdutt. "Maybe Madri did not commit sati in the Mahabharata?". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 18 February 2025.

Bibliography

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