Q3 of 9 Page 80

Compare and contrast the dharma or norms mentioned in the stories of Drona, Hidimba and Matanga.

1. DRONA- a. In the story of Eklavya, drone being a Brahmana, his dharma was to teach archery to Kshatriyas not to Nishada or any one from any other Varna.

b. According to the Brahmanical text norms Drona tough Archery only to the Pandavas who were the kshatriyas and refused to teach Eklavya – a Nishada.


c. Thus, Drona exercised his Dharma successfully.


2. HIDIMBA – a. In the case of Hidimba , she failed to practise dharma and broke the laws of marriage.


b. as per the marriage rules, laid down in Manusmriti, the bride’s father was supposed to choose the bridegroom and give consent to marriage.


c. contrastingly Hidimba herself proposed to Bhima to marry her and also tried to convince kunti Bhima’s mother to give consent to their marriage.


3. MATANGA- a.In the story of Matanga also the norms of Dharma were not followed.


b. Matanga was a chandala who dared to break the laws of the varna system as well as the rules of marriage.


c. not only did he read religious books, despite belonging to lower varna, but also married a girl of higher caste (vaishya community). According to the rules of marriage mentioned in Brahmanical texts, intercatse marriage was strictly prohibited.


More from this chapter

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1

Explain why patriliny may have been particularly important among elite families.

 2

Discuss whether kings in early states were invariably Kshatriyas.

 4

In what ways was the Buddhist theory of a social contract different from the Brahmanical view of society derived from the Purusha sukta?

 5

The following is an excerpt from the Mahabharata, in which Yudhisthira, the eldest Pandava, speaks to Sanjaya, a messenger:

Sanjaya, convey my respectful greetings to all the Brahmanas and the chief priest of the house of Dhritarashtra. I bow respectfully to teacher Drona … I hold the feet of our preceptor Kripa … (and) the chief of the Kurus, the great Bhishma. I bow respectfully to the old king (Dhritarashtra). I greet and ask after the health of his son Duryodhana and his younger brother ... Also greet all the young Kuru warriors who are our brothers, sons and grandsons … Greet above all him, who is to us like father and mother, the wise Vidura (born of a slave woman) ... I bow to the elderly ladies who are known as our mothers. To those who are our wives you say this, “I hope they are well-protected”… Our daughters-in-law born of good families and mothers of children greet on my behalf. Embrace for me those who are our daughters … The beautiful, fragrant, well-dressed courtesans of ours you should also greet. Greet the slave women and their children; greet the aged, the maimed (and) the helpless …


Try and identify the criteria used to make this list – in terms of age, gender, kinship ties. Are there any other criteria? For each category, explain why they are placed in a particular position in the list.