International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

E-ISSN: 2582-2160   •   Impact Factor: 9.24

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Volume 8 Issue 5
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From Amba to Shikhandi: The Asymmetries of Gendered Justice in the Mahabharata

Author(s) Dr. Roshni
Country India
Abstract This paper examines the interlinked stories of Amba and the transformed Shikhandi as a structural case study in how the Mahabharata distributes access to justice on the axis of gender. Focusing on Amba’s rebirth as Shikhandi as a moment of vindication, the paper argues that, far from being the story of a wronged woman’s recompense, it is the story of a wronged woman’s grievance being allowed to proceed — to the degree it proceeds at all — only by a man’s involvement. Through a close reading of Amba’s appeals, the self-serving construction of Bhishma’s vows, the conditional execution of Shikhandi’s agency, and the ultimate transfer of killing blow to Arjuna, the paper traces this theme to reveal that the Mahabharata’s justice for women is always achieved through but never by a female body. The paper’s comparative reading of Draupadi’s disrobing and its delayed, male-executed redress suggests that this is not an idiosyncrasy of Bhishma’s vow, but a general phenomenon of the epic’s moral economy. The paper concludes by situating this reading alongside existing scholarship on gender and myth and contrasting it with the modern retelling tradition which has sought to rectify precisely this gendered imbalance.
Keywords Mahabharata; Amba; Shikhandi; gendered justice; Bhishma; Draupadi; epic literature; gender and agency; Sanskrit epic studies; feminist literary criticism
Field Sociology > Linguistic / Literature
Published In Volume 6, Issue 5, September-October 2024
Published On 2024-10-23
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E-ISSN 2582-2160
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CrossRef DOI prefix of IJFMR is 10.36948/ijfmr

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