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CONCEPT OF CONJUCALITY IN TIIE MAIIABIIAKATA    37

to enjoy mc as their itiaid-scrvant! I ery shame to the sons ot* Pandu, mighty heroes in the ballle-ficld, these looked on mc, their renowned and virtuous wite bcing humiliated. **⁹⁷ She conlinues the rigmarole and is cloquent about the basie worthlcssness of the P2ndavas, laying the blame lor their adversilies, penury and humiliation at their door. ⁴There should be a timc for forbearance and a timc for protest*, she says.⁹⁸ She could never get ovcr this shoeking expcricnee, whieh, to her utter dismay, failed to evokc a proper conjugal response in her husbands, this woman did suffer the malc chauvinislic attitude of trcaling her as not only wholly subservient to the husbands, but of being treated as an objeet of uiility, possessed body and soul by their husbands who wcrc her lawful owners. What is significant in this cpisode is not this attitude whieh was ubiąuitously presenl all over the world down the ages until only the olher day, but what rivets our attenlion is her voeal protest - a lengthy speech of complaints, reproaehes, jibes and an exprcssion of morał shoek at the inherent injustiee. This is against the teaehings of the seriptures, this is an cxprcssion of woman *s idcntily as a soeial and morał bcing who has an inalienable right to conjugal justiee.

III

The BhSrgava inlerpolation, howevcr, presents a totally different DraupadT. In the Forcst Book, SatyabhamS approaehes DraupadT, apparcntly for a friendly chat, but actually for lessons in the duties of a devolcd lilc. Satyabhamfl had two speeific queslions for DraupadT; one ⁴ do you usc some drugs, spells or eharms for kecping your husbands loyal to you?* Whcn DraupadT categorieally denied taking rceourse to sueh Iow means, then Salya asked her how clsc did she manage to kccp them loyal and satisfied. The harangue that followcd is a elassie in itsclf; it is a praetieal epitome of a eatalogue of modcls of conduct in perfeet agreement with the seriplural dietates that we have followcd so far." DraupadT says, ⁴⁴ Drugs deprivc husbands of spiritual virility; only Iow, sclfish people use them, I never do. Inslcad, I serve them, togelher with their olher wives, to the bcsl of my ability. I ael as the keeper of my husband *s hcart, without pride and seared of their temper and bitter words, their ill-bcing, erucl glanees, bad poslurcs (whilc they sit), their wandering, walking, adversc gestures, etc. -1 wateh earcfully and ael aeeordingly. I nevcr cvcn glanee at others, be they men, supennen, rieh or fair. I eat and slccp after my husbands, never sil down until they arc baek. Then I risc to grecl them, offer them seals, water, sweet words. I savc their harvests earcfully. All day long I work tirclessly, never laugh exccpt at jokes, never east my eyes at the door. I ncver laugh loo much. I desire nothing without my husbands. During their absenee I negleet my dress and oranaments. Guests I scrve dulifully. Eaeh of my husbands has a hundred wcll-drcssed maid-servants. I lakę eare of all of them, and I earefully look after Pandąva treasury. I scrvc my husbands as if they were angry snakes. I nevcr exeeed them