Mandodari

Mandodari (Vorlage:Lang-sa Mandodarī, lit. "soft-bellied"; Tamil: Montotari; Khmer: Mandogiri; Malay: Mandudaki; Thai: Mantho Dewi) is the Queen Consort of Ravana, the demon king of Lanka, according to the Hindu epic Ramayana. The Ramayana describes Mandodari as beautiful, pious and righteous. She is extolled as one of the panchakanya ("five virgins"), the recital of whose names is believed to dispel sin.

Mandodari was the daughter of the King of Asuras (demons), Mayasura and the apsara Hema. Mandodari bore Ravana three sons: Meghanada (Indrajit), Atikaya and Akshayakumara. According to some Ramayana adaptations, Mandodari was also the mother of Sita, the wife of Rama who was infamously kidnapped by Ravana. Despite her husband's faults, Mandodari loved Ravana and advised him to follow the path of righteousness. Mandodari repeatedly advised Ravana to return Sita to Rama, but her sagacious advice fell on deaf ears. Her love and loyalty to Ravana are also praised in the Ramayana.

Different versions of the Ramayana record her ill-treatment at the hands of Rama's monkey generals to disturb a sacrifice by Ravana or to destroy her chastity, which protected Ravana's life. An incident also records how Hanuman tricked her to disclose the location of a magical arrow, which would be used by Rama to kill Ravana. After Ravana's death, Vibhishana - Ravana's younger brother who had joined forces with Rama and was responsible for Ravana's death - marries Mandodari on the advice of Rama.

Birth

The Uttara Ramayana narrates a story about the birth of Mandodari. Mayasura (Maya), the son of sage Kashayapa was married to the apsara (heavenly nymph) Hema. They had two sons Mayavi and Dundubhi, but grieved for a daughter, so they started performing penance to seek the favour of god Shiva.

Meanwhile, an apsara named Madhura arrived at Mount Kailash – the abode of Shiva, to pay her respects to him. In absence of his wife Parvati, Madhura had “clandestine” coitus with Shiva. When Parvati returned, she found traces of ashes from Shiva’s body on the breasts of Madhura. Agitated, Parvati cursed Madhura to live in a well as a frog for twelve years. Shiva consoled Madhura and blessed her that she would become a beautiful woman after twelve years and be married to a great valorous man. After twelve years, Madhura became a beautiful maiden again and cried out loudly from the well. Mayasura and Hema who were performing penance nearby answered her call and adopted her as their daughter. They brought her up as Mandodari.

Marriage and later life

Mandodari married the demon-king of Lanka, Ravana.

Once, Ravana came to the house of Maya and fell in love with Mandodari. Mandodari and Ravana were soon married with Vedic rites. Mandodari bore Ravana three sons: Meghanada, Atikaya and Akshayakumara.

Despite Ravana's faults, Mandodari loved him and was proud of his strength. She was aware of Ravana's weakness towards women. A righteous woman, Mandodari tries to lead Ravana to righteousness, but Ravana always ignores the discerning advice of his wife. She advises him to not to subdue the Navagraha, the nine celestial beings that govern one's destiny and not to seduce Vedavati, who would be re-born as Sita and cause the destruction of Ravana.

Ravana kidnaps Sita, the wife of the exiled prince of Ayodhya, Rama - an incarnation of god Vishnu. Mandodari advises Ravana to return Sita to Rama, but to no avail. Mandodari knows it will this lust that would bring the downfall of Ravana.

Mandodari is described as a beautiful woman in Valmiki’s Ramayana. When Hanuman - the monkey messenger of Rama - comes to Lanka in search of Sita, he is stupefied by Mandodari’s beauty when he enters Ravana’s bed chambers and mistakes Mandodari as Sita. When Hanuman finally tracks Sita, he finds Ravana threatening to kill Sita unless she marries him. Ravana raises his sword to behead Sita when she refused, Mandodari saves Sita by holding Ravana's hand. Mandodari says that murder of a woman is a heinous sin and thus Ravana should not kill Sita. She requests Ravana to entertain himself with his other wives and leave the thought of having Sita as his wife. Ravana spares Sita's life, but does not forgo his wish to marry Sita. Though Mandodari considers Sita inferior to her in beauty and ancestry, Mandodari acknowledges Sita's devotion to Rama and compares her to goddesses like Sachi and Rohini.

When all attempts for a peaceful return of Sita fail, Rama declares war on Ravana's Lanka. Before the final battle against Rama, Mandodari makes a last attempt to dissuade Ravana, but to no avail. Finally, Mandodari stands by her husband in the final battle like an obedient and faithful wife, though she also advises her son Meghanada alias Indrajit ("One who had conquered Indra - the god-king of heaven") to not to fight Rama.

The Valmiki Ramayana narrates: finally when all of Ravana's sons and warriors die, Ravana organizes a yajna ("fire sacrifice") to assure his victory. Rama sends a troop of monkeys headed by Hanuman and the monkey prince Angada to destroy this yajna. The monkeys create havoc in Ravana's palace, but Ravana continues the yajna. Finally, Angada drags Mandodari by her hair in front of Ravana. Mandodari pleads to her husband to save her and reminds him what Rama is doing for his wife. The enraged Ravana abandons the yajna and strikes Angada with his sword. With the yajna disturbed, Angada's purpose is served and he leaves Mandodari and escapes. Mandodari again implores Ravana to surrender Sita to Rama, but he refuses. Other Ramayana adaptations present more gruesome description of the incident. The Krittivasi Ramayan narrates that the monkeys dragged Mandodari and tore off her clothes. In Bicitra Ramayana, it is Hanuman who humiliates Mandodari. The Thai adaptation Ramakien narrates of a symbolic rape of Mandodari. Hanuman sleeps with her in the form of Ravana and destroys her chastity, which protected Ravana's life.

Finally, Ravana fights the final duel with Rama. Rama initially fails to kill Ravana with his ordinary arrows, but finally kills with a magical arrow. While Valmiki's Ramayana narrates that the magical arrow was given to Rama by Indra, in other versions often the magical arrow is hidden in Mandodari's bed chambers or under her bed. While Mandodari is engrossed in worshipping goddess Parvati for Ravana's well-being during the time, Hanuman disguised as a Brahmin comes to the place and after winning her confidence, tricks her into revealing the secret location of the arrow. Hanuman then seizes this arrow and gives it to Rama, leading to Ravana's end. Then, Mandodari appears at the death scene of Ravana - in a disarrayed state and laments his death. In this battle, Mandodari loses her husband, her sons and her kinsmen.

After the death of Ravana, Rama advises Vibhishana to take Mandodari as his wife, even though he already had a wife. A theory suggests that Ravana's race may have had matrilineal families and thus, to restore order in the kingdom after Ravana's death, it was necessary for Vibhishana to marry the reigning queen to get the right to rule. Another theory suggests it may be a non-Aryan custom to marry the reigning queen. The marriage between Mandodari and Vibhishana is purely an "act of statesmanship", rather than a marriage based on their "mutual sexual interference". Mandodari may have agreed to marry Vibhishana, her younger brother-in-law as this would lead the kingdom to prosperity and stability as allies of Rama's Ayodhya and she would continue to have say in governance. Another reason of the marriage could that an alternative to such a marriage could be suicide for Mandodari, which was averted by Rama.

Mother of Sita?

Ravana abducts Rama's wife, Sita. According to some Ramayana adaptations, Ravana was abducting his own daughter, from a union with Mandodari.

Though Valmiki's Ramayana does not record Mandodari as being the mother of Sita, some later adaptations of the Ramayana depict Mandodari as the mother of Sita or at least the cause of the latter's birth.

The Adbhuta Ramayana narrates: Ravana used to store the blood of sages he killed in a large pot. Once sage Gritsamada was practicing penance to acquire goddess Lakshmi as his daughter and stored milk from Darbha grass, purified with mantras in a pot so that Lakshmi would inhabit it. Ravana poured the milk from this pot into his blood pot. Mandodari was frustrated seeing the evil deeds of Ravana, so she decides to commit suicide by drinking contents of the blood-pot, which is described to be more poisonous than poison, but instead of dying, Mandodari gets pregnant with the incarnation of Lakshmi due to the power of Gritsamada's milk. Mandodari buries the foetus in Kurukshetra, where it is discovered by Janaka, who named her Sita.

The Devi Bhagavata Purana says: when Ravana wanted to marry Mandodari, Maya warned him that her horoscope indicated her first-born would destroy her clan and should be killed. Ignoring Maya’s advice, Ravana buried his first child by Mandodari in a casket in Janaka’s city, where it was discovered and grew up as Sita. Jain adaptations of the Ramayana like Vasudevahindi, Uttara-purana et al. also state that Sita was the daughter of Ravana and Mandodari, and was abandoned as she was prophesied to be the cause of the end of Ravana and his family.

In the Malay adaptation Seri Rama and Javanese Rama Keling, Ravana wants to poccess Mandodari, the mother of Rama, but instead marries a pseudo-Mandodari, who looks like the real one. Rama's father has a union with this pseudo-Mandodari, resulting in the birth of Sita, who is nominally Ravana's daughter.

According to the Ananda Ramayana, king Padmaksha got Padma - an incarnate of goddess Lakshmi as his daughter. When her marriage was organized, Rakshasas (demons) killed the king. The grief-stricken Padma jumped into fire. Ravana discovered her body - which had turned into five jewels - in the fire and took it to Lanka sealed in a box. One day, Mandodari opened the box and fought Padma inside it and advised Ravana to cast off the box containing the ill-fated Padma, who led to the doom of her father. When the lid of the box was closed, Padma cursed Ravana that she will return to Lanka and cause his doom. Ravana buried the box in the city of Janaka, who discovered Padma and brought her up as Sita.

Assessment

Ahalya Draupadi Kunti Tara Mandodari tatha
panchakanya smare nityam mahapataka nashanam

Remembering ever the virgins five -Ahalya, Draupadi, Kunti, Tara and Mandodari
Destroys the greatest of sins.

Orthodox Hindus remember the panchakanya - the five virgins or maidens in this daily prayer, though none of them is considered an ideal woman, who could be emulated. Mandodari with Ahalya and Tara belong to the Ramayana, while the rest are from the Mahabharata. Among the five elements, Mandodari is equated to water - "turbulent on the surface and deep in her spiritual quest". The writer Dhanalakshmi Ayyer says:

Her story is a reminder that the universal denigration of a group, based on the behaviour of a few, cannot cloud the greatness of the individual. Mandodari defies the stereotype of this racism. She is simple, unswerving and self-effacing, driven by the light of knowledge which gives meaning to solid materialism in an age that is shrouded by impulse, passion and desire. She is the instrument that awakens the mind and counsels reason when irrationality becomes the core being. That she goes unheard and unheeded does not change her path... To her, the dharmic part is inward-looking, while the role of the dutiful wife is the external self. Mandodari thought that her duty to her husband on issues of morals and values ended with her telling him what she thought of his actions. She neither put up any brave fight to stop him nor considered it her duty to do so.

Mandodari's role is short in the Ramayana. She is described as a pious and righteous royal lady. Compared to the rest of the panchakanya, Mukherjee considers Mandodari's life as "less colourful and eventful". He adds: "Mandodari seldom got prominence ... Her image lacks substance and fades quickly", though he stresses on her love and loyalty against her husband. Pradip Bhattacharya, author of the book Panchkanya: Women of Substance notes that: "There is hardly anything special that Valmiki (Ramayana) has written about her (Mandodari) except that she warns her husband to return Sita and has enough influence to prevent his raping her."

References

Notes

Books

• Philip Lutgendorf: Hanuman's tale: the messages of a divine monkey. Oxford University Press, US 2007. 
• Mani, Vettam: Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary With Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature. Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi 1975, ISBN 0-8426-0822-2. 
• Prabhati Mukherjee: Hindu Women: Normative Models. Orient Blackswan, Calcutta 1999, ISBN 81 250 1699 6(?!). 
• S. S. Shashi: Encyclopaedia Indica: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh (= Encyclopaedia Indica. Band 21-35). Anmol Publications PVT. LTD, 1998. 
• James Talboys Wheeler: The History of India from the Earliest Ages: The Rámáyana and the Brahmanic period. Band II. N. Trübner, London 1869 (google.co.in).