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dharmapatni jyesthamdharmaphalaṁ mama/... māmās mādrinivartaya/anvesyāmiha bhartāram aham pretavasam gatam/1.116.23-24). But Madri dissuades Kunti from her resolve and herself ascends the funeral pyre (ity uktvā tam citāgnistham dharmapatni nararṣabham/madrarājātmajā tūrņam anvārohad yaśasvini 1.116.31). Afterwards the sages along with Kunti and the five Pāņdavas go to Hastinapura and hand them over to Bhisma. They then told Bhisma and others that Madri had committed self-immolation (1.117.28)..
This narration is the one which is usually known. But there is also a second narration available in the Mbh. which is completely contradictory with the one given above. According to this narration Mădri did not commit sati. The entire narration is worth looking into. It is as follows: The sages who arrive at the court of the Kauravas tell that Pandu and Mädri had died. They had brought with them the dead bodies of the two and proper funeral rites may be performed on them (tasyās tasya ca yat kāryam kriyatām tad anantaram / ime tayoḥ śarire dve 1.117.29.30).
Having heard these words of the sages Dhrtarăstra asked Vidura to arrange for a state funeral of Pāņdu and Mädri. We have a somewhat detailed description of this in Adhyaya 118 of the Adiparvan. We are told that Dhstarāşțra asked Vidura to see that Madri's body is fully covered so that it is not exposed to the sun and wind. When the funeral procession reached the banks of the Ganges Pāņqu's body was smeared with perfumes and bathed with oils. After washing it they again applied sandal-wood paste mixed with aloe. They then covered his body with white cloth. Pāņdu then appeared as if he was alive (ācchannah sa tu vāsobhir jivann iva nararṣabhaḥ / susubhe 1.118.20). Pāņdu's body was then smeared with ghrta and both the bodies were placed on the pyre made of candana and other fragrant wood and were cremated together (ghrtāvasiktam rājānam saha mădryā svalankrtam/tungapadmakamiśrena candanena sugandhinā lanyais ca vividhair gandhair analpaiḥ samadāhayan (118.21-22).
When one reads the above description one immediately realizes that according to this narration Pandu's body was not consigned to flames on the Sataśmga mountain where he died but this was done on the banks of Ganges at Hästinapura. One also realizes that Madri did not commit sati.
We miss two important details in this second narration. One, we are not told what led to Mādri's death. Two, we are not told how the two bodies were kept in tolerably good condition till they were brought to Hastināpura. We are left to imagine that Mädri died due to the shock of Pāndu's sudden death when he forcibly tried to embrace her (1.116.10,12) and that the sages knew how to preserve the dead bodies in good condition over a period of time. It is very likely that the story teller considered the two details not worth mentioning since they could be easily understood by his audience. Or, and this seems to me more likely, when the attempt was made to bring together the two
Madhu Vidyā/477
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