CHENNAI: Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat the same mistakes, goes the adage. And with a treasure trove of historical epics, we ourselves have more than enough role models to learn from. The Tamil scholar Thiruppur Krishnan recently extolled on the virtues of one of the lesser known, yet indelible characters of the Ramayana — Mandodari, also called as one of the Panchakanyas of the epic, the recital of whose name is believed to dispel sin.
Giving a lecture as part of Ithihaasa Pathirangal, a monthly series by Chennai 2000 Plus and Vivekananda Cultural Centre, Krishnan elucidated the qualities of Ravana’s queen consort. “Mandodari was different from the other Panchakanyas as she had married a Rakshasa, but despite his faults she was a devoted wife and was intent on advising him to follow the path of righteousness,” said Krishnan. “However, she was destined to have her advice fall on deaf ears as Ravana never listened to her.”
Two Panchakanyas had their advice continuously ignored by their husbands — one was Thaarai, the wife of Vali the monkey king, and the other was Mandodari, who saves Sita from being killed by Ravana’s anger, as she advised him that it was a heinous sin to kill a woman. “During the war in Lanka, Mandodari makes a last ditch attempt to persuade Ravana to return Sita, but Ravana went on to battle with Rama and met his match.”
Krishnan also drew comparisons between Mandodari and contemporary women. “The allegory of Ravana not heeding his wife’s advice is similar to the bane of alcoholism that men have today, completely ignoring their wife’s advice. “The past teaches us to listen to our better halves. We must also extol the courage of contemporaries of Mandodari, who took to widowhood courage only,” he said, drawing parallels to freedom fighters Sathyabhama Bai, the wife of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Ramaiammal, the wife of Thiruppur Kumaran.
Ithihaasa Paathirangal will be held on the fourth Sunday of every month at Vivekananda Illam