Eternalizing the Arbitrary: A Revisiting of the Panchakanyas of Hindu Mythology through the Lens of Gender Dialectics

Enough ink has been spilled in arguing over gender, yet gender as an organizing class of social life has its significance in our times. Articulation of gender seems so smooth, and it creeps into our thoughts surreptitiously and acknowledges its presence as natural and granted. Gender classification has established its normative state as we see today, is not a recent development but as old as humans. The ubiquitous nature of gender and its portrayal in mythological characters deserves great attention in the present scenario. The Panchakanyas of Hindu mythology, Ahalya, Kunti, Draupadi, Mandodari, and Tara, the legendary women, need to be overlooked and studied from a gender perspective. This paper enquires into the role of myths in constructing the gender biased social structure and how women are represented in those texts. It also analyzes how these age-old tales still influence women to remain in the world of subjugation and subjective operation even in the modern world. In addition, this paper highlights the fantasy tales of the Panchakanyas as a means for the women to remain pure and to keep their ‘femininity’ in the world of men.