madhavi

The story of Madhavi is found in the Puranas as also in the Mahabharat. She was the extremely beautiful and devoted daughter of the  Puranic King Yayati, who gave her to the Rishi Galava, so that he may use her to generate wealth enough to buy eight hundred horses, exceptional in that they had to be all white with one black ear each.This was the 'gurudakshina' demanded of him by Vishvamitra, his teacher. There was no one king in all of Aryawarta who alone could pay that price and therefore Madhavi was concubine-d to three kings and the Sage Vishvamitra himself, who all together gave Galava the wealth he required. She bore each one a son and when granted her freedom at last chose the life of a hermit rather than the patriarchal world of the powerful men she knew.

Her story is an extremely accurate comment on patriarchy and what it can do to those the system marginalises. This is a poem i wrote a few years ago about her, but this could be any woman really...

माधवी •
 क्या परिचय  है मेरा …
 राजकन्या,  यायातिपुत्री …?
नहीं , नहीं अब नहीं …
यायातिकुल में जन्मी मैं 
दान दी गयी वस्तु समान,
गुरुदक्षिणा अर्जित कर,
ऋषि ऋण मुक्त हुए, 
पिता महादानी ,महाप्रतापी कहलाये,
और मैं इनकी महत्ता हेतु,
भोगी गयी,
क्या परिचय  है मेरा ? 
अद्रित्य सुंदरी , दिव्य रूपवान आर्यकन्या ?
 नहीं नहीं और नहीं …
देह के रूप कारण विक्रय योग्य वास्तु हुई, 
 मूल्य  हुआ आठ सौ श्वेत अश्व ,एक कर्ण कृष्णा,
 चार पुरुष, चार पुत्र,
 हयार्शावा , दिवोदासा , उशिनारा , विश्वामित्र,
 और आठ  सौ धवल अश्व, एक कर्ण कृष्णा 
 क्या परिचय है मेरा …
 राजकन्या ,राजरानी ,जननी?
 नहीं नहीं  अब नहीं …
मैं  माधवी , मुक्त स्त्री , निष्कलंकित,
स्वतंत्र , स्वावलम्भी  , विरक्त  ,
 व्यक्ति ….

~ विन्नी 
२०१२