The difference between Dhritarastra & Pandu

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india2050

@india2050

Voyager

Posted: 12 years ago

#11

Originally posted by: JanakiRaghunath
It's really interesting how this show has highlighted the difference between Pandu and Dhritarastra's characters!

Dhritarastra, despite being monogamous throughout his life, never respected his wife Gandhari and even had an affair with her maid because she was unable to deliver her child on time.

On the other hand, Pandu who was polygamous and had two wives, always respected both of them and treated them like equals.

It gives us an interesting perspective into monogamous and polygamous marriages in those days. Monogamous marriages did not ensure happiness for the wife, as we can see from Gandhari's struggles throughout life. Polygamous marriages also did not ensure happiness, but when the husband was as capable and righteous like Pandu, even competitive wives like Kunti and Madri were kept happy.

Actually the Kings were not truly monogamous/polygamous-Marriages in those days were not for the couple,but mere alliances forging,Also kings were known to have flings with the maids/courtesans etc..esp after winning wars .What i find unusual is Dhrit,,,tries to justify every deed of his wrongly that he has been sidelined and hence whtever i do is right & he gave same sanskar to his son -Main reason of the war!!

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Swathi

@swathi

Voyager

Posted: 12 years ago

#12

I really do blame the situation in which Dhrit was placed. Even though he was blind he was brought up as someone who will become the king and he lived for it. just when he is about to be crowned king Vidur stops it and Pandu is made king. he was already heartbroken and with Shakuni's influence goes down further. I am not trying to justify but saying that Mahabharath is a wonderful story because you can never call it black or white and there are always shades in between. circumstances, people around you matter so much.

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Janaki

@RamKiSeeta

Achiever

+ 6

Posted: 12 years ago

#13

Originally posted by: swathi
I really do blame the situation in which Dhrit was placed. Even though he was blind he was brought up as someone who will become the king and he lived for it. just when he is about to be crowned king Vidur stops it and Pandu is made king. he was already heartbroken and with Shakuni's influence goes down further. I am not trying to justify but saying that Mahabharath is a wonderful story because you can never call it black or white and there are always shades in between. circumstances, people around you matter so much.

See, I think everyone pities Dhritarastra's circumstance, but that doesn't justify his actions. Most people who abuse others have an abusive past themselves. They project their negative experience onto others because it's their way of trying to gain some control over their lives, but that doesn't justify their abuse and they are just as much responsible for it as an abuser who doesn't have an abusive past.

Gandhari has always been a supportive and loving wife to Dhritarastra. He had absolutely no reason to blame her for the misfortune of his life and emotionally abuse her as he's shown doing in the show.

Of course, we don't know how much of this is true. Was Dhritarastra in the epic as abusive as they are showing him in the show? Maybe, maybe not.

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Janaki

@RamKiSeeta

Achiever

+ 6

Posted: 12 years ago

#14

Oh yeah, another thing.

In the epic, Dhritarastra was never raised to be King. From birth itself he knew Pandu was going to be King, so the whole drama of Vidur stopping his Rajyabhishek ceremony is false. Dhritarastra never had a coronation ceremony. Pandu was raised to be the King though he always had respect for Dhritarastra as his elder brother.

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fatssrilanka

@fatssrilanka

Inactive

+ 2

Posted: 12 years ago

#15

Originally posted by: peridot.
What Dhriti did was despicable but being the proxy king and a man he clearly got away with it ! He seems to have faced no opposition from either the elders or his wife who besides being blindfold seems to have been forced to turn mute as well.

Yes,that's true. He did get away with whatever he did. And,not only him,he made Duryodhan the same way he was.Arrogant and adharmi.If he had wanted he could have let Gandhari handle him,but his ego didn't let that happen.

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john909

@john909

Voyager

Posted: 12 years ago

#16

Originally posted by: swathi
I really do blame the situation in which Dhrit was placed. Even though he was blind he was brought up as someone who will become the king and he lived for it. just when he is about to be crowned king Vidur stops it and Pandu is made king. he was already heartbroken and with Shakuni's influence goes down further. I am not trying to justify but saying that Mahabharath is a wonderful story because you can never call it black or white and there are always shades in between. circumstances, people around you matter so much.

ok first of all this show does not follow the original story completely so i am not gonna use originality as an argument here. i will go wid what is shown. how can he be raised making him believe that he will be a king when they all knew he was blind and because of that he could never be one? even if he did have an impression that he will become king and finally didnt, why didnt dhriti try to make himself worthy of the crown. he had enough number of elders to go ask for advice. i get it that there is nothing black and white in this situation but dhriti's fate is his own doing. he is not the first blind person on the planet. moreover he is a kshatriya and if he chose to make his blindness his weakness and not accept it, then whose fault is it? if had dreams to become a king he should have toughen up instead of being such a little girl abt it. if a person wants to become king, they need to have certain qualities like strong mind, humility, compassion, warrior skills and good judgement. circumstances cant be blamed for how me turned out coz he had jealousy towards everyone around him since he was a kid. shakuni simply took advantage of that. people around him did not treat him like a disabled person or abuse him or anything. if dhriti cant suck it up, circumstances cant be blamed.

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daenerysnow

@daenerysnow

Inactive

Posted: 12 years ago

#17

Dhritarashtras spur of moment incredulous act after his outburst with Gandhari begetting a child from another woman for the sake of the race to the throne clearly differntiates his character from Pandu who was in it for the sake of not dying childless. Gandhari beated her stomach, but who can honestly claim to understand what sort of physical pains she had to bear with being pregnant for longer than normal, not that this excuses the horrendous act but it does afford us insight into the one cause that led her to that impulse.
The difference between Pandu and Dhritarashtra stand out like black on white in this show but this is where Dhritarashtr character interests more to Pandu as he exhibits both positive n negative traits to Pandu who is only ever painted in a good light. It seems like the only flaw Pandu had was that he was vain, as he yielded to lust and this saw him to his death. For Dhritarashtra it was ambition and selfish love for his offspring that gradually destroyed not just him but the entire kuru dynasty.

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