Kunti, Ahilya, Tara(wife of guru Brihaspati), Draupadi, Mandodari together known as the Panchkanyas of Aryavrat.
These women aren't an exemplary lot of idealism like the PanchaSati ( Sita, Arundhati, Tara(wife of Vanar king Vali), Savitri, Damayanti) who are known for their unparalleled display of devotion and faithfulness towards their husbands , rather the Panchkanyas in the Hindu mythology are an example of controversial actions of those women in those times that led the society to question their integrity .
These women called the Panchkanyas have at some point in their lives have come across alleged extramarital relations either due to the circumstances or by their choice . Needless to say that these choices are said to be fruits of mutual consent (husband not a party to this).
Ahilya : the beautiful wife of Sage Gautam who was carved into existence by divine architect Vishwakarma upon the request of Brahma . Being married to the great sage Gautama, Ahilya had at some point been seduced by Indra the king of Devas and according to some scriptures by Lord Surya too. But the fact that is surprising is that Ahilya was not deceived into the act. It is known that Indra in his attempts to seduce Ahilya had taken the form of Sage Gautama but as his made his advances , the sage's wife could see through the illusion of the King of Devas & despite that, she still actively engaged in a sexual union with the God. According to some versions of Ramayana, this was how Vanara king Vali was born ( his vanara origin is a story for another time). Sage Gautama however due to his divine austerities came to know of this illegitimate affair and cursed both Indra and Ahilya . Indra was cursed to have a 100 vulvas all over his body. Later this curse was modified and after pleasing Lord Shiva , The vulvas were transformed into eyes . Ahilya however was cursed to be a rock until a man of supreme knowledge of Maryada (maryadapurusottam ) placed his feet on the rock. After an eternity, Lord Ram came her way and liberated Ahilya.
Kunti: The daughter of King Kuntibhoj , the Wife of Pandu and the mother of the famous five , Pandavas . People may question that why such a revered lady of that time has found a place in this list of some of the most controversial women in history. Here is why . Kunti as we all know had been blessed by Sage Durvasa to beget children from any God she desired. The blessing was in the form of a mantra , which when recited keeping the idea of the the God intended , had the power to summon the God in question and have him grant a child to the woman reciting the mantra. Kunti , a young virgin back then had second thoughts about the mantra's efficacy and hence carelessly, unaware of the consequences decided to try it out. She summoned Lord Surya in that attempt and compelled by the order of the Sage's Mantra , Lord Surya had to grant a Child to the Young and unmarried Kunti. That's the Origin of Karna, The elder brother of the Pandavas. Kunti terrified of the consequences and scared of the possible defamation decided to dump the infant in the nearby river in a basket. What's controversial about this is not just the immaturity of Kunti (it's hard to believe that someone who pleased Sage Durvasa by her actions and wit would be immature ) but the choice that the cost of defamation was much more than an infants life. This act of carelessness in her youth led to a difficult life for Karna. And mother can never be wrong say the people to this day... People would expect that maybe after this she might be a little bit more cautious towards her actions , right ? Kunti once again surprised us all and her Pandavas when in an unmindful conversation she declared Draupadi as wife to all the Pandava brothers. This time, more lives were complicated. Draupadi had to live with her husbands in a scheduled calender .
Draupadi : the wife of the Pandavas and the daughter-in-law of the another member of the Panchkanya, Kunti . Although she was always a victim of the circumstances, this lady always stood her own ground and her deeds are exemplary to this day. The strong willed woman who ensured the doom of her offenders. But even she isn't immune to the controversial judgement of the society. Although claims are weak , but a few versions of Mahabharata call her a harsh tongued woman who missed no chance to mock the Kaurava bandwagon. Her words of mockery were always the most stinging to Duryodhana and Karna. What this led to would forever be regarded as a day of darkness in the history of Sanatana dharma. Such was the purity of this woman's devotion that the Lord himself appeared for her rescue. In some other stories, folk tales , it is suggested that Draupadi also had an eye for Karna too. A story regarding tree of truth speaks of this idea where all the Pandavas had to reveal one truth in order for the tree to be alive again. And apparently Draupadi revealed that she wished she had Karna as her husband too . Strange to believe though.
Tara : the wife of Brihaspati ... Not to be confused with Tara the wife of Varana king Vali from Ramayana. No . Tara from Ramayana is not a part of this group. Brihaspati's wife Tara however is a prominent member of this group. And her inclusion in this group is due to her association with the Moon god , Lord Chandra. Chaand-Tara makes a lot of sense now right ? Tara , here although married to Brihaspati was attracted to the extremely handsome Chandra. And after their relationship became very intense, Tara eloped with chandra. When brihaspati became aware of this , he complained to Indra . It was important that Guru to the Devas, remained married because in the Vedic rutuals it's it compulsory for the Yagna karta to be married to perform all the austerities and puja . Seeing the importance when Indra commanded Chandra to return her peacefully or prepare for war , Tara returned to Brihaspati albeit reluctantly. But during her time with Chandra , she had got pregnant. Brihaspati questioned the paternity of the child to which Tara remained silent to avoid losing more face. Upon Brihaspati's request , Brahma ordered Tara to reveal the origin of the foetus , but Tara still maintained her mime. But then terrified of the consequences of defying Brahma's order , the innocent foetus itself revealed its own identity as the child of Chandra . Disturbed by the fact and humiliated by Tara's infidelity Brihaspati cursed the child to have no gender . And the that's how the Eunuch god Budh graha came into existence. This child without gender would be become one of the nava graha and would later be the progenitor of the revered Chandravansha, the Lunar Dynasty. Tara's name thus was forever tarnished and associated with Chandra for their immoral affair.
Mandodari : the wife of Ravana. The topic of her controversy is in her very name. 'Mandodari' is derived from Sanskrit words 'Manda' meaning bad/impure and 'udar' meaning belly. The name signifies her premarital pregnancy. Mandodari the wife of Ravana was pregnant before marriage. The child was Ravana's though. Ravana a great scholar of his time and an expert in multiple arts had been to the Architect of Rakshasas , Mayasura, the father of Mandodari to seek his tutelage. Princess Mandodari, quite skillful the art herself took a liking to Ravana's prowess and Ravana seemed to approve. Both grew closer to eachother and eventually Ravana proposed a matrimony and asked for her hand in marriage to Mayasura but by then , Mandodari was already pregnant with his child. That child was Meghanaad Indrajeet . In some other versions , Mandodari is linked with Lord Shiva and Parvati. According to those versions , once Shiva and Parvati wanted to play "paasa" a dice game. And surprisingly Shiva lost every time. Parvati was fairly amused by his reaction . This led to an argument between thd couple and Parvati left the place, one of Parvati's hand-maidens called Manduka had been watching the entire game from a distance . Seeing Shiva's discontent and taking advantage of Parvati's absence , she decided to go play a game with Shiva under the guise of Parvati . As the game proceeded, Shiva started winning and Mandauka in Parvati's guise started losing . Quite happy at the situation Shiva forgetting the quarrel they had earlier proceeded to embrace the fake Parvati. Just then the real goddess entered and witnessed them in a compromising position. Infuriated at Maduka's actions , Parvati cursed her to be a Frog forever . Just like her name. Terrified, Manduka came back to her senses and her original form and pleaded to Shiva to have mercy. Shiva being the merciful God he is , modified the curse and said the curse will take effect but will be lifted after Manduka is adopted by a Rishi and blessed to attain her actual form. And so it happened that Manduka the frog was taken in by a sage and the sage amused by the frog blessed it to assume a human form and thus Manduka became Mandodari. And later married Ravana.
All the women in this rather intriguing group have mind-boggling backstories . But what they each have in common is that , all of them decided to go against the norms of the society and boldly defied the norms back then. A few were ethical, while most were not. But that already got them their due share of judgement . Their names forever written as as examples . To some they are examples of vile deeds ,making their integrity questionable . To others they are examples of strong willed women who did as they pleased without paying attention to what thd society had to say. They weren't seeking the society's approval. But they got it either way. Kanya does mean something else other than young virgin after all. Yes, Kanya can also mean desirable. And they were every bit of it
Well examples will be examples, it's upto us to interpret , learn , question or ignore . Right ? The life choices they made,may have made them a topic a discussion for centuries. The fame they procured is no less than that that of the Saptarshi , the great seven sages of time. Although it immortalized them forever in our books but they paid for it dearly didn't they ?
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