Reading Notes: Nine Ideal Women Part B

I read the stories of Sakuntala and Savitri, both incredible women.

A depiction of Sakuntala in the river.

I found the story of Sakuntala interesting at first because, unlike the others, the story goes on for a few pages without even mentioning her. This is of course because she had not yet been born, but in the other stories the main character appears much sooner. I thought also, how heartbreaking it was that her mother left her as a baby to die, since she could not go back to heaven with a human child.

The story of Sakuntala is much closer to some of the modern fairy tales we have today, and seemed to me to be told in a similar fashion. The way she's described as blushing and being teased when the Maharajah first comes and talks to her, and her interactions with the world seems more familiar than many of the other stories I've read.

I love when these stories talk about the origins of something we still see today, whether or not they are accurate. This story held the origins of paining on a canvas - the Marahajah was missing Sakuntala so much that he invented the art of portraiture.

This is Savitri and her husband when she was trying to fend off death.

The story of Savitri, read online in a previous week of assignments, is what inspired me to buy the book Nine Ideal Indian Women for the free reading portion of the class. Her story of warding off death for the love of her husband was so powerful, and I wanted to learn about the other epic women of Indian mythology.

While I love the story even more now that I've read the version written by Ms. Devee, it is not my favorite. I did find out, however, that her love for her husband is so famed in India that married women still swear and oath and celebrate a day called the Savitri Brata, which they hope will mean that they never have to be widows.

Citation:
Devee, M. S. (2018). Nine Ideal Indian Women. London: Forgotten Books.

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