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The Mahabharata is the longest epic in the world literature and is one of the greatest works of Indian literature, which incorporated philosophical, religious, and social basic ideas of the traditional Indian society. This work is very interesting from different point of view and it is so huge and informative that it seems that the entire life will be not enough to fully research this epic, not surprisingly that “what is found here, may be found elsewhere. What is not found here will not be found elsewhere” (Mahabharata).

Nonetheless, despite the variety of subjects and themes for analysis, this paper will be basically focused on the women depicted in the Mahabharata. Notably their actions will be analyse3d in the context of their influence on the family unity for to a certain extent they seem to be undermining traditional Indian moral and social norms and family unity. On the other hand, the actions of women are not ‘revolutionary’ for Indian society and may be treated as a transition from old moral and ethical norms to new ones and at the same time they may symbolize the vices of women that in actuality should be avoided that makes the Mahabharata a very important didactic work.

The impact of actions of women in the Mahabharata on family unity and social norms

On reading the epic, a reader cannot fail to feel the power of the female characters depicted and at the same time for a reader having profound knowledge of Indian culture some actions of some women may seem to be shocking and unacceptable in the traditional Indian society. Moreover, to a certain extent some actions of women in the Mahabharata are quite strange and shocking even for a reader who lacks knowledge about Indian society and Indian cultural and social norms because such actions violates universal moral and ethical basics.

In order to better realize it, it is necessary to recall the story of the ancestors of the Pandavas and Kauravas, notably that of Santanu, the king of Hastinapura, and the beautiful Ganga, the river goddess in disguise, whom he marry on the condition that he never questioned her actions. However, her actions are strange enough and Santanu seems to be a really strong and patient person and loving husband for he did not ask his wife about the explanation of her actions for such a long time. The problem was that Ganaga, bearing seven sons, threw each of them into the river. Quite naturally Santanu could not fail to eventually question his wife the reasons of her actions and Ganga had to reveal her divine origin and told that her children had once been celestial beings, and were cursed to become human. This is why she ‘punished’ them by drowning into the river. On explaining everything to her husband, Ganga left him with their last son Devarata.

Obviously this episode is very dramatic and probably one of the most shocking for traditional Indian society, as well as for many other world cultures. At the same time, it should be pointed out that traditionally Indian society respected a lot numerous gods and goddesses and their actions were rarely severely criticized. Nonetheless what Ganga did could not and still can hardly be done by any human being in Indian society without serious consequences. What is meant here is the bunch of actions that are absolutely unacceptable for Indian society. First of all, Ganga killed her own children that was a very serious crime from both moral and legal point of view. Naturally a mother killing her own children cannot contribute to the family unity and traditionally is rejected if not punished by the society in India as well as in other societies throughout the world.

Furthermore, she left her husband and her last son that is also reprimanded in Indian society. In fact, she ruined her family completely, by firstly killing her children and eventually leaving her husband and her last child. The only thing that can somehow justify her actions is the deal made before the marriage when Snatany agreed not to question her. Nonetheless this argument is too weak to make Ganga’s actions less terrible.

Another female character of the Mahabharata, Amba, seems to be also quite tragic. She is a sister of Bhishma who has chosen a suitor despite the fact that her brother fights off all of them. Bhishma allows her to leave but Amba is eventually abandoned by her husband and returns to Bhishma and asks to marry her. In a way this story is similar to the story of Ganga, though this time the woman is abandoned by her husband, but she is abandoned by Bhishma as well because he refuses to marry her. Probably in such a way the social protest against destruction of family is expressed. In fact, the story of Amba didactically indicates that women have to obey to men, otherwise they will be punished and their life will be ruined.

At the same time, it would be a mistake to think that all female characters either ruin or cause the ruin of their families in a way in the Mahabharata. Unlike Ganga and Amba, Gandhari may serve as an example of a woman who is ready to sacrifice herself for the family unity’s sake. In order to be closer to her husband and like her husband, Dhritarashtra who is blind, Gandhari covers her eyes with a blindfold which she will never remove. In such a way she rejoins him in his world of darkness. Such actions of Gandhari seems to be quite strange for their marriage is arranged that implies that probably they did not know and really love one another at the beginning but for the family unity she is ready to make such a sacrifice.

Furthermore, another female character that worth attention in the context of the family unity and social norms is Draupadi, who picks her husband from a number of suitors but in actuality she becomes only a ‘prize’ that is occasionally shared by five brothers for when Arjuna announces about his ‘prize’ his mother, not knowing what the prize is, tells him to share with his brothers. Obviously such a situation may seem to be the consequences of strange circumstances but in actuality it is Draupadi who is really responsible for such a situation, for in the former life, she has prayed to the god Shiva for a husband five times, and thus is ‘rewarded’ for her devotion in this life. Obviously, her life with five brother is absolutely unacceptable to moral principles of Indian society and does not contribute to the family unity since it provokes quarrels and conflicts between brothers. On the other hand, Draupadi is also often humiliated.

For instance she has been humiliated during the dice game and she swears that she will be avenged. Frightened by her curses, Dhritarashtra apologizes to her and gives her husbands’ back everything they lost, but Draupadi asks nothing for herself, saying, “Greed devours all beings and is dharma’s ruin. I refuse greed” (Mahabharta). In such a way, Draupadi seems to be the person who is stronger than the brothers and who can keep moral and social norms that makes this character quite controversial since, on the one hand, by her prays for a husband, she provokes conflicts in the family and social prejudice, on the one hand, she remembers about social and moral norms when her husbands, or at least some of them have forgotten about it.

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If you are seriously considering applying to college or any graduate school, part of the preparation that you cannot ignore, aside from taking the required standardized tests, is the preparation of a well-crafted college admission essay or graduate school admission essay, including MBA essay, as part of your application to college or grad school. This part of the application process is a measurement of your personality, and constitutes an integral part of the admissions process. With the number of applicants wanting to pursue higher education dramatically rising since the early 90’s, many colleges and post-graduate schools have imposed certain safeguards to regulate the entry of admitted applicants to their programs. The goal is to admit only candidates who hold promise and are likely to succeed in their chosen field of endeavor. The college admission essay or graduate school admission essay, including MBA essay, is one such safeguard.

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Writing skills are essential for succeeding in high school, college, and at a job. Writing is not just an end result, but also a process that helps us develop our ideas and think logically. Begin by brainstorming topics, collecting information, taking a lot of notes, and asking a lot of questions. Keep your notes and sources organized as you go.

When developing a topic,one should look for patterns and relationships, try to draw conclusions, try discussing one’s ideas with classmates, teachers and parents. A new os diffrent perspective can help shake up ones thinking.

How to get Started

The first step towards writing a quality research paper is to organize what is to be written. It is always nice to develop an outline to help to stay on track as we write, identifying the main points and what is to be the conclusion. The introduction should give your reader an idea of the essay’s intent, including a basic statement of what the essay will discuss. One should always keep the basic outline of a simple easy first and follow it , further changes can be made as required but the basic layout is followed always. The following are the parts of the basic layout of an essay or a research paper:

-The Introduction

-The Body

-The Conclusion

The introduction should give the reader an idea of the essay’s or papers intent, including a basic statement of what the essay will discuss. The body presents the evidence that supports the writers idea. Here concrete examples should be used and generalities should be avoided as much as possible. The conclusion should summarize and make sense of the evidence presented by the writer in the body (The Keys to Effective Writing, 2005).

These are the steps to be followed before writing any kind of paper or essay. After these basic guidelines are followed ammendments can be made according to the nature of the research paper and according to the different writing styles.

Writing College Research Papers

College courses demand many different kinds of writing that employ a variety of strategies for different audiences. During college, it may be required to write long essays or short answers in response to examination questions or one may be asked to keep a journal, write a lab report, and document the process one uses to perform research. College writing or writing college research papers, also called academic writing, is assigned to teach the critical thinking and writing skills needed to communicate in classes and in the workplace. The quality of one’s writing depends on the quality of the thinking one does about his topic or his assignment.

The whole writing process is divided into three steps namely prewriting, writing, and rewriting or revising phases.

-Prewriting: In the prewriting phase one ponders over the questions like what he has to write about, what are his feelings about the topic to be written, how is the topic to be approached, how to organize the materials and the audience who will be reading the paper.

-Writing: In this phase the plan is implemented by working out the details and fine-tuning thoughts.

-Rewriting: In the phase of rewriting or revising, the material or paper written is reviewed and techniques to for improving it are applied.

During these steps, there are some phases, which also take place before the final draft of the research paper is ready. The first phase would be understanding the assignment or research topic, which has been explained as prewriting earlier. Understanding the assignment or the research topic includes thinking over the fact that what kind of research topic it is and what is the main purpose of the research topic. Then in this context comes the issue of using systematic techniques such as the use of classic strategies, these strategies are ways to develop or organize a research paper, these include definition, division and classification, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, and process analysis.

Another important factor is looking at the topic from a multiple perspective, when a topic is viewed from multiple points of view; relationships which have not occurred before are visible. This approach invites the writer to look at the topic as an entity, as a process or a part of a process, and as a system or part of a system (The Writing Process, 2005).

Doing exploratory research is included here with the prewriting techniques because library research often is a way to generate ideas. As we review the literature on a subject or read in a particular area, we may note ideas that will help us get started with the writing. Analysis, the basis of many other strategies, is the process of breaking something into its parts and putting the parts back together so that one can better understand the whole. When we focus on understanding something better by comparing and contrasting it to something else, we identify and analyze the similarities and differences. Synthesizing information, all the opinions and research in support of the thesis or research paper are incorporated together. The relevant facts, statistics, expert opinion, and whatever can directly be observed with your own opinion and conclusions to persuade the audience that the thesis is correct is integrated. Synthesis is used in supporting the thesis and assembling the paper. In applying the strategy of evaluation after synthesis, first, the criteria to be used to evaluate the subject will be established and then applied to the specific parts of the subject that is being judged, and conclusions would be drawn that whether it meets the criteria.
The final draft is what we hand in as the completed paper. Before turning in the final draft, we should read what we have written all the way through at least once more. a black pen on the final paper. Choppy sentences, poor or nonexistent transitions between paragraphs, grammar and spelling errors, and other characteristics of a first draft should all disappear(The Writing Process, 2005).

Bibliography

The Keys to Effective Writing, 2005. Retrieved on October 5th 2005 from: http://www.collegeboard.com/article/0,3868,2-8-0-122,00.html

The Writing Process, 2005. Retrieved on October 5th 2005 from:
http://www.umuc.edu/prog/ugp/ewp_writingcenter/writinggde/chapter2/chapter2-20.shtml

Evaluating Internet Research Sources. Retrieved on October 5th 2005 from:
http://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm

Alex Martin works as a staff writer for TermPapersCorner,Inc.
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