ABSTRACT

The values communicated so clearly by Rama in his reunion speech to Sita, in Arjuna's tragic failure in the Mausalaparvan, and elsewhere in the epic world, drive the abducted male scenarios as well, only in a reversed and consequently triumphalist direction. The first of the two scenes occurs at adhyaya 99 of the critical text Harivamsa, and follows a portion of the poem in which Krishna's coastal city of Dvaraka is described in detail and his principal offspring identified. In the world of the Sanskrit epics, protecting women is the very measure of a man's power, and it is men's power and virility that the epics are concerned with far more than the physical and emotional well-being of women. Pradyumna and Aniruddha, initially the victims of abductions, themselves become the conquerors of enemy women while in captivity. For Aniruddha as well, identity forms a crucial part of the abduction scenario.