गान्धारी त्व् अपि शुश्राव धृतराष्ट्रम् अचक्षुषम् ॥
आत्मानं दित्सितं चास्मै पित्रा मात्रा च भारत ॥
ततः सा पट्टम् आदाय कृत्वा बहुगुणं शुभा ॥
बबन्ध नेत्रे स्वे राजन् पतिव्रतपरायणा ॥
नात्यश्नीयां पतिम् अहम् इत्य् एवं कृतनिश्चया ॥
gāndhārī tv api śuśrāva dhṛtarāṣṭram acakṣuṣam ||
ātmānaṃ ditsitaṃ cāsmai pitrā mātrā ca bhārata ||
tataḥ sā paṭṭam ādāya kṛtvā bahuguṇaṃ śubhā ||
babandha netre sve rājan pativrataparāyaṇā ||
nātyaśnīyāṃ patim aham ity evaṃ kṛtaniścayā ||
"Gandhari, for her part, heard that Dhritarashtra was blind and that she herself had been given to him by her father and mother, O Bharata. Then she, the auspicious one, having taken a cloth and folded it many times over, bound her own eyes, O king, being wholly devoted to her husband, having firmly resolved: 'May I never surpass my husband in anything.'"
73335b4b0b13 · publicado 12 jul 2026, 16:30:26 UTC
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Here is Gandhari's famous vow: learning that her husband is blind, she herself binds her eyes forever. The thought that moved her is telling: "may I never surpass my husband" — she does not wish to possess that (sight) of which her husband is deprived, so as to share his lot completely. Here is the highest image of devotion to one's husband (pativratā): a love that does not raise itself above the beloved even in a natural advantage, but willingly descends to his level in order to be fully with him. This renunciation is a kind of austerity, and it won Gandhari great renown as a woman of righteousness. At the same time, the tradition sees here a subtle lesson as well: virtue deprived of clear-eyed judgment is not always a good for one's offspring — a mother who has closed her eyes cannot guide her sons, and the hundred Kauravas will grow up without maternal oversight, which will echo in their wilfulness. Thus, within the very feat of devotion, the shadow of what is to come already lies hidden: fidelity to a blind husband turns into blindness also toward the sons' vices. It is telling how complex the image of Gandhari is in the scripture — both saintly and tragic.