5 Sati Women In Hindu Mythology
AhlyaAccording to our scriptures and Puranas, there are 5 Sati women in the Hindu Mythology.The Four women of five are always present in the every scripture while there is some what dilemma about the fifth.
The Sanskrit Shlok answer our question :
“ahalyā draupadī sītā tārā mandodarī tathā । pañcakanyāḥ smarennityaṃ mahāpātakanāśinīḥ ॥”
English translation of the Sanskrit Shlok:
“Ahalya, Draupadi, Sita, Tara and Mandodari. One should forever remember the panchakanya who are the destroyers of great sins.”
“Ahalya, Draupadi, Sita, Tara and Mandodari. One should forever remember the panchakanya who are the destroyers of great sins.”
A variant replaces Sita with Kunti.
1.Ahalya
Ahalya, also known as Ahilya, is wife of sage Gautama Maharishi. Ahalya is often regarded as the leader of the panchkanya due to the “nobility of her character, her extraordinary beauty and the fact of her being chronologically the first kanya”.Ahalya is often described to be created by the god Brahma as the most beautiful woman in the entire universe
2.Tara
Tara is Queen of Kishkindha and wife of monkey(vanara) King Vali. After being widowed, she becomes Queen of Sugriva, Vali’s brother. Tara is described as daughter of monkey physician Sushena in theRamayana and in later sources as an apsara(celestial nymph) who rises from the Samudra manthan.[1][9] She marries Vali and bears him a son named Angada.
3.Mandodari
Mandodari is queen consort of Ravana, the Rakshasa(demon) king of Lanka. The Hindu epics describe her as beautiful, pious and righteous. Mandodari is daughter of Mayasura, the King of Asuras(demons) and apsara(celestial nymph) Hema. Some tales narrate how an apsara called Madhura was cursed to become a frog and imprisoned in a well for 12 years, after which regains her beauty or a frog, blessed to a beautiful maiden;in both cases, she is adopted by Mayasura as his daughter Mandodari. Ravana comes to the house of Mayasura and falls in love with Mandodari and then marries her. Mandodari bears him three sons: Meghanada(Indrajit), Atikaya and Akshayakumara.
4.Sita
Sita is the heroine of Ramayana and the consort of the Hindu god Rama (avatar of Vishnu) and is an avatar of Lakshmi, goddess of wealth and wife of Vishnu. She is esteemed as a standard-setter for wifely and womanly virtues for all Hindu women.Sita is adopted daughter of Janaka, king of Videha, found while he was furrowing the earth.The prince of Ayodhya, Rama wins Sita in her svayamvara. Later, when Rama is sentenced to a fourteen-year exile, Sita joins Rama and his brother Lakshmana in exile, despite Rama’s wish for her to remain in Ayodhya.While in exile in Dandaka forest, she falls prey to Ravana’s scheme and sends Rama away in quest of a golden deer, while she is kidnapped by Ravana. Sita is imprisoned in the Ashoka Vatika grove of Lanka, until she is rescued by Rama, who slays Ravana in war
5.Draupadi
Draupadi is the heroine of Mahabharata. She is common wife of the five Pandava brothers and queen of Hastinapur, in their reign. Born from a fire-sacrifice of king of Panchala - Drupada, Draupadi was prophesied to lead to the end of Drona and Kauravas.Though the middle Pandava Arjuna - disguised as a brahmin - wins her in her swayamvara, Draupadi is compelled to marry all the five brothers on command of her mother-in-law Kunti. Pandavas agree to the plan that Draupadi will always be the chief consort of all brothers and always the empress.
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