How THESE mothers changed the face of EPICS in India!

Pic Courtesy: Thinkstock images (For representational purpose only)

If father is the head of the family, then mothers are the heart of the family. It is your mother who dexterously manages the house and the outside world without a flicker of tiredness. A mother is the epitome of gratitude, love and sacrifice in any society. It's only logical that we celebrate a day in order to make her feel special, however not implying that we forget her sacrifices the rest of the 364 days in a year.

On Mother's Day (May 8, Sunday) this year, let's take a trip down the memory lane and go back to our roots, so as to understand how a motherly figure played a vital role in shaping our epics!

Sita

When we talk about epics, how can Sita be not spoken about. Lord Rama's dutiful wife, Sita was the princess of Mithila. Her sacrifices and enormous amount of struggle while her 14-year long stay outside the palatial life was bereft of any luxury. However, never did we learn that Sita cribbed about leading a life like that due to a promise Lord Rama's father Dashrath, king of Ayodhya had made to his wife.

She even had to give the agnipareeksha to prove her purity. However, it was her abduction by Ravana, that changed the course of Ramayana. How she nurtured her two kids—Luv and Kush all alone is an excellent example of how a woman can independently function and how!

Draupadi

If ever in Mahabharata, there is any woman character who made a lasting impression in our minds, then its Draupadi. All that we usually read or know about her is that she was married to the five Pandava brothers. But we also need to know that not only she suffered humiliation from the hands of Kaurvas during the game of dice, where her modesty was challenged but also she lost her five sons.

She had five sons from each of the Pandavas namely Prativindhya from Yudhishthira, Sutasoma from Bheema, Srutakarma from Arjuna, Satanika from Nakula, and Srutasena from Sahadeva.

She was a mother who was wronged by Ashwathama. The human emotion of revenge and yet being able to pacify it so that another woman does not suffer highlights the motherly trait of Draupadi. The rest as they say is history!

Kunti

The role of Kunti is very crucial in Mahabharata. She was the mother of Karna, and because she had beared him through a boon while she was unmarried—the Surya Putra (son of sun god) Karna was placed in a basket and set afloat on a river.

Karna had this feeling of being the unwanted child and this feeling of anger affected the course of the battle to a large extent.