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1.4 The Position of Women in Family and Parenting  
From the earliest era and till now women are playing the usual role of homemaker in the 
patriarchal society. But as homemakers but not earners of a family, their position is always 
underneath of a man. Sharada Sugirtharajah
in her article “Hinduism and Feminism” writes that 
“the hierarchical relationship in a family is related with the age, gender and seniority” (100) this 
means that gender is not the only thing that gives a person a higher position in a family. There 
are several incidents that prove that the senior female member is always treated with respect and 
dignity in The Mahabharata. An example is, in Udyoga Parva
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, Duryadhan went to Gandhari to 
seek blessing for the upcoming war, despite knowing the fact that she did not support the war 
and wanted Duryadhan to give the Pandava‟s their proper share (Book 1: Udyoga Parva 2023-
2026). Also five Pandava brothers wedding Draupadi to be their common wife only because their 
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Udyoga Parva- the book of Effort. It isthe fifth book of the epic, in this book preparations of the war is being taken 
bu the Pandavas and the Kauravas. 

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mother said so, is also another example of senior woman being respected by the family 
members.
But in a family the husband and wife did not have the same amount of respect. A wife 
does not achieve the same amount of dignity and respect as her better half. After the self choice 
ceremony when the Pandava brothers brings Draupadi home, Kunti advised her about the chores
of the house, she told Draupadi to divide the eleemosynary like “first to feed the Brahmins then 
to the guests then to divide the most of the foods in five parts and then to keep the rest for her 
and Draupadi ” (Adi Parva: Swayamvara Parva 382). So it is clear that the ritual of women of the 
house serving and eating the very last was a tradition going on for a long time or it could also be 
said that this incident from The Mahabharata could be a start of this tradition. In both ways 
women are being forced to belief that they are beneath their partners which is why they could not 
eat together. 
Another important point is that Vyasa mentioned was “Kuru princes lay down with 
heads towards the south. And Kunti laid herself down along the line of their heads, and Draupadi 
along that of their feet” (Book 1: Swayamvara Parva 383). This clearly tells to position of a wife 
in a family, beneath the husband, if it was not then Draupadi would have laid down beside them. 
Parenting act as a reason for the Kaurava princes to have gone to the dogs. In the Kaurava 
family, we do not see Dhritarashtra acting as a powerful father figure. The only person who had 
the courage to point out Kauravas wrong doing is their mother Gandhari. This is another 
noteworthy criticism on Vyasa‟s writing that; he showed that sometimes only a strong mother 
figure could not control their sons actions. And if there was an enforcing father figure of 
Dhritarashatra then maybe the Kaurava princes would not have gone haywire. 

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