The Book
STRI is a study of bronze-age femininity as portrayed in the Mahabharata. It focuses on the roles of wife, daughter-in-law, and mother, and also on the kinship groups. McGrath examines marriage systems and patterns of courtship as well as showing how different stages in a woman's life are depicted by this epic. He carefully demonstrates that the voice of women during pre-classical times was crucial for sustaining and maintaining dharma in society and he shows how the matriline dominated cultural life in the court at Hastinapura. The Sanskrit translations of these women’s voices are both impeccable and beautiful.
Feminists, historians, and scholars of Indian antiquity will find great truth in this work, a truth that is profoundly relevant for twenty-first-century India.
The Author(s)
Kevin McGrath is an Associate of the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies at Harvard University. His previous publications include The Sanskrit Hero.
Experts Say
‘The author’s insights demand the attention of those interested in the issues of gender, including Sankritists and scholars investigating early Indian history.’
- Kumkum Roy, Centre for Historical Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
‘[L]iterary representations of women as expositors and critics of kṣatriya dharma have a special relevance to modern Indian feminist thought which continues to engage with Epic characters like Draupadi and Kunti.’
-Shonaleeka Kaul, Department of History, University of Delhi