Many many moons ago, there lived a Maryada Purushottam.. On most accounts, he was supposed to be a fine human being - to the point of being almost revered as an avatar of a celestial being. As the name suggests, he was a just and noble ruler. There are very few reports and evidences of his justice and nobility, but my grandmother said he was and I don't think my Dajji had any reason to lie.
Anyway, our dear MP (it's a pain to type Maryada Purushottam every time, boss) was all fine and dandy, except for a tiny flaw. It's debatable if it was a character flaw or it was more being in touch with those times, but in today's day and age, our MP would be considered as a Male Chauvinist. More like an immature chauvinist, for whom the world revolved around him and his responsibilities and everyone and everything can pretty much take a hike. ("Man" kind hasn't evolved much since then, I know.. The burdens we all bear)
For example, MP had zero issues with asking his newlywed bride to pack up her bags (or whatever existed in those days to pack belongings) and join him in exile in the forest for 12 years. All because he made a promise to his dad and stepmother. Old school tropes like "a woman's home is with her swami" are thrown around at such times, but my point is that MP had the opportunity to be a little different (show leadership, think out of the box, and all that jazz) and he blew it.
Or take for instance, the time when Lady Purushottam was kidnapped. It so happened that our man went all Tarantino on a Sri Lankan lady who made a pass at him. Lady Jayawardhane's brother sought revenge and in an act of tit for tat (oh how inappropriate!!) kidnapped Lady Purushottam..
Now Julius Jayawardhane (not quite his name, but you must admit that it has a nice ring to it) was by all accounts a reasonable, if slightly impulsive, man. It's said that he held the wisdom of 10 men in his brain. In his rage, he took Lady Purushottam to his kingdom but treated her with the utmost respect throughout. But kidnap her, he had and therefore he had after all touched her.
Now after a battle of galactic proportions, our man MP rescued his wife. Not that she was in much strife but somehow the record always states "rescued" like she was being tortured day and night, month on month, year by year and all that.
So here was Lady Purushottam, literally and figuratively, spending years in a garden with nothing else to do, and now her swami has vanquished mountains and monkeys and demons and Himalayan Ayurveda to take her back.
Everything is awesome, all over again!!! Husband and wife, two soul mates of centuries past, united again and lived in celestial marital bliss!!
Err.. Just one glitch..
Our man here, never really went about looking for his wife because, you know, she could be in any danger. He went, because someone "stole" his wife and it was a matter of lost honour. At least, that's what it looks like, because once he went about decimating all the odds and got his wife back, and honour restored and all that, here's happened..
Agnipariksha.. (another man had touched her, you see)
Not like her word counted for anything. The dude went through a bunch of hoops and then decided that he did not trust her after all. So very doubtful that he trusted her to begin with. He was an honourable man, and his honour counted more than anything else.
So for the sake of his honour and ego, The Maryada Purushottam made his soul mate go through a trial by fire. If she had nothing to hide, then she'll have no problems in the fire, or any other ordeal that she'll be made to go through.
The concept of burden of proof lies on the accuser was not in vogue in those just and simple days.
That definitely will not happen again today right??
Not with our modern day Maryada Purushottams also being among the best legal minds in the country, right?
Right???
Anyway, our dear MP (it's a pain to type Maryada Purushottam every time, boss) was all fine and dandy, except for a tiny flaw. It's debatable if it was a character flaw or it was more being in touch with those times, but in today's day and age, our MP would be considered as a Male Chauvinist. More like an immature chauvinist, for whom the world revolved around him and his responsibilities and everyone and everything can pretty much take a hike. ("Man" kind hasn't evolved much since then, I know.. The burdens we all bear)
For example, MP had zero issues with asking his newlywed bride to pack up her bags (or whatever existed in those days to pack belongings) and join him in exile in the forest for 12 years. All because he made a promise to his dad and stepmother. Old school tropes like "a woman's home is with her swami" are thrown around at such times, but my point is that MP had the opportunity to be a little different (show leadership, think out of the box, and all that jazz) and he blew it.
Or take for instance, the time when Lady Purushottam was kidnapped. It so happened that our man went all Tarantino on a Sri Lankan lady who made a pass at him. Lady Jayawardhane's brother sought revenge and in an act of tit for tat (oh how inappropriate!!) kidnapped Lady Purushottam..
Now Julius Jayawardhane (not quite his name, but you must admit that it has a nice ring to it) was by all accounts a reasonable, if slightly impulsive, man. It's said that he held the wisdom of 10 men in his brain. In his rage, he took Lady Purushottam to his kingdom but treated her with the utmost respect throughout. But kidnap her, he had and therefore he had after all touched her.
Now after a battle of galactic proportions, our man MP rescued his wife. Not that she was in much strife but somehow the record always states "rescued" like she was being tortured day and night, month on month, year by year and all that.
So here was Lady Purushottam, literally and figuratively, spending years in a garden with nothing else to do, and now her swami has vanquished mountains and monkeys and demons and Himalayan Ayurveda to take her back.
Everything is awesome, all over again!!! Husband and wife, two soul mates of centuries past, united again and lived in celestial marital bliss!!
Err.. Just one glitch..
Our man here, never really went about looking for his wife because, you know, she could be in any danger. He went, because someone "stole" his wife and it was a matter of lost honour. At least, that's what it looks like, because once he went about decimating all the odds and got his wife back, and honour restored and all that, here's happened..
Agnipariksha.. (another man had touched her, you see)
Not like her word counted for anything. The dude went through a bunch of hoops and then decided that he did not trust her after all. So very doubtful that he trusted her to begin with. He was an honourable man, and his honour counted more than anything else.
So for the sake of his honour and ego, The Maryada Purushottam made his soul mate go through a trial by fire. If she had nothing to hide, then she'll have no problems in the fire, or any other ordeal that she'll be made to go through.
The concept of burden of proof lies on the accuser was not in vogue in those just and simple days.
That definitely will not happen again today right??
Not with our modern day Maryada Purushottams also being among the best legal minds in the country, right?
Right???
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