Gendering grief: The Strī Parvan of the Mahābhārata

Abstract

The article focuses on Śānti Parvan, a small section of the Mahābhārata, describing the scene after the cataclysmic war. It explores the convergences and divergences between masculine and feminine expressions of grief in response to bereavement, as described here. The former appears to be concerned with identities of the dead as kshatriyas and kings. The latter, on the other hand, focuses more centrally on the dead as kinsmen-related through both natal and marital ties, even as there are overlaps.