How did Brahma create alluring women, and for what purpose? Why did
the righteous King Bhangashvana choose womanhood? How did the sage
Markandeya's pupil prevent his guru's wife from committing adultery? What
role did Indra play in the births of Vishvamitra and Parashu Rama? How were
death, diseases, desire and anger created? Why and how did the institution
of kingship come about? What can one learn from the mouse who escaped
the cat, the owl, the mongoose and the hunter; or the wise jackal who was
betrayed by the lion king? Why did Shiva swallow Shukra, the guru of the
Asuras?
Embedded within the lengthy discourse on dharma in the Shanti and
Anushasana Parvans of the Mahabharata are answers to a whole range of such
questions-moral lessons from a dying Bhishma to King Yudhishthira, on
life, death and everything in between. The Dharma of Unfaithful Wives and
Faithful Jackals is a highly entertaining selection of these tales-tangled at
times, insightful at others, yet always quirky-about women, both good
and bad, fathers and sons, kings, gods and kings of gods, and fables. The
perceptive translations by Wendy Doniger, hailed as 'the greatest living
mythologist', are a treat for anyone fascinated by the bewildering complexity
of Hindu myth and lore.
