A Man Sold by a Woman

This is an episode from the Bhilonu Bharath - a version of the Mahabharata from the Dungri Bhil community in the northern parts of the Gujarat state of India. Dungri Bhils, though considered a tribe today, are by no means a primitive tribe. In fact, they are believed to have descended from the Rajputs, a warrior community, of whom some might have taken shelter in the hilly area on the borders of what are today called the Gujarat and the Rajasthan states, due to perturbed situations in the medieval period; and later on, might have settled there to be considered a "scheduled tribe" under the British rule and in independent India.

This piece is the translation of the abridged prose rendering by Dr. Bhagwandas Patel, the compiler of Bhilonu Bharath, that introduces us to the long and repetitive verse of the Bhil traditional narrative.

The Pandavas are going to perform the great 'Yajna' (sacrificial rite). Preparations for the same are going on. Among other requirements for the Yajna, Krishna mentions "a man sold by a woman" and Bhim, the second among the Pandava brothers says to the others, "Brothers, I will go to find a man sold by a woman. Meanwhile you make other preparations for the Yajna. I will find the man sold by a woman on this vast earth and soon shall return!"

Bhim, the Pandava, sets on a journey, 'in small steps and long leaps' to big cities and towns. With the thumping of his feet clouds of dust rise and settle onto the mountains; and the mountains look as if flocked with pigeons. Calling right form the outskirts Bhim wanders through the markets and avenues of towns and cities. He appeals to the women of the town, "I will pay whatever you name. Ask for whatever sum of rupees, gold, silver, elephants and horses. But give me in return your man, your husband." And the womenfolk say to themselves, "Is he mad, a fool? Could one ever sell one's master?" They come to him, and, laughing at him, say, "O'Pandava, God himself created the elegant/beautiful pair of man & woman. Without man there isn't passion. Without Mard¹ there is no Maya². Without man, a woman's life would simply be dark. Without him, the mansions would be desolate, the bedsteads would be forlorn. We adorn our beauty, for the man beholds! Fool! Whatever price you pay, what woman would sell you her man for it? Go back, return the way you came. No woman will sell her man to you."

Disappointed and disgraced, Bhim leaves crest-fallen, his hopes bleak. He goes from one to another and bids for a man's bargain. Even in the other town, womenfolk laugh at him, mock him, and ridicule him. Others get angry and rebuke him. Some yet try to convince him, "Man is what a woman is adorned with. She beautifies herself for him. For him she puts Kajal in her eyes, bedecks her forehead with a Bindi and decorates her arms with bangles and armlets.³ Should you take away our husband, our lord, you also take away the amour in our lives. Nobody here is going to sell her man to you. I f you are hungry we'll give you food. Have it and leave this town. If you are still very keen (to find a man sold by a woman), walk towards Kamru Desh - the land of passion. There lives a harlot named Nathi Phuyer (Nathi the prostitute). She may sell a man to you. Only a prostitute can sell a man. We are respectable and proud housewives, the mistresses of our homes. Whatever happens to us, and however hard you try, we will never sell our man to anybody!"

Tired, dejected and frustrated, Bhim the Pandava walks his way to Kamru Desh. Bidding loudly he passes through one market to another. At one such marketplace he notices women standing at every door. Listening to Bhim's bid, one of them beckons him and invites him into her abode. Bhim enters Nathis the harlot's residence. Nathi asks, "Why do you call so loudly?" O stranger, what brings you here? Tell me for what have you come here? .. "Minstrel, 'the man' brings me here. I need a man sold by a woman. Ask for money, elephants, horses, gold or silver; anything you name, I will give the same to you. In my house there is no dearth of men." At last, there is one woman who is ready to sell a man to him. Bhim is now impatient to make this bargain.

At the residence of Nathi the prostitute, many men come and go back in the darkness of night. Bhim the Pandava selects one robust and healthy male. Nathi the harlot decides the price of the man, and the Pandava pays this price promptly in cash, and with his bargain walks his way back to Hastinapur (the capital city of the Pandavas).

As Bhim the Pandava approaches the boundaries of the city, the other brothers come forward to greet and welcome him. They all hold forth this man sold by a woman, and start for the courts of Hastinapur.

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Notes :

1. Mard : a man

a hero

a brave man

masculine, macho

2. Maya : affection, fondness

compassion

wealth, property

illusion

fraud

the fundamental power that is the cause of creation

3. These are ornaments and decorations that only a married or engaged woman or one who wishes to be married, in other words, a woman 'with a man' is supposed to wear.