Open Access
American Research Journal of History and Culture
ISSN (Online): 2379-2914
DOI: 10.46568/arjhc
Niyoga,(Levirate) and Sexual Politics in Ancient India; Reflection on the Indian Epic Mahabharata
Abstract
: Indian epic, the Mahabharata is like a reservoir of information about the Indian society. The epic have
acquired written form during the period 800B.C. to 200 A.D.1 However before acquiring written form, it was
handed down from generation to generation in oral form and had gone through log process of interpolation and
extrapolation. During this long process it had acquired eternal relevance and more so for the Indian society, which
is considerably rooted in the past. The epic narrates number of episodes where a male child is produced by a
woman from a man other than her husband. Apart from the Mahabharata, Manu Smriti also refers to this kind of
practice, which was called „Nīyoga‟.This paper will make analysis of some of the episodes of Nīyoga narrated in
the Mahabharata. The „Nīyoga‟ episodes in the Mahabharata were not a simple union of a man and women for
procreation (as it was supposed to be), but involves emotions and politics. After all human life is too complicated
to be compartmentalized in water tight compartments
