The Forest and Learning in the Mahābhārata: the Sukanyā-upākhyāna

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15517/y3dtbd81

Keywords:

Sanskrit epic, forest, learning, women, Sukanyā

Abstract

Sukanyā is a female character protagonist of one of the sub-stories of the Sanskrit epic Mahābhārata. She is a young woman who, in ignorance of her actions, makes a mistake and must marry an old brahmin who lives in the forest. The stay of Sukanyā in the forest in the company of her husband generates a change in the young woman that is reflected in the actions and descriptions of the story. This paper reviews the construction of the forest as a landscape conducive to learning in the Sanskrit epic, drawing on the character of Sukanyā from her Sanskrit source (MBh. 3.122-125).

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Published

2025-12-15

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Section

El paisaje en la Antigüedad india, griega y romana