Aug 20, 2015 Why did Gandhari blindfold herself?  Blog by Radhika Ravi Rajan 7153 VIEWS 9 COMMENTS  If this question were posed, the most common answer would be: that Gandhari's love for her husband coupled with her sense of sacrifice, or in other words, her empathy for him, to feel one as him, to be in his shoes, was what made her choose that extreme step... But here's another interesting theory: In a discusiion on this topic on Quora, one participant quoted Irawati Karve to bring forth another aspect: According to Karve, apparently, Gandhari's act of blindfolding had nothing to do with either sacrifice or love. It was quite the opposite, actually, according to her. Karwe says Gandhari belonged to Gandhar, or present-day Afghanistan. In other words, she was as far away from Hastinapur as one could imagine. To make matters worse, she was not told that her prospective groom was blind. Consequently, she was shocked to learn of his blindness after marriage. Thus, her deciding to blindfold herself was more of an act of defiance than loyalty. She vowed that she would end the main reason why Dhritarashtra had married her - to make her act as his guide and companion in the absence of his vision. So, in fact, it was a move to pounish him rather than herself. Of course, you could also describe it as the proverbial cutting off one's nose to spite one's face! What do you think?
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