The sage Viswamitra had a disciple

named Galava who had served him

well. When his time with the sage
was over, Galava asked his teacher
many times what he might give him
as a fee. Finally, Vishwamitra said
that he wanted eight hundred
flawless horses, each as white as the
moon, with only one black ear.
Realising that this was beyond him,
Galava wandered the earth in
despair. Garuda told him to go to
Yayati, a king rich beyond compare
and as generous as he was rich. But
Yayati did not have the horses that
Galava needed. Nor could he procure
them for the young brahmin.
Instead, he offered Galava his
virtuous and beautiful daughter who
had a boon by which she would give
birth only to sons and whose
virginity would be constantly
restored. Yayati suggested that
Galava marry her off to various kings
in exchange for the horses that he
required to pay off his debt to his
teacher.
Galava set off with Madhavi and took
her first to the king of Ayodhya, who
was childless. Sadly, that king had
only two hundred white horses with
one black ear. But he was overcome
by Madhavi’s beauty and her ability
to produce male offspring. He
begged Galava to let Madhavi bear
him a son after he which he would
give him the horses as well as return
Madhavi so that she could be
bartered again in the same away.
Using Madhavi’s special gifts, Galava
got her married three times and
acquired six hundred horses. Each
time, Madhavi abandoned the child
she had birthed and followed Galava
on his mission. Finally, when it was
clear that there were no more white
horses with one black ear in the
world, Galava offered Madhavi to his
teacher, Viswamitra, so that she
could bear him a son in lieu of the
shortfall in horses. And when he was
finally freed of his obligations,
Galava gave Madhavi back to her
father, who arranged a swayamvara
for her. Madhavi rejected the
ceremony and decided to live in the
forest like a deer, eating only newly
sprouted grass and drinking the cool,
clear water of streams.

The story, as it appears in the

Mahabharata, would have us believe
that Madhavi was a willing
participant in all that happened to
her, so much so that it was she who
shared her secrets of eternal
virginity and conceiving only sons
with Galava.
If we read the story as it is
presented, Madhavi’s virtue lies in
her unquestioning submission to a
brahmin’s need to pay off his debt.
Yet again, a seemingly acquiescent
woman is held up as paradigmatic.
But we need to look at the end of the
story for how it might critique its
overtly patriarchal intent.
As with Sita, when Madhavi has
produced the royal heirs required of
her, she renounces the world of men
which sees this as her only value.
She becomes an ascetic, celibate
and according to the terms of her
boon, as immaculate as ever.
The writer works with myth, epic and
the story traditions of the sub-
continent