The ideal of one marriage is a relatively modern idea. In ancient times, the ideal of one marriage was mainly advocated for the priestly class and the seekers after knowledge. It was neither an ideal for those who had gone beyond the human frame such as the rishis nor for those who were engaged in pursuits other than knowledge. The reason for this was largely pragmatic rather than idealistic. The kshatriya, especially the warrior kings were socially permitted to marry more than one woman. The apparent reason was that following the conquest of a kingdom the wives of kings were left unprotected. There was also this idea of having a good progeny which also acted as a natural selection leading to more than one marriage for the strong and capable. Besides, the kshatriya nature was centred around the vital which cannot be easily kept totally under strict control by the mind’s ideas. Hence the kshatriyas chieftains and kings ended up with more than one wife in almost every culture. It may not seem idealistic from our modern standards of morality but it was pragmatic and had a sanction by the social order of those times. In fact one of the main arguments of Arjuna as he stands on the battlefield is this concern about the women who would possibly end up marrying all kinds of men of a lesser merit (varnashankara) leading to great mixture of blood after the war kills many able warriors. So this was not something totally unacceptable in those times even if it did not find a whole hearted sanction. Lord Rama is a singular example of having only one wife despite all the challenges. But Arjuna was not there to establish dharma but to protect it by following his swadharma as a kshatriya. And hence by marrying four women, he was not doing anything that was not consistent with the Dharma of the Age, provided he did not take any woman forcefully or married them only to satisfy his lust. That was not the case with any of his marriages.
Draupadi was married after a proper swayamvara. Subhadra fell in love with him and it was considered sufficient reason for marriage if the love was from both sides (gandharva vivah) regardless of social sanction. This marriage had Sri Krishna’s sanction and in fact not only saved Subhadra but also became instrumental eventually in the birth of Parikshit who carried the dual bloodline of Sri Krishna and Arjuna. His other two marriages, with Uloopi and Chitrangada were during the exile. The former, a Naga girl fell in love with Arjuna and used her magical powers to revive him after the war. The latter was another princess of Manipur whose warrior qualities and courage drew Arjuna even as she was drawn towards him. True that in our times, love, like everything else has been corrupted and marriage is more of a social and legal institution but the Ages gone by respected the truth of human nature and its deepest impulses provided they were expressed in a noble way. That is what we see in Arjuna’s life of which marriage is one small aspect because he hardly stayed with any of his wives. Twice in exile his life was spent either in tapasya or war, battling for dharma. No wonder he was especially loved and favoured by Sri Krishna to whom he had surrendered himself and whose counsel he was always ready and quick to follow.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
