The Mahābhārata was composed roughly between the 3rd c. BCE and the 3rd c. CE, beginning during the era of Vedic civilization and ending just prior to the reign of the Gupta empire. The epic is one of two major ones revered in Hinduism, the other being the Rāmāyana. Within this Sanskrit epic two main stories are told regarding the aftermath of the Kurukshetra War and the battle for the throne of Hastinapura. These conflicts revolve around two groups of princely cousins, the Pandavas and the Kauravas. However, within the 200,000 verses of this epic, substories about the female heroines and Apsarases of the times prove vital to understanding ideas regarding beauty and love over the rough 600 years the Mahābhārata records.
There are a distinct set of features common among female characters described as beautiful within the Mahābhārata. These include the perfect body, a cinched waist and full hips, lotus leaf or petal shaped eyes of a black colour, and long black and blue hair, to name a few. However, these traits are deemed essentially worthless unless accompanied by equally attractive virtue, and obedience to a young woman’s father or husband. In most cases throughout the third parva of the Mahābhārata, “Vana Parva”, these topois of attractiveness are depicted because they are either royalty or have the intent to seduce royalty. The prime example of this sort of storyline is King Nala and Damayantī. The legend of Damayantī appears throughout chapters LII-LXXIX. simplified , the story goes as so; the young princess Damayantī, daughter of King Bhima is being married off. Damayantī is to select her suitor from a royal court in which mortal men and gods alike awaited her beauty. Luckily for Damayantī, a swan had shown her the path to her future husband, giving her beauty purpose, as his was almost as extraordinary as her own. “And the swan after which Damayanti ran, having led her to a secluded spot, addressed her in human speech, saying, O Damayanti, there is a king amongst the Nishadhas named Nala. He is equal unto the Aswins in beauty, not having his peer among men. Indeed, in comeliness, he is like Kandarpa himself in his embodied form. O fair-complexioned one, O thou of slender waist, if thou becomest his wife, thy existence and this thy beauty may be of purpose”. Damayantī courts Nala, eventually vowing to marry and serve him. Throughout the rest of their story, the lovers face various obstacles attempting to tear them apart. Nevertheless they do end up with one another, establishing themselves as the epic’s greatest love story. King Nala and Damayantī fit the beauty standard established in the Mahābhārata perfectly having equally perfect physical attractiveness, character, and moral obligation to one another.
The global influences the Mahābhārata had in spreading ideas about beauty alone, and in relation to love, stems directly from the amount of time spent writing the book. Roughly 600 years were spent recording the parvas and subparvas of the Mahābhārata. Throughout this period, beauty ideals changed with the development and eventual decline of Vedic civilization and the trade of items such as jewellery and cosmetics with surrounding regions along the Silk Road. The Mahābhārata intricately connects these developments and its ideals with Hinduism, which is itself deeply embedded in the epic. As Hinduism spread throughout the Silk Road, the Mahābhārata had significant influence by transferring its considerations of beauty to the surrounding cultures.
