“A Mother”! Myths And Realities Pertaining To “Motherhood” In Mahasweta Devi’s “Breast-Giver”

In Indian culture, Vedas and Upanishads take a prominent place and are considered as ancient literature. These ancient scriptures teach us the concept of “MATRI DEVO BHAVA” (Mother as God) and consider Mothers as the source of power and ought to be given utmost respect. This concept is theoretically believed and idealized in Indian religion but when it come to reality and lived experiences and especially in Indian context we are made to rethink and believe the real scene behind it. Similarly, in Devi’s Breast- Giver (1997) the absurdity behind this myth seems prominent.  The common myth related to motherhood in our society is that it’s a mother duty to raise her child in best possible manner, for her child and family it’s her duty to sacrifice her career and thought but when she needs her family no one is there for her. A mother who takes rebirth during the delivery of her child, and also bears lots of pain to raise her child but as the child become independent she is excluded from her family and no one is there for her to support her or to look after her. It’s a great myth of all Indian woman life that in words they are considered as God but in reality they are the excluded member of a family. In her writings, subaltern predicaments occupy a central position in general and the women in the particular. “Breast- Giver” is originally written in Bengali (1977) and has been translated into English (1997) by a feminist critic, Gayatri Chakravarty Spivak. In the present story, the writer brings in the predicament of a woman who sacrifices her life for bringing up the family as the bread winner and was left alone by her family at her last stage of life. “Breast-Giver” displays how female body part can be used to fulfill the existential demand at the cost of life of Jashoda. It needs an understanding of how one becomes a mother and the cruel realities behind the becoming.The present paper interprets the myth related to motherhood and women in our culture. It focuses on the contrast relation of women position to the actual situation in our society. It shows that how the life of a woman differ from the ancient literature and in words a mother and a woman is given the highest respect but in reality they are just a feminine object of this patriarchal society.