Ascent of the mountain – is there always a spiritual closure?

This paper examines mountain ascent in the Hindu epic, the Mahābhārata and its mythic-feminist retelling by Divakaruni, The Palace of Illusions. The analysis uses Wild Systems Theory (WST) to investigate how each text explores ascent as embodiment of context rather than absolute transcendence or a feminist site. The paper argues that while the epic presents the ascent of the Mount Meru as the culmination of dharma, such representations can turn the spiritual journey into a site of moral judgment if not investigated in a systemic manner. It further contends that though the feminist adaptation conceives the ascent through Draupadi’s memories, yet, to read the text solely as a feminist revision of the epic is to remain confined within a traditional-feminist dichotomy that would limit its interpretive possibility. The study demonstrates that spiritual evolution during the ascent in both texts is closely linked to the understanding of self within nested systems, with compassion emerging as a significant expression of relational being. Besides, both narratives decentre the final attainment of moksha at the summit, foregrounding spirituality as an ongoing process of embodied aboutness.