Bagavad Gita

 Gandhari chose to blindfold herself because her husband was blind. Why did she marry him in the first place?

Bhishma played a significant role in this. He was acutely aware of the need to continue the Kuru dynasty though he had sacrificed his claim and chose bachelorhood to foreclose future claims from his descendants. Bhishma wanted to ensure that Dhritharashtra would have a male progeny. He set about solving this problem in a scientific way. Define the goal, constraints and alternatives and arrive at an optimal solution.

Bhishma worked out his problem as follows:

 Objective: to find a life partner for Dhritharashtra.

Constraints: 1) She must be a princess.

2)She must not know his blindness before marriage

3) She must deliver a male progeny without fail.

The constraints were daunting. Bhishma did not give up. He came up with a solution that satisfied all the constraints. After considering many princesses, he zeroed in on Gandhari in a way any problem-solver would admire.

Gandhari was a princess of a kingdom called Gandhar. It was a place in present day Afghanistan. Every place has a unique feature. The feature may not be praiseworthy. Afghanistan was and is a place where women do not enjoy equal freedom with men. Those were the days when, in other parts of Bharat, women chose their husbands through Swayamwara. Elopement was not unknown. (Rukmini and Krishna.) How to ensure that the would-be wife would not know the groom's blindness? Afghanistan provided the answer.

Gandhari was a stoic lady who discovered her husband's blindness only after marriage. The epic brings out all human qualities. We may not admire all qualities. But knowing about them is educative. How to satisfy the third constraint? This is where Bhishma's knowledge stood out. He knew that Gandhari had obtained a boon from Lord Shiva that she would beget 100 sons. Bhishma was confident that this was enough of a guarantee to ensure continuation of the Kuru dynasty.

Gandhari was totally devoted to her husband. This gave her enormous spiritual powers. Whoever she looked at with affection would become enormously powerful. She wanted to have one look at her eldest son, Duryodana. Krishna knew this and arranged for this exceptional meet between mother and son. He also made sure that Duryodana had a large loinscloth when the fleeting meeting took place. The consequence was that Duryodana became very strong ; his body could withstand any attack in warfare; his thighs were covered and so his thighs became his Achilles heel. This was exploited by Krishna and he advised the Pandavas at the right time how to get rid of Duryodana.