DOI Link (Crossref) Prefix: https://doi.org/10.63431/AIJITR/3.IV.2026.30-37

The diverse roles of women in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, focusing on how female characters shape moral, political, familial, and spiritual dimensions of the epics. Figures such as Sita, Kaikeyi, Mandodari, Draupadi, Kunti, Gandhari, and Savitri demonstrate courage, sacrifice, intelligence, loyalty, resistance, and ethical judgment. Although these women often operate within patriarchal social structures, they are not merely passive figures; their decisions frequently influence major events, conflicts, and resolutions. The study also explores how ideals of wifehood, motherhood, duty, honour, and female agency are represented differently across the two epics. Sita embodies endurance and moral integrity, while Draupadi represents dignity, protest, and political awareness. Kunti and Gandhari reveal the complexities of motherhood, power, and responsibility. The epics present women as central to the preservation, questioning, and transformation of social and ethical values, making their roles essential to understanding ancient Indian society and its cultural imagination.