hinduism : women and patriarchy - a brief survey

OUTLINE 1.1 Introduction 2.1 Indus Valley Period 3.1 The Vedic Period 4.1 Epic Period 4.1.1 Mahabharatha 4.1.2 Ramayana 5.1 Manusmriti and women 6.1 Status of Women in South India 7.1 Mauryan Period 8.1 Emergence of Devadasi System 9.1 Reform and Other Movements 9.1.1 Tantrism 9.1.2 Lingayats 9.1.3 Shaktism 9.1.4 Bhakti Movement 10.1 Reflections 11.1 Conclusion

Hinduism: Women and Patriarchy A Brief Survey

Mathews George, BD III, MTT Seminary, KTM

1 | HINDUISM W o m e n a n d P a t r i a r c h y : A B r i e f S u r v e y

Mathews George, BD III, MTTS Kottayam / September 2012

Hinduism: Women and Patriarchy

1.1 Introduction

Almost all of the scholars who have produced considerable works on women in

Indian history (Winternitz, Altekar, Chaudhury, Upadhyay and Shastri, etc.)

are of the opinion that the position of Indian women deteriorated through

successive periods of history. They trace it to be a gradual decline from a

state of enjoying a considerable degree of freedom to a state of dependence

under the full control of their husbands.1 Some of the reasons for the same

are given below;

a. The imposition of Brahmin austerities on the society;

b. Foreign invasions of India affecting women’s status adversely;

c. The introduction of the non-Aryan wife into the Aryan household;

d. Discontinuance of Upanayana of girls;

e. Lack of educational facilities for women;

f. The role of caste system, joint family system, etc.

This paper will attempt to survey the status of women under the following

topics of Indian history through the eyes of Hinduism, in relation to their

very connection to a patriarchal social system:

1Prabhati Mukherjee, Hindu Women. Normative Model (New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1978), 5.



Indus Valley Period, The Vedic Period, Epic Period, Manusmriti and women, Status of Women in South India, Mauryan Period, Reform movements and other movements.

2.1 Indus Valley Period Very little information is available on the status of women in the Indus

Valley civilization. However archaeological findings provide some clues. The

discovery of figurines indicating goddesses suggest the presence of female

deities in the pantheon of this culture. It may also indicate matriarchal

social conceptions, in a culture where the Phallic cult as well as the

lingam - yoni cult was popular. Linga-Yoni worship indicates a fertility

cult where women were revered. From the figure of women from that period,

scholars suggest that a Mother Goddess or Shakti was worshipped.

Pruthi and Sharma view the famous Bronze figurine from Mohenjodaro

called Dancing Girl as an indication of merchants of southerly caravan

routes who brought with them exotic dancing girls who "tickled the fancies

of tired businessmen of Harappa and Mohenjodaro."

Archaeological findings further suggest a highly sophisticated urban culture

with highly developed sense of fashion, suggested by semi-precious stone and

metal jewellery, studded ear-rings, necklaces with pendants, bangles and

bracelets of gold, silver an bronze, etc. The use of face-paint, black -

beauty substance, toilet jars made of ivory, metal and so on "suggest that



the belles of Sind attended to beauty and toilet culture." In comparison,

the authors of Aryans and Hindu Women suggest that Aryan women were "crude,

hardy, camp dwellers who could neither appreciate nor understand these

urbane luxuries."

The large number of female ornaments, the important mother-goddess worship

in religion, the lesser importance of males, in comparison show that the

Indus Valley was more favourable to women than men, it possibly being a

matriarchate, resembling the type which existed in ancient Egypt.

3.1 The Vedic Period

Of the condition of women in Vedic age , Pruthi and Sharma lament, ‚The

story Of Indo-Aryan women is a tragic tale of gradual subjection beginning

from the legendary age of free love and ending up in the middle ages when

they had lost all individuality and were even made to mount the funeral

pyres of their husbands.‛2

Indo-Aryan literature clearly distinguishes between Aryans and number of

non-Aryan tribes, clearly giving the former an upper hand with connotations

of purity and superiority to the Aryan group of people. Women, here, are

mentioned mostly religious and family contexts.

The Aryan laws towards women were stricter compared to non-Aryan ones. The

former had a sacramental view of marriages, while non-Aryan marriage and

divorce laws viewed the institution differently.

2 Raj Pruthi and Bela Rani Sharma, Aryans and Hindu Women (New Delhi: Anmol Publications,

1995), 48.



In early Vedic period, the widow’s had to marry their husband’s brother. As

found in most ancient patriarchal societies, once a woman was brought into

the family of the marriage, she was a ‘field’ of this family to raise crops.

The girl, after marriage, lived in her husband’s house. However, marriage

didn’t seem compulsory then.

In Rig Vedic times, women also participated in the intellectual and

spiritual life of the community. Husbands and wives offered sacrifices and

oblations together. These are evident in some sacrificial prayers mentioned

in the Veda, mentioning joint participation. Some of the songs of the Veda

were composed by women. Visvavara, Apala, Lopamudra, etc. are some names

mentioned as composers of hymns.

The later Vedic period display a steady decline in the status of women. The

reason attributed for this includes the development of certain

eschatological notions which led to a belief that sons alone were competent

to redeem their parents from hell. When this view took root, women began to

be viewed merely as vehicles for bearing children and if unwilling or unfit

to perform that function, they were considered useless. One of the hymns in

Atharva Veda prays, ‚O Prajapati, Anumati, Sinivali, give a daughter

elsewhere but here a male.‛

Later Vedic literature also reveals the development of a notion that embryos

are basically male and birth of daughters were due to activities of

malignant Spirits, who during the course of the development of the foetus



turned into female. However, the position of women during later Vedic period

was better than medieval.

4.1 Epic Period

We see the notion of ‘ideal womanhood’ laced throughout the epics. It dealt

with the fidelity and chastity of ideal women. The married women considered

her husband a god. This is evidenced in Yudhishtiras conversations with

Markhandeya in Mahabharatha. Attributes included devotion to her husband,

respect for elders in the family and looking after dependents in the house.

A good woman toiled and moiled hard in this world to gain happiness in the

next.3 Dr. Shakambari Jayal even has a section in her book The Status of

Women in the Epics4, titled ‚The birth of a daughter – How far the source of

anxiety,‛ reflecting the general environment into which a girl child was

born.

4.1.1 Mahabharata

Mahabharata depicts an age when inter-racial marriages were common. Most

times, the men would be Aryans and women from non- Aryan groups described as

Asuras, Nagas, and so on.

Pratilomsa marriages, in which lower caste women married men of lower

castes, was condemned Hindu texts. At the same time, men could marry below

their own caste.

3Mukherjee,op. cit., 16-17.

4Shakambari Jayal, The Status of Women in the Epics (Delhi : Motilal Banarsidass, 1966), ix.



Characters of Kunti and Draupadi are praised for their love and devotion to

their families. Kunti is also portrayed as criticizing the inaction of her

sons, while in exile and also as concerned for her daughter–in-law,

Draupadi.

4.1.2 Ramayana

The Simian tribes of India mentioned in the Ramayana, had relaxed moral

codes. Matrimonial ties were loose and both polygyny and polyandry were

prevalent.

We also see that royal women like Sita, Kaikeyi, etc. having a comfortable

position in the palace. However they were subject to patriarchal rulings and

allegations and were unable to defend themselves, as seen in the case of

Sita who was parted from Rama due to the allegations of possible infidelity

during the her time in Lanka. She is left to live in a forest with her sons

and a Sage.

Sita, Savitri and Parvati are considered the ‚eternal triumvirate‛ of the

Hindus by Mukherjee.5 It reflects the perception of women in the period

which also gives us an idea of the Patriarchal notions. Sita is considered

an ideal woman, docile, uncomplaining and a silent sufferer. She would die

rather than question the justification of her husband’s conduct and waver in

her loyalty to him. Savitri is equally noble and her name is considered

auspicious. Parvati stands for a chaste woman. She is found to attain this

5 Mukherjee,op. cit.,50.



position by refusing to tolerate the character assassination of her husband

by her father. She preferred death to hearing it. Interestingly, all three

had an encounter with death on account of their husbands.

Thus whatever was non-threatening and pleasurable for males was considered

noble and women praised for the same.

5.1 Manusmriti and women

Manusmrithi is considered the most authoritative work on Hindu Law given by

Manu. Some laws of Manu give a high regard to women6:

‚Where women are honoured, God’s are pleased, but where they are not

honoured, no sacred rite yields rewards. (iii.56)

By honouring father, his mother, and his teacher, all that ought to be done

by man is accomplished; that is clearly the highest duty‛ (iii.237)

However, Manu disapproved of remarriages. Regarding the base nature of

women, Manu agreed with Vedic and post- Vedic literature. Some of his verses

emphasize and warn men regarding their disloyalty, gullibility, lack of

discernment and aesthetic taste and even propagated that women are created

by the Lord with a love for the bed, ornaments, impure desires, dishonesty,

malice and bad conduct. Further a wife, slave and a son are declared by law

to not have wealth of their own. A girl’s desirability was determined on

her physical attraction.

6 Chitralekha Singh and Prem Nath, Hinduism (New Delhi: Crest Publishing, 1996), 27.



6.1 Status of Women in South India

South India has a far longer history than the Aryans. Protected by the

Vindhya mountains, they were almost immune from foreign aggression, also

perhaps due to the peninsular geography. Historical data suggests that South

Indians stubbornly resisted Aryanisation, and clung to their ancient ways.

However Aryan culture could not be stopped from spreading in these regions.

The ruling classes, generally accepted the supremacy Brahmins seemed to

have.

In South India, marriage among the Tamils was a private affair. Classic

works like Silappadikaram describe a form of marriage called with vigorous

courtships and no particular nuptial ceremony. The open form of marriage

known as Karpu, was influenced by Brahmin Ayyars. Tolkappiyam, a classic

work reveal that the approved form of marriage among ancient Tamils was

Kalavu (secret), which was nothing but straightforward love marriage. The

authors suggest that it was a matriarchate where the function of the male

was mainly biological, without any economic or domestic responsibilities to

his wife and children, since Kalavu marriages were possible perhaps only in

a society like that.7

At the same time Pruthi and Sharma tell us that ancient Tamils were a hardy,

martial people whose triple objective in life was war, women and wine.

However, they add that before the Aryan influences curtailed their liberty,

South Indian women were a free, hardy type, not enslaved by sacramental

7 Pruthi and Sharma, op. cit., 30.



notions of marriage, Sati, child-marriage, Purdah and other evil

institutions of Aryans of the North.

However in Kerala, a strong matriarchal system existed, which even

influenced the Brahmin and even Kshatriyas to make compromises, eventually

adjusting to it. Even today the Kings in the Royal family have matrilineal

first names. The Nairs were the dominant matriarchs of Kerala. A type of

socially approved affair known as Sambandham existed there, where the girl

remained in her own house after Sambandham. The husband, living in his own

house would visit the girl in her home for his conjugal rights and returned

home in the morning. Divorces among them were easy and informal. But here,

when the husband was no longer wanted, he was politely told that he was not

welcome. If the husband stopped coming at nights, it could on the other

hand, mean only one thing.

7.1 Mauryan Period

Chandragupta Maurya, The Mauryan King who had a vast empire extending from

the Hindu Kush mountains all the way to Mysore, had a great advisor called

Chanakya, whose famous work is Arthashastra. History tells us that on his

advice the closest attendants and the personal security force of the King

were all trustable women. There were also another class of women kept for

the splendor of the court and the pleasure of the King, termed as

prostitutes. Yet these prostitutes, and its institution enjoyed great

privilege, even until as recent as the British period.



In the Mauryan period marriage seems to have brought up a number of

litigations causing Kautilya ( another name of Chanakya) to remark,

‚marriage is the basis of all disputes.‛ Arthashstra mentions 8 types of

recognized marriages. Punishment of adultery and other such aligned offences

were usually fines.

Megasthenes, the envoy of Greek king Seleuses to the Mauryan Court noted

that women were forbidden from learning the sacred texts. The existence of

sati among communities like the Kathas is also found in Greek writings about

India.

8.1 Emergence of Devadasi system

The Puranic age gave rise to great temples where music, worship song and

dance were held – all for the pleasure of gods. By the 7th century CE, when

Huien Tsang visited India the institution of temple dancers were well

established. We see the Bhavishya Purana suggesting dedicating a bevy of

dance girls to the sun god as a way to obtain Suryaloka (heaven). This

system prevalent in many temples around India, especially Tamil Nadu and

Gujarat has been prevalent even till the early days of the twentieth

century. The NGO ‘Arz’ in Goa has been regularly assisting raids with the

Police at certain regions where forced Deva Dasi practices still go on

during religious festivals, testifying for the deep rootedness of the

system.



9.1 Reform movements and other movements

9.1.1 Tantrism

The Tantric concepts are believed to have existed in India since time

immemorial. They were a group that held the secret view that women were more

superior compared to men. Atharva Veda is believed to have Tantric leanings.

The central doctrine of the cult is that the male principle in the universe

is inert, and that all active virtues are inspired by the female principle

which should be the main object of worship. They condemn Sati and rape, in

works like Mahanirvana Tantra.

In Tantras, the goddess occupied the central place. While Shiva is a symbol

of bondage, Shakthi is considered the cause of liberation.8

In the yantra9 symbol in Tantricism, which represents the goddess as an

inverted triangle stands for Sakthi or Prakriti. This identification with

Prakriti, ‚matter‛ rather than ‚spirit‛ implies that ‚the body is the seat

of divinity and that too, expresses itself in the form of worship and

meditation.‛10

8 Klaus K. Klostermaier, A Survey of Hinduism (New Delhi: Munshiram Manohar Press, 1990),

267. 9 A Tantric symbol of the goddess upon it are inscribed the letters of the alphabet, or

short monosyllabic mantras, which constitute the mantra- or shabda-body of the goddess.

10 Klostermaier, op. cit., 271.



9.1.2 Lingayats

Founded by Basava, a Brahmin who lived in the 12th century CE, this sect

believed that Hinduism had fallen from its pristine purity by ignoring its

teachers and thus wished to restore it to its ancient glory. Many believe

Basava was also influenced by Christian ideas. He propagated the belief that

men were not superior to women and that the fairer sex was to be treated

with respect and kindness. He also objected to child-marriage, Sati, forcing

children to marry, supported widow remarriage and permitted divorce under

certain conditions.11

9.1.3 Shaktism

Shaktism conceives the goddess as supreme, ultimate godhead. She is the

embodiment of energy and dynamism. Shaktism, in a crude form may date back

to the Indus Valley civilization and its fertility cult.12 With regard for

Devi as the supreme Brahman, all other forms of divinity, male or female,

are considered diverse manifestations.

According to Lina Gupta, The Hindu concept of Shakti/ power is utilised by

Hindu women to their advantage within the context of Hinduism. This power is

different from the western notion of power in that, it is more of an

11 Pruthi and Sharma, op. cit., 220.

12 N. N. Bhattacharya, History of the Sakta Religion ( New Delhi : Munshiram Manoharlal,

1996), 6.



internal power.13 Thus in Shakti we have a powerful symbol of womanhood,

interestingly located in patriarchal culture.

9.1.4 Bhakti movement

Bhakti movement emerged as a reaction to the highly intellectual,

philosophical modes of religion which made god inaccessible to the common

man. The period between 1000 -1750 CE witnessed the evolution and growth of

the Bhakti movement in the Indian sub-continent.14 It was characterised by

the belief that devotion to God alone can help one attain salvation; all

people were equal and caste distinctions were meaningless; belief in one

supreme God of Love and Grace; exaltation of bhakti above jnana and karma

margas through rights and ceremonies; religious expressions through song and

dance, etc. The movement gave an otherwise patriarchal sub-continent witness

women coming to the fore through the Bhakti mode of religion.

This movement ushered in a new era of freedom for women who were treated

with respect and as co-worshippers in the tradition. Great saints like

Mirabai exerted no small influence through her Prema Bhakti hymns and

teachings. Although Meera had to face hardships from her in-laws for her

ways of devotion, she nonetheless came to influence a number of people. She

was considered an embodiment of love and innocence. Her heart was the temple

13 Lina S. Gupta, ‚Hindu Women and Ritual Empowerment,‛ in Women and Goddess Traditions:

In Antiquity and Today, edited by Karen L. King (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1997), 85. 14 D. S. Sharma, Hinduism through the Ages (Bombay : Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan, 1989), 40.



of devotion for Krishna. By the time of her death in 1546 CE, she was made

immortal by her love for God and soulful songs.

10.1 Reflections

In an introduction to Religion and Women, Katherin K. Young highlights

some symbolism that emerge from the book15: Where feminine symbolism is

common in small scale societies, women have higher religious status- more

official ritual roles and leadership positions; abuses of power are common

in the transition from small scale to large scale societies, involving state

formation. These abuses inspire reforms. General and specific reforms to

improve women’s lives lead to an increase in feminine symbolism and, ritual

roles for women and laws to safeguard their interest. When a religion has

reform as it fundamental vision it is easier to call for reforms by calling

for the renewal of the fundamental vision.

Having surveyed women and patriarchy in India we observe a steady decline in

the status of women. Yet, in small but dynamic movements, we see women

obtaining sympathy. Some of the feminine deity movements have given certain

women some respect too. However, on the whole, women are generally victims

of Patriarchy even to this day. This needs a bout of larger awareness.

Interestingly, globalisation and the related changes in society has given

women more mobility, and income along with a certain level of freedom.

Still, we hear reports of discrimination. This requires a constant effort at 15 Katherine K. Young, Religion and Women edited by Aravind Sharma (Delhi: Sri Satguru

Publications, 1994), 2.



conscientization and a will to treat women as equals, which can begin right

from school. In a world like today, cultural ideas engage with each other to

form newer cultures and values. It gives the possibility to choose

appropriate new values and leave ones which seem oppressive.

One may also look into history and identify aspects were women were

respected and cherish those values. Even in the midst of patriarchy, India

is not devoid of the potential for a better India for women. In a country

where the very name of the country indicates a mother figure (Bharat Maatha)

women do have the potential to rise and live as human beings.

11.1 Conclusion

The past can teach us lessons and the Indian society may learn a thing or

two on how to treat the fellow beings called women. The past practices ought

to be improved upon and scriptural portions and practices that affirm the

fullness of the female race may be celebrated. Hinduism can also enter into

dialogue with other religions (which are also not innocent of treating women

harshly) and try to value the worth of women through their religious

beliefs. Secular studies like cultural studies, sociology and feminist

thought may come together in understanding women’s issues of today and

negotiate a solution for it.



The story of Indian women must not decline any further, but reach and remain

in a new glorious period.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bhattacharya, N. N. History of the Sakta Religion. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1996.

Jayal, Shakambari. The Status of Women in the Epics. Delhi : Motilal Banarsidass, 1966.

Klostermaier, Klaus K. A Survey of Hinduism. New Delhi: Munshiram Manohar Press, 1990.

Mukherjee, Prabhati. Hindu Women. Normative Model. New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1978.

Pruthi, Raj and Bela Rani Sharma. Aryans and Hindu Women. New Delhi: Anmol Publications,

1995.

Sharma, Aravind (ed.) Religion and Women. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1994.

Sharma,D. S. Hinduism through the Ages.Bombay : Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan, 1989.

Singh, Chitralekha and Prem Nath, Hinduism.New Delhi: Crest Publishing, 1996.

hinduism : women and patriarchy - a brief survey

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