HINDU FEMINISM What Have We Left Behind? – How Far Have We Come? – How Far We Still Have to Go?
Touted to be the world’s oldest religion, Hinduism dates back to more than 4000 years. With about a billion followers in the world, it is the third most populous religion after Islam and Christianity. It is nearly impossible to trace the origin of Hinduism due to lack of existence of any single founder. Early scholars referred to it as Sanatana Dharma (Eternal Dharma or Eternal Law). The word Hindu is believed to be derived from Sindhu (name for river Indus). The term gradually shifted its connotation from a geographical term to a set of practices or beliefs, simply RELIGION.
Legally in India, the term Hinduism includes Jain, Sikh and Buddhist traditions (The Hindu Succession Act of 1956)
Feminism is a social movement or an ideology which advocates for the political, economic and social rights of the women. Feminists believe that men and women are equal and that the latter should have same sets of rights and opportunities as the former. Therefore, feminism is all about levelling the playing field between genders and respecting women’s experiences and identities.
Here, we explore the Hinduism from the lens of feminism, point out the uniqueness of feminist wave in the Hindu society, highlight the problems to be faced while studying feminism in a Hindu set-up, showcase perspective of anti-feminists in Hindu tradition and scrutinize the religious texts and literature of Hinduism on the grounds of their portrayal of women.
Problems while Studying Feminism in Context of Hinduism
1. Difference between Feminism in Hindu Society and Feminism in a western world: Feminism is a term associated with the movement that began in The United States of America where transition took place from the BONDAGE of women to the BONDING of women which led to their empowerment. Thus, the term has a lot of western connotations attached to it. Feminism in the western world stood for equality and rights which are both alien to the Hindu tradition. The term Equality does not fit in the picture of Hinduism due to the hierarchical division of the society whereas the concept of rights is of minimal significance to Hinduism due to more emphasis on Dharma or righteousness i.e. righteous way for each person to carry out their life. Dharma is duty or service to the others (seva), and debts to be paid to the ancestors and gods. Therefore, Hinduism places more importance on DUTIES over RIGHTS.
While analyzing Feminism in this paper, we will ignore any hierarchical divison of the Hindu society, until and unless that division is of women, and the paper would place more emphasis on rights of an individual rather than Dharma or the duties.
2. The Hindu Succession Act of 1956: Another major problem that arises while studying feminism in the context of Hinduism is The Hindu Succession Act of 1956.
THE HINDU SUCESSION ACT OF 1956 APPLIES TO
(a) To someone, who is Hindu by religion including Lingayats, Virashaivas or followers of the Arya, Brahmo and Prarthna Samaj.
(b) To someone who is a Buddhist, Jain or Sikh by religion; and
(c) To someone who isn’t a Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew by religion until and unless its proved that any such person has not been governed by the Hindu law.
Problem that arose due to this act was that it offered the identity of Hinduism to those religions which are fundamentally very different from Hinduism i.e. Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs but now all came under a similar category called HINDUISM legally. Even within Hinduism, some of the sects such as Virashaivas, Lingayats, Arya Samaj and Ramkrishna Mission have been different in opinion when it comes to their opinion on rights and duties of women, thus studying feminism in context of the wide category of HINDUISM gets even more challenging.
In the paper, we will consider Hinduism as a religion rather than a legal category of people. Therefore, the paper does not take into account the Hindu Succession Act of 1956.
3. Multiplicity of Socially Constructed Hierarchies: Gender is only one of the many divisions in a predominantly Hindu society. The notions of masculinity and femininity are also dependent on the caste and economic status within the group of people termed as HINDUS. Rather than fixed roles delegated to men and women within Hinduism, such roles tend to shift due to socially and economically constructed hierarchies like caste system and economic status. Therefore such a bifurcation makes the study of feminism more difficult when done in context of Hinduism.
The paper shall not consider any other socially constructed hierarchical division, until and unless such division a is made between women.
4. Familial Position with Passage of Time: Even within a single Hindu family, the notions of masculinity and femininity vary between the members of family due to the familial position and passage of time, which if not differentiated can misrepresent the reality. For example,
When a newly wedded daughter-in-law comes into the family, her share of rights and power she wields is less and hence she has a low status within the family. But, the same daughter in law when becomes a mother-in-law 20 years later, she has considerable amount of power and position within the family.
The paper will consider women’s lifetime experiences rather than analysis specific to a time period of their lives, as such a study can be ambiguous.
5. Place to Place Variation: About 95% of the world’s Hindus live in India and the rest 5% are concentrated in countries like Nepal, Mauritius and even Indonesia. The rights and opportunities provided to women are not only different within the aforementioned countries, it also varies heavily within the different parts of India. For example. States like Kerala and Meghalaya were matriarchal or matrilineal in direct opposition to the patriarchal mindset in the states of Punjab and Haryana. Differences can be noticed even within a single state, for example. Kerala, where the amount of freedom and rights with Namputiri Brahmin women were way too less compared to the rights and freedom of women from the Nair Community.
Although the paper will present different life experiences specific to different places, final analyses will be done keeping in mind the situation of women in the majority of the areas rather than focusing it on women of a specific area which can give a very biased output.
Why is Hindu Feminism Unique?
The Hindu feminism is considered to be unique because unlike the western feminist movement, the Hindu Feminist Movement was initiated by men and was later supported by women. In her book Living Hinduisms, Nancy Falk highlights how men have been instrumental and were the catalysts in empowering women and improving their socio cultural, religious and educational status. She highlights the institutions where male counterparts appointed females as leaders. For example, the leaders of Shankaracharya appointed a female as an ascetic. Also, it was after 1200 years that a female ascetic Sadhvi Hemanand Giri, was made the shankaracharya i.e. the head of Hinduism which brought a radical change in the religious history. India’s social fabric would have been completely different if there was no Raja Ram Mohan Roy. He crusaded against Sati and Polygamy and was instrumental in abolishment of Sati, thus securing the right to life for the widows. Ramakrishana, a 19th century mystic, gave his wife Sarada Devi, permission to administer mantras which was earlier forbidden. Religious mystics like Sivananda, Yogananda, Muktananda, Aurobindo appointed females as their successors. Lala Devraj, a 20th century social reformer, not only worked towards women education but also trained women to perform vedic fire rituals which was earlier considered to be reserved to men. Jyotirao Govindrao Phule, a social activist was person to set up the first school for women in 1848.
However, this men promoted feminism does not come without its own criticism. Many women feminists claim, that the men asserted certain roles to women, and reasoned it with the fact that women are modest, devotional, spiritual, tolerant and moral than a man. This kind of reasoning and allotment of duties is seen to be as a tokenistic measure by the females who believed it is all done so that women stop protesting and demanding what they deserve because adjectives like modest, patient and tolerant were attributed to them, which they thought were detrimental to women’s interests.
Why Hindu Feminism was labelled as unnecessary and irrelevant? – A Perspective
1. Not just women, but everyone lived in a curtailed sense of freedom: One of the basic arguments put forth by people who oppose the idea of Hindu Feminism is that curtailment that women faced was not completely exclusive to them, and at times was also faced by males in the society. Such arguments try to put the entire burden of reduced freedom and rights of women on the socially constructed hierarchical system and says that such notions of masculinity and femininity were majorly dependent on caste, class and economic status. Thus, they highlighted that not only women, but even
men lacked freedom and rights, and therefore a wider upliftment movement aimed at empowering all was needed rather than something that only empowered women – Hindu Feminism.
2. Feminism is a western construct, not needed in a Hindu society: Many people who labelled feminism as unnecessary pointed out that feminism emerged in the west due to situations exclusive to the western society. For example. Education in 17th and 18th century was a priority in the west, and when women were not granted access to it, they joined hands and feminist movement took shape. But, in the Indian context, specifically in Hindu context, not just women, but many men who were deemed to be as lower caste were kept away from education. Therefore they argued that feminism as a movement, did not have importance in the Hindu context, due to the challenges being different for a Hindu society.
3. There was never a lack of opportunities for women: Another major argument put forth by the anti-feminists in India was that Feminism was never required in a Hindu society because women already had their fair share of opportunities. They support their arguments by stating examples of women like Gargi Vachaknavi, Sulabha Maitreyi and Vadava Pratitheyi all being renowned expounders of the Vedas and known for contesting men in debates. Such arguments claim that women had ample opportunities and reason the non-involvement of women on lack of desire to utilize these opportunities.
How did Hindu texts present Women?
Traditional Hindu texts can be classified into Smritis and Srutis. Smriti is something that can be remembered and Sruti is something that can be heard. Many ancient and medieval Hindu texts were composed in Sanskrit, many others in regional Indian languages. Some of the Hindu texts are mentioned here with a brief introduction and analysis of their views on women and their social standing and their viewpoint on women’s rights, identities and freedom.
1. Manusmriti: Manusmriti which is also known as Manav Dharam Shastra dates back to 5th Century C.E… According to the Hindu Tradition, Manusmriti is the word of Brahma and is believed to be compiled by Manu, the first human being to have ever existed. Some scholars believe that there is no single author of Manusmriti. Manusmriti is believed to be responsible for the horrific plight of women in the post Vedic period as the set of laws mentioned here were accepted as the divine law by the Hindus. Manusmriti was upheld as the ultimate guide to a moral life, and its digression led to serious negative sanctions.
Manusmriti portrays women as weak, docile, submissive and dependent creatures who require constant protection and support of their fathers, then their husbands and later their sons. Patriarchal values are upheld in such a manner that even if women tries to hold pride, it is instructed that she should be thrown in front of dogs at a public place.
Unmarried menstruating women are portrayed as a source of religious pollution. Adultery by females is mentioned as a disgrace whereas on the other hand, the females were instructed to serve their husbands even if they were dishonest or if they were in an extra-marital relation.
One cannot miss the acute misogyny preached in every single phrase of this text. Manusmriti has also promoted child marriage in one of its verses. It aims at giving out a message as to how women can become a source of grief to the family if not handled with stringency.
Only one shloka mentioned in Manusmriti, stands for the respect of women which says that divinity only blossoms there where women are respected and if women are disrespected, all actions regardless of how noble they are stand unfruitful, which hardly makes any difference in Manusmriti’s treatment of women.
Manusmriti therefore is a message to women as to how they are the prisoners of socially constructed shackles and is a portrayal of misogyny, patriarchal values and gender discrimination.
2. Vedas: Vedas are a large body of Hindu texts, written in ancient India between about 1500 B.C.E. and 1000 B.C.E… It is a collection of Hymns and it includes mythological accounts, poems, prayers and formulas. Vedas constitute the oldest Sanskrit literature and oldest scriptures of Hinduism. Vedas are considered as “apauruseya” – not of a man or impersonal authorless- which means Vedas in Hinduism are seen as neither authored by humans or by gods, they are only heard and transmitted by religious teachers and sages. There are four Vedas in total – the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda.
Women are accorded the greatest respect in the Vedas. This can be seen from the hymns from the Vedas. Accounts on women in different Vedas are mentioned below:
(a) Rigveda: Rigveda presents an account on women which is way ahead of its time. Devi Sukta Hymn, a hymn from Rigveda declares feminine energy as the essence of the universe. In one of the verse of Rigveda, it is mentioned how parents should provide their daughters intellectuality and should marry her with a dowry of knowledge. Rigveda also mentions that there is equal right of a son and a daughter over a father’s property. Rigveda also has a description of Usha as a God. She is considered to be an ideal women. The excerpt says that women should be brave, wealthy, illuminating, should earn fame, should ride on chariots and become an expert in different fields.
(b) Yajurveda: Yajurveda mentions how men and women have equal rights to get appointed as a ruler. Yajurveda also supports the idea of a women army and believes that women should be encouraged to participate in war.
(c) Atharvaveda: The hymn of Bhramcharya Sukta mentions how women should first study and complete their education, and only then enter into marriage. Even it is mentioned that after marriage, a bride can please and educate everyone in her family with her knowledge and intellect and can also help her husband to enhance
his wealth. Women are mentioned as “protectors of family” and “queen of the house” in Atharvaveda.
Hence, by all these accounts, excerpts and examples, it is quite clear that women were given considerable amount of respect and status in the Vedas and their duties, rights, freedom were paramount and their identities and experiences were valued.
3. Upanishads: The Upanishads are a collection of religious and philosophical texts. They are written in Sanskrit in India probably between 800 B.C.E. and 500 B.C.E.. They were written during a time period, when people started questioning the authority of the Vedas. Upanishads are also referred to as Vedanta – last chapters of the Vedas.
Upanishads were written keeping men in the center of the story. However, even though Upanishads do not extensively elaborate women and their experiences, but it does noes even degrade their lives or negate their identities. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad mentions a list of 50 teachers, and all those 50 men bear the names of their mothers, highlighting the importance of women in the society, and the pride those men held in the greatness of their mothers.
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad also mentions how women actively engaged in debates, discussions and discourse, one popular example being that of Gargi Vachaknavi who challenged one of the best debaters in the court of King Janaka. Upanishads talk about men like Yajnavalkya who actively motivated his wife Maitreyi to debate with him. Women’s sacrifices for their family are projected as their greatness, rather than duty which puts a great amount of importance to their life experiences.
Certain stories and anecdotes in Chandogya Upanishad also mention how women interfered in the duties of their husbands and worked as counsellors to their husbands. Also, Upanishads mention that not all the women were bound to serve their husbands and marry. Therefore unwed mothers were present in the society. Usage of the term Acharya (female teacher) in the text also denoted that some women were gurus.
Female characters with a narrative arc in the story also appeared in Upanishadic poems and plays. For example, Uttararamcharita, written by Bhavabuti was the story of Atreyi and how she travelled to the southern part of India to study Vedas and philosophy.
Therefore, women had their fair share of respect, freedom and rights in the Upanishadic Period and the Upanishads hold women’s experiences and identities in high regards.
4. Arthashastra: Arthashastra is an ancient Indian Sanskrit text on state policy, economics, and military strategy. Chanakya or Kautilya is credited to be the author of Arthashastra. The text deals with economics, politics, law, criminal and civil court systems, science, ethics, agriculture, mineralogy, forest, wildlife, market and trade, and animal husbandry. It is believed that it included work of several authors within its ambit with passing time.
Women in Arthashastra are divided in 6 broad categories – housewife, widow, prostitute, spy, female slave and a worker. The most power was wielded by a Brahmin women, owing to her superior most Varna.
The wife and widow were the next most vilified category in Arthashastra as they remained dependent on their father, husband or their son throughout their life and their role in the society and family was subordinate. They also did not inherit property from their father and did not have the option of remarriage after their husband’s death.
The next category is that of the female slave. The female slaves were protected legally. The female slaves could not be beaten, they could not be treated violently, they could not be deprived of their virginity and they could not be forced to bath a naked man. If a female slave was pregnant, she could not be sold without taking into consideration her health and wellbeing.
Next comes up the Female workers. They were generally mothers of prostitutes, crippled and handicapped women, widows with no source of livelihood and old women. Most of these women were involved in spinning and preparing alcoholic beverages.
The next category is that of female spies. Arthashastra mentions that Experts in lovemaking were used as spies. Prostitutes, actresses, nuns and ascetics were used for such purposes. Such women were labelled as “women of bad character”, but still got all extra legal protection.
The last and final category is of the Prostitutes or Ganika. They were the freest of all the categories mentioned here. They could be from any Varna and mostly follow matriarchal descent. Although, their freedom came at a cost of exploitation at the hands of the patriarchal society.
Hence, we can conclude that female independence was valued in the Arthashastra but was provided only to those who were exploited by the state i.e. prostitutes, workers and spies. The female slaves got considerable protection by the law. The married women and widows had restrictions and limited set of rights and limited amount of freedom. Women and their experiences were valued in Arthashastra and categorical explanation draws lines between gender, freedom, Varna and profession.
5. Puranas: Puranas are the ancient Hindu religious text which deals with accounts about creation and destruction of world, legends of Gods and genealogies of deities, kings and sages, astronomy, grammar, love stories and mineralogy. Puranas are majorly composed in Sanskrit, Tamil and other Indian languages.
Devi Mahatmyam mentions that the Goddess is the supreme power and creator of the universe. It is a part of the Markandeya Purana. It is composed in Sanskrit and is believed to be written between 400 C.E. – 600 C.E… It describes the story of battle between the good and the evil, the battle between Devi in the from of Durga and Mahishasura where the goddess is shown as angry and merciless. In peaceful situation, the Devi is manifested as Lakshmi, a symbol of piece, wealth and
happiness. Devi Mahatmyam portrays that aspect of Hinduism where ultimate reality is a female.
Shrimad Devi Bhagvatam Puran portrays Devi as the prime creator of the universe. It celebrates feminine entities as the creator, protector and destroyer of everything. It calls for propogation of Shaktism (devotional worship of Shakti) which is a symbol of feminine power.
Puranas do not engage with lives of common women. But as a significant religious text of Hinduism, it provides us with Great insights into how female Goddesses were revered and called Shakti (literally, power) and what all power and authority those goddesses seemed to have had.
Critical Analysis of the Epics from the lens of Feminism
Let’s recount the dice game from the Mahabharata. Yudhishthira staked himself in the game of dice and lost himself and everything that belonged to him. After this, he staked his wife Draupadi and lost her too. On the orders of Duryodhan, who now ‘possessed’ Draupadi, she was brought to the courtroom of Hastinapura. Draupadi then asks one of the most important questions of Mahabharata, which no one could answer. The question was ‘How could Yudhishthira stake Draupadi after he had staked Himself and lost’.
When we view this incident from the lens of feminism, this still is not the right question. The right question had to be, what right did Yudishthira have to stake her at all? The major reason of concern is why was this question not asked?
Draupadi was one of first feminists mentioned in the Hindu religious texts. She was strong, opinionated and also stood her ground in front of a group of men. Still what could have been the reason that she was not able to ask the relevant question? This is due to INTERNALISATION OF PATRIARCHY.
Mythological texts have mostly been about men, written mostly by men where women hardly had any significant role to play. And the reason why women were portrayed as week, submissive and vile in the epics like Mahabharata is because these stories were narrated and written by the men.
Internalization of Patriarchy set in place by such literature is so strong, that women for years and years to come after the compilation of these epics could not challenge the notions of femininity portrayed there due to the divinity attached to these epics.
Functional School of thought says that “Every myth has to have a reason”. Even the epics that we have studied for thousands of years are not just random tales. They have been closely structured and authored to serve a purpose. The purpose has majorly been Internalization of Patriarchy and molding social and behavioral norms of women.
In Ramayana, Sita was described as a woman who followed her husband to the forest and despite her husband’s questioning of her fidelity and chastity, she always remained the complaisant wife. The reason why Sita could not question her husband’s decision of abandoning her was due to the Internalization of Patriarchy, and when this epic was narrated to the masses, it set a precedent as to how woman should morally be – she should accept the decision taken by her lord without questioning him, which further solidifies patriarchal notions and leads to Internalization of Patriarchy.
Another misfitting incidents from the Ramayana and Mahabharat were Swayamvaras of Sita and Draupadi. Although the practice was labelled as swayamvar i.e. making a choice of one’s life partner by self, the practice was far from its meaning as portrayed in both the epics as neither Sita nor Draupadi had a choice to choose their husbands. On one hand, where Sita’s husband was to be chosen on the basis of who is able to lift Lord Shiva’s bow, Draupadi’s Husband was to be chosen on the basis of who hits the fish’s eye from the bow and arrow. Both of these processes could have chosen Sita and Draupadi a husband to which they had no consent, and how these processes were more like competition of skill and strength while the two ladies being the trophy the person who wins the competition gets. These incidents are again internalizing patriarchy and directing women to lose their ability to make choice and surrender their lives to the men to decide for them.
The story where Savitri saved her husband from death, sends outs a message in the society that if women are chaste and pure, their husbands would not die, which ends up being detrimental to women’s interests and internalizes patriarchy. Women are told as to how their only function is to serve their husbands.
Shakuntala is portrayed in Abhijnanasakuntalam as a women who when not acknowledged by her husband, begs to him for the rights of her child. When the husband denies knowing her, she walks away helplessly. This incident infamously tells women to accept all the atrocities inflicted upon them by their husbands.
All of the epics and mythological tales mentioned above are stories about men written by men, thus they lead to internalization of patriarchy.
Solution to Eliminate Internalization of Patriarchy by Mythological Literature – The 3 Re’s (Re-Visiting, Re-Visioning and Re-Telling)
Adriane Rich said that we need to know the writing of the past and we have to know it differently than we have ever known it -not to pass on a tradition- but we need to break its hold over us.
We need to eliminate the patriarchal notions internalized in the epics of Hindu tradition. This can be only done by knowing these stories differently. This can only be done by shifting the narrative from the male to the female character, re-visioning the storyline in a manner which
is fair to each gender and retelling the tales to break open the shackles women were caught in due to normalization of notions that are problematic.
We need to come up with a version of Ramayana, where Sita refuses to prove her chastity to her husband. We need to come up with a version of Mahabharata where Draupadi asks the relevant questions like why she had to marry 5 men, if she only loved 1 and what right did Yudhishthira have to stake her at all. We need to come up with a story where Savitri’s husband goes to the similar extent to save his wife’s life. We need to come up with a version of Abhijnanasakuntalam, where Shakuntala stands firm for her rights with all pride and power. Only then can these texts be deemed as fair because both the sides of the coin are well
represented. Also, internalization of patriarchy will disappear gradually, when the society realizes that things could have happened otherwise too.
Re-visioning of literature is not a new concept. Some of examples where literature has been re-visioned and retold from a feminist’s perspective are as follows:
1. THE PALACE OF ILLUSIONS by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is a book where Draupadi tells her own story. Divakaruni’s Draupadi refuses to accept things at face value and is fiercely outspoken and feminist in her inclinations.
2. LANKA’S PRINCESS by Kavita Kane tells the story of Ramayana from the perspective of Surpanakha, Ravan’s sister. The book revolves around her and answers the question if she was the reason behind Sita’s abduction by Ravana.
3. MANDODRI: QUEEN OF LANKA by Manini J Anandani tells Ramayana from Mandodri’s point of view. Book deals with insecurities Mandodri had after marrying Ravana and also covers the reasons that lead to Ravan’s downfall.
4. SITA by Devdutt Pattanaik explores Ramayana from Sita’s perspective and explores about her struggles, determination and pride more than any other version of Ramayana.
5. KARNA’S WIFE: THE OUTCAST QUEEN by Kavita Kane tells the story of Karna through the eyes of his wife Urvi, a character that was never mentioned in Mahabharata.
6. SITA’S SISTER by Kavita Kane explores the life of Urmila, Laxman’s wife and tell us about the reason why she did not accompany her husband to the forest and instead waited for 14 years for her husband to return from the exile.
7. THE KAUNTEYAS by Madhavi S. Madhavan explores the tale of Mahabharata from the eyes of Kunti. The story explores Kunti as an active character of Mahabharata and the changes she brought to the entire narrative.
8. SATYAVATI by Utkarsh Patel describes Satyavati not only as a queen, wife and a mother, but highlights the tough decision she made which turned the course of Mahabharata and her constant struggles that she fought within herself.
9. SHAKUNTALA: THE WRONGED WOMAN describes Shakuntala not as a woman begging for her rights in front of her husband, but shows her as a woman who stood against her husband with pride and claimed the rights of her child.
10. MENAKA’S CHOICE by Kavita Kane describes Menaka as woman of substance who decided to choose motherhood and intricately portrays her internal conflict when she had to abandon her child and leave for the heaven.
CONCLUSION
There is an array of problems faced while studying Feminism in the context of Hinduism. From difference in the social and religious setup of the west and India to the Hindu Succession Act of 1956, it is important that all the exceptions are taken into account while analyzing feminism in a Hindu society. The beginning of Feminism in the Hindu Society is attributed to men, while it is also criticized by some who label their efforts as tokenistic. Many scholars claim Feminism to be unnecessary in a Hindu society on grounds that women had sufficient rights and opportunities, Feminism is a western construct and that a Hindu society has different challenges, but an analysis of the lives of women in the post-Vedic period and their portrayal in Mythological Literature tells a different story.
After a careful analysis of Hindu religious texts like Manusmriti, Arthashastra and Upanishads and the three epics Ramayana, Abhijnanasakuntalam and Mahabharata the paper concludes that Feminism was and is relevant as a social movement and ideology in the Hindu society because such literature and texts led to internalization of patriarchy to a great extent and had set social norms which were problematic and were not providing women with sufficient rights, freedom and opportunities as compared to the men. Solution to this problem is re-visiting, re-visioning and re-telling those tales from the perspective of those characters, who did not get the opportunity to speak for themselves when their stories were narrated or compiled by a group of men.
Simran
So true.Very well expressed.