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Religious Roles in Hinduism

February 7, 2007 at 1:41 pm by mahud

Since Vedic times, the religious climate of India has undergone many changes, and the living experiences of men and women throughout India’s long religious history have also been conciderably diverse.

Sexual Equality in Vedic times

Dispite being the product of a patriarchal society, the Rig-Veda, the oldest of Hinduism’s religious texts, displays a level of equality between the sexes. Religious study was open to both men and women, and a religious education was important as ritual knowledge was an indispensable part of life, with rituals often performed in partnership by married couples (Holm, ‘ed‘, 2001, p.59-60).

“The Rig-Veda, the oldest of Hinduism’s religious texts, displays a level of equality between the sexes.”

Marriage, although a religious ideal, appears to of been optional for women, and both sexes had freedom regarding the choice of marriage partners. the Samana festival provides us with an example of men and women associating without any gender division (Ibid, p.60). The Rig-Veda does reveal that male children wre desired over the birth of daughters, but nowhere else do we find that female children were undervalued (ibid, p.60). Widowhood was less stigmatic than in later times, and the opportunity to remarry the dead man’s brother was a possibility (ibid, p.60). Sati, so we are told was only symbolic.

The Religious Role of Woman in the Bramanas

The sexual equality in the early Vedic period can be seen to of degenerated in the later Brahmana texts as ritual practice became more specialized and woman were unable to fulfil a ritual function, such as the marriage rites of earlier times. Women were directed towards a more domestic role.

“The sexual equality in the early Vedic period can be seen to of degenerated in the later Brahmana texts as ritual practice became more specialized”

The birth of sons can now be seen to be of much greater value than the birth of daughters. Ritual impurity surrounding the menstrual Cycle also recieved negative attain (ibid, p.61).
Women were subject to spiritual equality in the Upanishadic period when asceticism had risen as a religious ideal, but for men, rather than women. The role of women was seen entirely within the context of marriage which had become devalued as the religious ideal of Vedic times in favour of asceticism. If a wife accompanied her husband into the forest it would be for his needs rather than her own (Holm, J ‘ed‘ , 2001, p.61-63).

Femininity in the Epics

In the Hindu epics, the ideal of marriage is in one aspect seen in terms of a wife’s selfless devotion to her husband (Ibid, 63-66). Sharada Sugirtharaja points out that in patriarchal societies women are seen through men’s eyes and are defined according to what men ideally want women to be, and therefore, while there are strong images of women to be found in the classical literature of Hinduism, the emphasis tends to revert back to the overall needs of a man. This has been a problem for many women who desire independence in their own right and have found this reflected in goddesses such as Kali (ibid, p.66-7).

Marriage Roles

The Dhamasastras, the Hindu legal texts (also known as the Law Code and Laws of Manu) were composed by Brahmin men who saw women as secondary citizens whose role in life was firmly planted within a domestic setting and in subjugation to men throughout their lives. In marriage a woman’s ‘religious life was largely centered on the needs of her husband to the point where her identity should idealy become enmeshed with his. As a mother, a woman was valued especially when her offspring was male. The legal texts permitted men to remarry, while for women this was denied (Holm, J ‘ed‘, 2001, p.70-1).

The Bhakti tradition

“The relationship between Deity and devotee was percieved as the ultimate love affair, where the God was male and the worshippers were symbolically female.”

The Bhakti tradition, which centers on the devotion and worship of God, emerged between the sixth and seventh centuries A.D. It was accessible to all people regardless of social status. Women were not placed in a secondary role and could worship equally alongside men. The relationship between Deity and devotee was percieved as the ultimate love affair, where the God was male and the worshippers were symbolically female. Men would mentally transform themselves into females to strengthen their devotion. Bhakti transcended normal social attitudes towards specific gender roles within a religious setting (Ibid, p. 67).

Tantrism

“Patriarchal expectations of female gender do not apply within Tantrism. All women are seen as representations of Sakti.”

In Tantrism, the divine is seen as both male and female, but formost as the independent Sakti, the active and imminent feminine principle from which the masculine receives its power. Patriarchal expectations of female gender do not apply within Tantrism. All women are seen as representations of Sakti. Also, the attitude towards menstruation as impure and polluting is reversed and menstruating women play an important part in Tantric ritual (ibid, p.72-74).

Restoring Religious Freedom for Women

Over the past two centuries there have been efforts to emancipate women from certain oppressive social customs, such as widow burning, where a wife is expected to sacrifice herself (perform/become a Sati) on her husbands funeral pyre or face the grim alternative as a perpetual and socially rejected widow. The beginnings of these reform movements were formed through western attitudes towards what were seen as outdated barbaric practices, but eventually became internalized by Hindu’s who looked within their own culture and religious past for solutions (Holm, J ‘ed’, 2001, p.76).

The struggle for independence from British rule helped to create an environment for equality between the sexes. Gandhi encouraged women to transfer the traditional devotion they were expected to give to the husbands in marriage towards the fight for Mother India. Since independence, womens educational opportunities have greatly increased (ibid, p.77) and there have been attempts to establish women priests in a priesthood that remains male dominated (ibid, p.81).

Bibliography

1. Holm, Jean ‘ed’, 2001 ‘women in religion’ continuum.
2. Open University study gudes, 2001.

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