In the sphere of religious practice and spiritual pursuit which have been the most valued in Indian tradition, women enjoyed equal rights with men. Men never interfered with the activity and progress of women in religious or spiritual practice.
It is a widely recognised fact that India’s spiritual tradition is superior to all other traditions in the world mainly due to its philosophical content that encompasses the whole of creation including the universe and all of its living kind. More than 2000 years of Western scientific speculations have been unable to disprove the fundamental philosophical premises of the most authentic spiritual texts of India, namely the Vedas. In fact, the Vedas, the first ever literature of the world contain even the current theories of the physical sciences. This spiritual literature could guide many scientists in their exploration of uncovering the mysteries of the universe. The ancient seers of India could reach the peak of spirituality since they valued spiritual ideals above all other aims of life. Of the four purusharthas (aims of life) such as artha (wealth), Kama (pleasures), dharma moral values and duties) and moksha (spiritual liberation), dharma and moksha were observed as higher values while artha and kama were considered lower. Of the four, moksha has always been treated as the summum bonum. It is important here to note that even in the pursuit of this ultimate good women were treated on part with men, they were viewed as two sides of the same coin. Women have never been denied opportunity in this field, not even in the remote past. Nothing stool against the freedom of women to undertake religious practices.
This attitude of the ancient tradition continued without any break through the period of the great Epics and the Puranas and forms an integral part of Hindu culture. This is the reason why Indians could never even think of discrimination against the fair sex with respect to their right to vote in Independent India’s first General Election for Democratic governance. It is also notable that in the constituent Assembly formed in 1946, 15 members were women. Even in the so-called advanced countries such as Britain and America during the initial period franchise was limited to men!
In India women played major role in assuming family responsibility while men engaged more in public jobs and social activities. It was a kind of division of labour between husband and wife in performing house hold duties. On account of it one finds less number of women engaging themselves in spiritual practices as well as in social activities and public jobs. This does not, however, mean that lacked freedom to undertake any of these activities. It is proved by the fact that throughtout the ages there have been celebrated women personalities in India who did great religious penance and undertake spiritual sādhana.
Starting from the Vedic age, participation of women was held essential while conducting religious rituals. In the sacred sacrifices (yajna) along with the Yajamana for whose sake the sacrifice is conducted, participation of his wife was essential. An episode in Ramayana conveys this custom – After Rama’s renunciation of Sita, once when a sacrifice was about to be conducted in his kingdom for the general welfare of the people, to keep the auspicious nature of the sacrifice Sita’s presence was felt necessary. To overcome this crisis what Rama did was to make a golden statue of Sita and place it beside him and conclude the ceremony.
Madhuvidya and Maitreyi
In the 2nd chapter of the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad we find Maitrey’s spiritual eminence disclosed. Her husband Yajnavalkya decides to leave home in order to move to the stage of samnyāsa (total renunciation from worldly duties). He wants to divide his wealth between his two wives, Maitreyi and Kāthyāyani. But Maitreyi being a Brahmavadini turns down material wealth for the sake of spiritual advice from Yajnavalkya, one of the most prominent of the Seers of Vedic wisdom. She pleads for Atma vidya or Madhu vidya (wisdom regarding the soul) as a substitute for worldly property.
It is in the instruction imparted by Yajnavalkya to Maitreyi that we find the famous maxim, “atmanastu kamaya sarvam priyam bhavati”. It means, nothing in this world is dear for its sake, anything is dear becasuse its essence is atma, the ultimate reality. We love the things of the world even though they are transitory, it is on account of the underlying eternal principle, namely, the blissful atma they appear attractive to us. To clear the doubts of Maitreyi, Yajnavalkya continues thus: when atma is known, everything is known since atma is Brahman and as such it is not merely the basis of the human being, it is the foundation of everything. Madhu vidya is here considered superior even to Brahmaloka because during pralaya or dissolution of the world, Brahmaloka also gets absorbed into Brahman which alone is ultimately real.
Gargi and Yajnavalkya
In the 3rd chapter of the Bṛhadaranyaka Upanishad an episode is described where King Janaka is conducting a Yajna. During the ceremony Janaka brings to the scene one thousand cows, their hooves and horns adorned with gold caps and announces that the best of the Brahmajnanis assembled there could carry them home. Yajnavalkya came forward to own the cows, then the other Brahmajnanis put forward certain fundamental spiritual issues in order to test Yajnavalkya’s spiritual accomplishment. Actually King Janaka occasionally used to conduct spiritual discussions in his court. This also is such an occasion. Yajnavalkya here is the preceptor who has to answer the questions raised by others. It is notable that Gargi, the daughter of Vacaknu, was among the great seers of the day who had gathered there. Gargi’s questions, we find, here are highly serious and fundamental compared to those of other scholars.
Gargi questions Yajnavalkya as to the more subtle and fundamental basis of this visible world which is composed of ‘up’ (‘water’ among the five elements out of which the sensory world is made). Actually the ‘tranmatras’ (subtle particles) of water arise from Agni or Fire tranmatras, but Yajnavalkya’s answer was ‘Air’ instead of Agni. The reason is, though made up of water the world of objects was produced by Agni. Without Agni the forms of the objects would not have been visible. Since the forms have already been produced by Agni, the next higher basis of the world of objects is Air. It was such a challenging question that an eminent scholar like Yajnavalkya alone could answer.
Gargi’s discussion continues to subtler and subtler layers of reality upto the world of Hiranyagarbha or the Cosmic Mind. But when she asks, “which is the basis of the world of Hiranyagarbha?” Yajnavalkya exclaims that she exceeds the limits of inquiry. What he means is, since the basis of Hiranyagarbha is Brahman, the ultimate substratum which is beyond words, she is surpassing the limits of expression.
Yoginis of the Age of Ramayana
Ahalya a character in Ramayana who is counted as one among the panca kanyas (the five revered women of Indian tradition, namely, Sita, Ahalya, Tara, Mandodari and Draupadi) is well-known for the rigorous tapas she did at the behest of the great ascetic Gautama, her husband. It was an act of penance for her falling under the spell of Indra who seduced her. For thousands of years she remained in the ashram, invisible to others and deprived of food and other comforts, doing meditation until Rama’s arrival on the scene. When the eyes of Rama fell on the glowing figure of Ahalya radiant as a result of her rigorous tapas, she could regain her physical form. In due regard for the purity she had acquired through her severe penance Rama and Lakshmana both touched her feet in reverence.
Another female ascetic mentioned in the Ramayana is the renowned mystic Anasuya, wife of Atri Maharshi. When Rama along with Sita and Lakshmana, during their exile visited Atri and Anasuya, sage Atri describes the wonderful spiritual powers of Anasuya, the embodiment of chastity and nobility in character. Atri relates events showing that even Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara respected and relied on her spiritual powers. Anasuya’s advice to Sita was, self-less dedicated service to one’s husband is also a tapas. She presented Sita with heavenly ornaments and dress that kept her body clean without washing.
Ramayana talks about Sabari, another Yogini who was a tribal woman. Rama paid homage to her with equal significance he had shown towards other distinguished saints. Consequent on the abduction of Sita by Ravana, Rama and Lakshmana were moving towards the south in search of her. Meanwhile they visited Sabari’s ashram and received due honour from her. This incident shows, women shared equal rights with men in spiritual pursuits and also that caste distinction was not a hindrance to anyone in spiritual journey. This event refutes the misleading blame some interpreters put on Rama that he killed a yogin called Śambooka because he belonged to a lower caste. This allegation against Rama is quite baseless since Sambooka himself had admitted to Rama that he was doing tapas to have dominioin over heaven. This was what Ravana had done that necessitated Lord Vishnu to assume avatar as Rama to bring an end to his evil doings.
Amba and Gāndhāri
In Mahabharata we find Amba, daughter of Kasi Raja, when suffered injustice due to the activity of Bhishma, the greatest warrior of the time, taking revenge on him by resorting to rigorous tapas. As a result she received a boon from Lord Siva that she would be instrumental in bringing an end to Bhishma’s life. In consequence she took birth as Sikhandi, daughter of Drupada, continued her Penance, eventually transforming herself to a man and along with Arjuna faced Bhishma in the Kurukshetra war.
The uncompromising and mighty nature of Gandhari’s Penance is also well-known. She is a model of powerful female ascetics who showed determination and free choice in leading their lives. After marriage against the wishes of her husband Dhṛtarashtra the ruler of Hastinapuram she took a strong vow to live herself blindfold for the rest of her life. At the close of the war when she cursed Krishna that he along with his subjects and Dvaraka would be destroyed, Krishna honoured the spiritual power of her penance in accepting it though he could have avoided it taking effect.
It is quite evident here that women in Bharat have never faced any hindrance in leading a religious life or undertaking spiritual practices. It is true, women stood away from doing certain religious rites. But here we may note that spirituality is distinguished from religion by the Hindus. While religion consists of a particular set of beliefs and rituals, true spirituality is the synoptic vision of the whole of creation and developing a favourable attitude towards all living beings and Nature. Religion is the means of attaining this all-inclusive perspective. In this holistic vision of spirituality converge not only religious differences but gender discrimination as well. This is the great aim of Hindu religion and so women in Bharat at all times have enjoyed full freedom to pursue it.
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