Goddess or No Goddess
Our thoughts about women are not inherited. They are formed
by the beliefs and practices of the society only. The society that follows the preaching
of their respective religious beliefs and ideas has done more harm than good to
the women. Hinduism and Islam might have contradictory faiths and teachings but
they stand on same platform when it comes to the description of the role and
importance of women in the society.
I am born in a Hindu family. Thus I have more exposure to
the position of women in a Hindu society and their portrayals in the Hindu
mythologies. We have numerous books and scriptures that mention the then
positions and situations a woman dealt with. I have not read any of the books
but the preaching of elders and popular beliefs forced me to believe that women
are lower. I was not ready to believe this though. I tried every possible way
to get more information on the topic. I talked about it with my mother, my grandmother
and my father but was not satisfied by their explanations. Then I searched on the
internet and as always, Wikipedia came to my rescue; providing sheer facts and
no perceptions. After years of teachings and preaching I have come to a
conclusion that according to our mythologies, women actually have fewer rights.
The first thing that draw my attention is that women are ‘objects’;
precious and valuable but objects.
The kidnapping of Sita by Ravan in “Treta Yug” is one of the
earliest examples. We all know that Ravan’s sister Surpanakha abetted him to
take revenge from the young Ram and Lakshman who refused to accept her as their
wife. Ravan couldn’t take this insult and planned to kidnap Sita, Ram’s wife to
teach them a lesson. Along with Ram he taught me a lesson. That women are
objects who can be borrowed or kidnapped to teach someone a lesson. If someone
has insulted you or threatened you, you just have to claim the woman in his
family. In moments the man will be on his knees, begging for his reputation and
respect. While Ravan did so to take revenge from the brothers on behalf of his
sister, he was also attracted by the beauty and grace of Sita and thought of
marrying her.
The second thing I can make out is that women are
properties. Remember the game of gamble between Duryodhan and Yudhisthir? Yes,
the same one where Yudhisthir betted his wife for a game, the same game where
Draupadi was insulted. Where she was asked to remove her clothes in front of
the gathering. Where she was called a ‘whore’ for being married to five
husbands. All this just because her husband lost he in a game. And what did everybody
do? They let this happen. They claimed they were doing ‘dharma’ by abiding by
the rules of the game.
This is not the only thing that disturbs me, the major
disappointment is that after all this insult and character assassination Draupadi
forgave her husbands. Why? Because she was a woman and not a warrior, she could
not fight for her self-esteem. She had to rely on her husbands for justice, who
were equally responsible for her plight.
Wouldn’t an idle situation would be one where Draupadi
stands for herself and gets back her respect? If the mythologies preach this
society a way of life then shouldn’t they preach equality; regarding rights and
strengths. Why only Draupadi was questioned for having five husbands? Why didn’t
anyone ask Arjun for having four wives? Why?
The third thing I derive is that women can’t have sexual desires.
The instance where Ahilya was punished for a sin she committed in disguise is quintessential.
Ahilya, the world’s most beautiful woman as created by the Brahma was married
to Maharishi Gautam. Indra, the king of Swarglok maintained that all beautiful
women should be with him. He was seduced by the beauty and persona of Ahilya
and decided own her. After Gautam leaves for his ritual bath, Indra masquerades
as Gautama and asks Ahalya to satisfy him. Ahalya, engrossed in worship,
rejects him, considering it inappropriate to have sex at the cost of neglecting
the gods. Indra reminds her that her first duty is to serve him. Finally Ahalya
gives in, but Gautama learns of this by his divine powers. On reaching his home
he was highly disappointed from his wife for not recognizing her husband and losing
her self-control. He cursed her to turn into a stone.
And Indra was removed from his throne temporarily. That’s
it. Now the question is was that the fault of Ahilya? She was a normal being
with no ultimate powers to recognize even her husband’s touch or guess Indra’s
plan! She didn’t ask him to come over then why did she suffer? She did what she
thought was her ‘duty’ as a wife, to satisfy her husband.
She was released from the curse thousands of years later by
the touch of Ram’s feet. And after coming to life again she begged pardon from
her husband. This clearly exhibits the double standard the society maintained. And
this is prevalent even now. Talking about a women’s sexual desire is still a
taboo. Why can’t a woman express her sexual desires? Isn’t she made up of same
chemicals, elements and hormones the men are made up of?
These are only few instances, there are numerous such
incidents that highlight that women are of lower importance. A woman can't be an heir, she doesn't have a stake in her father's property, she is not capable of being a warrior, there are many such myths which are accepted as beliefs These beliefs and practices
are in rooted in our society so deeply that it is naïve to demand change
overnight. But despite knowing this it is my humble request to all the men and
women who worship women as form of Durga, Laxi and Saraswati, please stop doing
so. Because the girl you are worshipping (or pretending to worship) is neither
Durga nor there is any actual Durga.
The ‘shakti’ or ‘source of strength’ you worship is said to
have immense power but the women who you pretend to worship are made up of very
ordinary material. They have the same strength, same fate, same predilections,
same prejudices, same drawbacks and same desires.
They are as human as you are.
