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.