To stay abreast of the ins and outs of the Hindu world, I subscribe to a news service called Hindu Press International (HPI). HPI sends out daily digests of stories from India and around the world about Hindus and Hinduism. Most days, I quickly scan the short blurbs which cover a variety of stories -- from detailed holiday celebrations in Mauritius to violations of Hindu human rights in Kashmir; discoveries of ancient ruins in Cambodia to the inauguration of a new temple in some remote corner of the world. Indeed, many of these stories are enlightening, but today one particular story brought a huge smile to my face and a moment of connection to the shakti (feminine energy) that manifests through every woman around the globe.
Here is an excerpt:
A group of women activists, belonging to Maharashtra's BJP Mahila Morcha, created history on Wednesday by storming into the sanctum sanctorum and performing puja at the famous Mahalakshmi temple at Kolhapur in western Maharashtra, where only men are allowed to enter the "garbha-griha" ... as many as 20 activists, led by State BJP Mahila Morcha chief Neeta Kelkar, took the temple authorities by surprise by entering into the sanctum sanctorum of the Mahalakshmi temple ...
The women activists not only ignored the persistent efforts by the priests and police personnel present to prevent them from entering the 'garbha-griha', where the temple management has over the years steadfastly disallowed the entry of women, but they also dressed the presiding deity with a new saree and performed puja."
The Hindu tradition personifies shakti, or the Divine power by which all is created or changed, as feminine, hence the central role of Goddess worship. Shakti is quiet yet strong, graceful yet fierce, subtle yet capable of unmatched rage. Hindu society, a primarily patriarchal society (with some exceptions), has always elevated the softer virtues of shakti in defining the "ideal woman," but at the deepest levels of our collective conscience, I believe Hindus recognize that it is the compassion and benevolence inherent in the feminine that compels woman to exercise restraint in displaying her strength all at once.
But on many an occasion, women throughout Hindu history have demonstrated their ability to stand up to the status quo, to right wrongs, or to simply lead the way, and have done so with elegance and humility. These courageous women have spanned the ages, from as far back as the time of the Vedas to, well, last Wednesday.
Gargi, the Vedic philosopher, for example, is credited for having brought out the answer to the most profound questions of Vedanta -- the nature of the Soul (Brahman) and the origins of the universe, during a public debate with Sage Yajnavalkya (chronicled in the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad). In a court filled with male philosophers, Gargi fired question after question at the great sage, stumping a man who had never before been stumped. At one point Yajnavalkya even warned Gargi that her head would fall off if she continued, so she humbly stepped aside, in the hopes that others would continue where she was leading the sage. Others piped in, but failed to elicit the answer she was clearly aiming for, so she spoke up one last time. It was her final two questions that led Sage Yajnavalkya to definitively articulate the nature, or lack thereof, of the unmanifested, unknowable, formless Brahman.
In the Middle Ages there was Mirabai, who fought the conventions of royal life and against what was considered "appropriate" behavior for women of the time. A prolific devotional poet-saint, Mirabai was the first of religious freedom advocates. She rebelled against her in-laws by continuing to worship Lord Krishna, the deity of her childhood, rather than being forced to pray to the deity of her new family. Later, she would escape several attempts on her life by her in-laws because they did not approve of her very public practice of religion. Imagine a princess singing and dancing without abandon, and that too amongst other Krishna devotees, including commoners. She rebelled against societal norms and tradition to pursue her life's one focus -- selfless surrender to God.
Others have graced the pages of more recent history like my namesake (more like my nick-namesake amongst family members), Jhansi ki Rani (Queen of Jhansi). Lakshmi Bai, her given name, had humble beginnings. The daughter of a priest, she was trained in the art of warfare as a result of her father's influence with the royal court and perhaps too because of his open-mindedness. At the tender age of 14, she was married to the king of Jhansi, but was quickly recognized for her inborne leadership skills. Long acknowledged as a key player in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, she died a fearless warrior on the battlefield, sword in one hand, reins in the other, fighting for the freedom of her kingdom and her people.
And today we have amazing women like Ma Yoga Shakti, the adopted guru of my in-laws and a person with whom I have had the honor of spending time. She, amongst others, in following a higher calling, have entered the traditionally male-dominated world of Hindu ascetics. She is an embodiment of maternal and wisdom-filled love to all those who approach her. But unlike many other monks who are part of a larger sampradaya (tradition) or guru-shishya parampara (teacher-student lineage), she has tread a path of her own -- inspiring, educating, and counseling thousands of souls along the way in a distinctly feminine way.
At the risk of being accused of judging the relevance of these remarkable women through a western feminist lens -- after all I was born and raised in America and despite my best efforts to balance East and West -- I see their tenacity, not so much as a quest for equality, but a quest for freedom -- the freedom to think, the freedom to question, the freedom to worship, the freedom to be free. On their journeys, they've also toppled many of the assumptions about women imposed upon us by society or sanctioned through religion -- that we're incapable, we're weak, or we're impure.
Will Neeta Kelkar and her 19 sakhis (friends) or the countless women around the world who are compelled to let their full-form shakti arise from time to time, make the kind of history other great women have before them? Only time will tell. Nevertheless, I am inspired by these some ordinary and some extraordinary women who bring about change, bucking many man-made traditions one graceful step at a time.
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-Ashwini
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/A-woman-to-enjoy-a-male-ritual-in-the-gender-biased-Jatland/articleshow/8100621.cms
Some readers might point out that commentaries on Hinduism sound far loftier than the reality in which some Hindu women find themselves. Reader Murugan Kumar says below: “As I read this article and the article of this nature, I can't but wonder is this the same India, both ancient and modern, where women are being treated as property?” He lists child marriage, selective abortion, bride burnings as instances of women being treated as less than human.
In response, I would say two things. One, that these acts do not reflect the application of Hindu values, but rather, a progressive alienation of certain Hindus from values, period.
Secondly, in every such instance of the oppression of Hindu women, you will find that the reason the practices persist is BECAUSE OF THE ACTIVE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN in oppressing their own. Wherever women rally and unite behind other women, they become a force to reckon with. And the men who love such women are enriched by their independence, not threatened by it.
( End of comments )
Unlike in western feminism, the Hindu concept of the divine feminine as embodied by the principle of Shakti is that of a power that exists not in OPPOSITION to male power and male qualities, but as COMPLEMENTING it. Shakti is inseparable from Shiva. Shiva is powerless without Shakti. If Purusha is the ground, the substratum, the basis of all existence, the feminine Prakriti is the energy and the motive force for that existence to reveal itself in the dazzling complexities of Creation.
The idealized form of this union is of course Ardhanaareeshwara, the Lord who is half male and half female, the union of Being and Becoming, the One that is manifest as the Many. They might be worshipped separately, but they are never separate from one another. The more one studies and strives to understand this conceptualization of divinity, the more one marvels at the spiritual maturity of the ancients who conceived the Ultimate Divine not merely as a power that strives to establish supremacy and crush opposition, but as an ongoing cosmic ballet of opposites and complementarities oscillating between equilibrium and instability and everything in between. There is no question of interpreting the female as being inferior or incapable in this vision. What she is, rather, is indispensable.
( to be continued in Part 5)
For many western women, this quest for acceptance begins in school. A girl can never be too slender, but she cannot afford to appear too intelligent or too socially reserved. When girls are given “freedom of choice” to carve their destiny, while being bombarded with messages from popular culture that their power and value depends exclusively on how they look and who their boyfriend is, it is not surprising that so many miss the opportunity to achieve their full potential.
Freedom is every woman’s birthright. But that freedom by itself is of no value without the discrimination and strength of character to use it well. What “using it well” means is, of course subjective -- and if a woman’s interpretation of it is at odds with prevailing social norms, she will have a difficult time.
But the woman who is truly free seeks approval only from her conscience. And that spirit of woman is bounded neither by ethnicity or religion.
( to be continued in Part 4)
The woman who experiences a strong calling and is driven by her convictions doesn’t wait either for society or religion to serve up freedom on a platter. She bucks convention, she derails tradition. If this were not the case, you would not find the exceptional women you have profiled in a society apparently governed by patriarchal values.
In fact, I would argue that those values are just as prevalent in western societies that outwardly appear egalitarian. The west’s social sanction of “freedom” for women is no guarantee that a woman will actually claim it for her benefit. She might just as likely hold herself back in myriad ways in order to win and retain the approval of men in the workplace or at home.
( to be continued in Part 3 )
The stereotype out there that that “Western woman” equates to “independent –minded /freedom-loving / individualistic” while “Asian / Middle eastern woman” equates to “unquestioningly submissive/ traditional / conformist” can be as true or as false as any other stereotype. I still remember when Hillary Clinton first visited India, she lectured a group of Indian women about how they ought to buck male authority and be more emancipated. This, after she had just been interviewed on national television holding her husband’s hand after the humiliating revelations of his dalliances with Monica Lewinsky! Yet she thought as an American woman she was uniquely qualified to pontificate on this topic to Indian women!
( to be continued )
Thank you for taking the time to share. I look forward to reading all of your posts.
Just for clarification on Part 1, I don't believe I am seeing these women through a Western feminist lens, but wanted to respond to those who may accuse me of doing so by seeing my argument as one for a quest for equality. Many people, I believe, understand one of the main foci of the modern Western feminist movement to be that of equality only. To me, freedom transcends equality, and so the struggles of these women were not about "equality" in a civil/legal/Western sense, but freedom in a very human sense, and one that finds acknowledgement in the concept of Shakti.
Also, let's not forget that India has women leaders at the helm of the nation while here in America, we're still uncomfortable is a First Lady steps out beyond "softer" U.S. policy issues. In addition to humiliating revelations, Hillary Clinton could vouch for that as well when she tried to tackle healthcare reform back in the day.
But I can't tell you how many times I've been told that my views are due to my being "more American than Indian" by people who've never set foot outside their home state, let alone traveled to India!
I'm a United States borne, Male Anglo-Saxen that sojourned to the Bhagwan Ashram
in the principality of Pune, India; for a three month sabbatical.
Part of the regime for "mastering meditation" at this "craddle of civilization" took me
through witnessing the "chop-shops" and cottage industries that surround the Rajneesh
"Multiversity-Club Med".
The young native woman that I payed to maintence my apartment flat, just off-campus radiated
the "divine-feminene' in there chosen vocations. Because I was 12 1/2 hours ahead of time
from my native [Utah-USA,] one really may really awake to what it is like to cross the hempishere
and behold what the affect has on the hemisphere's of your brain!!
Traditional gender-roles are {without generalizing} inherit in young men/woman,,, androgenous. Because I had taken Sanyas,{intiatation} and had an additional "Hindu-Handle", I could
inter-relate with the populus of Muslim/Hindu/Christian/Seik/Aryian.
"Fascinating Womanhood" abounds in B.o.m.bay/Pune/Goa and if you really want to test the
medal of Americas' liberated masculinity, seek after what the amalgamated rule of England,
has evolved into, since Mahatma christened liberty to Hindia/India!!!
a
vedic civilization in the ancient times was a time of happiness for everyone " all good [ all good ] to everyone and no non good to anyone " is the vedic ideal from Ramayana
14 successive Maurya kings , some say 14 000 years , was a golden age in which women were more respected than in ancient Greece
King Ashoka was still a very enlightened time ,in the absolute , and relative to Rome or Babylon
the Gupta empire in the first centuries of CE is still good relative to the times. the last of the great Hindu kings was king Rajaraja, the chola king about 1000 AD
just like Islam and Christianity degenerated after the crusades so did hinduism around 1200
all this of course is very superficial
the real and only cause of tragedy or injustice or harm is stress [ entropy ] in the body/brain
and that stress load results from neglect of proper practice of meditation [ neutralizing or healing stress ]
the best way the only way actually through which justice will be adchieved for men and women and children is through at least 1% of people learning transcendental meditation(TM)
whoever christian or hindu advocates abuse is not a person of religion or consciousness
the matter of widows etc is actually like the matter of social policy in america republicans dont want any ' socialism ' [ death panels ? ] democrats want some social policy and a parental role for the governemnt
treatment of women is a political matter . all religion in essence respects dignity and nobility of man and woman but sometimes " economics " is the trump card in this
i liken this story about women activists to the activists who are trying to prevent farmers from committing suicide because of bad government policy. here is theopposite of religion being the problem ; it is godless government or more precisely godless capitalism which is the problem
nobility and dignity is equal other things are in 4 categories 4 Varna or broad Dharma groups
which correspond to the 4 major possible states of interaction among the 3 gunas [[[ see " on the bhagavad gita ' maharishi mahesh Yogi chapter 2 verse 45 ]]]
westerncentric on this is inadequate and current state of consciousness in hinduism is inadequate [ although one can legitimately blame foreighn invasions [ moslem, Mongol, british ] for much of the ignorance .]
so i'll just recommend visiting Maharishi Vidya Mandir schools in India and mum.edu in Fairfield iowa
about satti and such mentioned by Murugan. as it was explained to me the habit of widows committing suicide resulted from husbands killed by invaders and women carried off into slavery at a time when there were no social safety nets and scarcity due to conflicts. it was deemed preferable to die . who was to look after widows?
today there is no need for such choices. vedic knowledge contains no imperatives to suffer
all the vedic literature says " life is Bliss' literally the substance of which life and th euniverse is made is Blisss, satchitananda; there is no room for suffering
Even two days back there was a news report that talked about the male to female ratio in the Hindu community, particularly in the Hindi belt, is falling so dramatically thanks to selective abortion - it now stands at 1000 to 940 and the trend is continuing.
So please, let us call spade a spade and face problem head on. Denial is great, but it is not going to make the problem go away.
Calling spade a spade is no doubt laudable, but self-flagellation is not laudable.
Egypt: Heliopolis: Tefnut, Nut, Nephthys, Isis, Naunet, Amaunet, Kauket, Hauhet; originally a cult of Hathor, Satis and Anuket of the triad of Elephantine
Mesopotamia: Ishtar (Inanna) was the main goddess of Babylonia and Assyria
Canaanite religion: Ba`alat Gebal, Astarte, Anat.
In pre-Islamic Mecca the goddesses Uzza, al-Manāt and al-Lāt were known as "the daughters of god".
Greeks
Eleusinian Mysteries: Persephone, Demeter, Baubo
Aphrodite: Goddess of love, lust and beauty.
Artemis: Goddess of the moon, fertility, childbirth, and the hunt. She is the protector of children and maidens and she is also virgin goddess.
Athena: Goddess of crafts, strategy, wisdom and war. Athena is also virgin goddess.
Cybele
Eris: Goddess of discord (chaos).
Hera: Goddess of family and marriage. She is the wife of Zeus and the queen of the Olympians. Mother of Ares.
Hecate: Goddess of sorcery, crossroads and magic. Often considered an chthonic or lunar goddess. She is either portrayed as a single goddess or a triple goddess (maiden, woman, crone).
Iris: Messenger of the gods.
Nike: Goddess of victory. She is predominantly pictured with Zeus or Athena and sometimes Ares.
Potnia Theron
Selene: Original moon goddess but later gave her powers to Artemis.
Celtic
Brigantia; Gallo-Roman goddesses: Epona, Dea Matrona; Goddesses of Insular (Welsh, Irish) mythology: Mórrígan-Nemain-Macha-Badb, Brigid, Ériu, Danu; Yanet is the celtic goddess of sex, love and harmony.
And many others....
The Germanic peoples had altars erected to the "Mothers and Matrons" and held celebrations specific to them (such as the Anglo-Saxon "Mothers-night"), and various other female deities are attested among the Germanic peoples, such as Nerthus attested in an early account of the Germanic peoples, Ēostre attested among the pagan Anglo-Saxons and Sinthgunt attested among the pagan continental Germanic peoples. Examples of goddesses attested in Norse mythology include Frigg (wife of Odin, and the Anglo-Saxon version of whom is namesake of the modern English weekday Friday), Skaði (one time wife of Njörðr), Njerda (Scandinavian name of Nerthus, that also was married to Njörðr during Bronze Age, Freyja (wife of Óðr), Sif (wife of Thor), Gerðr (wife of Freyr), and personifications such as Jörð (earth), Sól (the sun), and Nótt (night). Female deities also play heavily into the Norse concept of death, where half of those slain in battle enter Freyja's field Fólkvangr, Hel receives the dead in her realm of the same name, and Rán receives those who die at sea. Other female deities such as the valkyries, the norns, and the dísir are associated with a Germanic concept of fate (Old Norse Ørlög, Old English Wyrd), and celebrations were held in their honor, such as the Dísablót and Disting.
Fanned.
My point is that change happens at the individual level - male or female or neuter. "The temple management has over the years steadfastly disallowed the entry of women." ... So here's a collective conscious of only men performing puja in this temple? What is it that doesn't allow women into the temple? Is it man's pride? Ok, so... can't blame women then for the state of affairs of life as a girl or woman in India if the collective consciousness is limited to only men of perhaps selfish motives performing puja ----blame orthodoxy? - it doesn't change that without separating the pure from the pollution on an individual level first - there's no good in any collective worship. Am I simply restating the obvious? I tend to do that sometimes. :) Sorry if I was unclear...