Women in Vedic Society contd

The West has worn blinders when the age of Sanatana Dharma has to be determined or when the existence of women’s rights in India during the Vedic Period is mentioned; the West refuses to accept the antiquity of the Vedic culture nor will they accept the fact that Sanatana Dharma respects women and considers the education of women essential for society to improve. Due to their own stained history in the mistreatment of women they find it hard to accept that India during the Vedic Period had a broader outlook and truly believed in the equality of women. There are even many texts that establish women’s superiority over men. With new research and historical evidence the outlook of the West is slowly changing but not fast enough. My concern is not with the attitude of the West but  I am worried that future generations following Sanatana Dharma may be unduly influenced by the Western attitude. I want them to know that we have to hold our head high and should feel proud of our rich culture which truly supported women’s rights and promoted universal brotherhood.

In the biblical story, Adam’s first wife is Lilith; she is said to have been made from the same dirt as Adam. She left Adam when she was asked to be subservient to him and as a result of her decision; the lore regards her as a demon. Adam’s second wife Eve was made from his rib bone to show that she is not equal to him; Eve is also blamed for causing them to fall from paradise.  I only mentioned the Biblical story to compare it against the Vedic texts. The Biblical story is in contrast to the Vedic tradition where women are treated equally. It is a laughable matter that given the historical mistreatment of women in Christianity, many people from the Church often come and try to convert people of other religion by promising to give equal status to both men and women. They have targeted my family as well and only left us in peace after my mother told them that they cannot even think of having better views than our religion in which women are treated as Goddess. As a picture of Sanatana Dharma’s equal treatment of men and women, Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati appear in one form; the right half of the form is masculine representing Shiva and the left half is feminine representing Parvati. This form is still worshipped as “Ardhanareeishwar”. The Sri Vaishnava tradition of Sanatana Dharma regards Vishnu and Lakshmi as one; even though they have different identities they never exist without each other. Goddess Lakshmi resides in the heart of Vishnu. Without her grace, Vishnu’s grace cannot be attained. Their combined grace is required to break the cycles of birth and re-birth. 

To be continued tomorrow.