We are but at the ealiest dawn of the Millennium of the Spirit

[Guest guest]

Religion and Women's Liberation

Hindu women suffer largely because of religious

dogma

 

Religion has been the guiding force behind many

of the acts that people carry out. Ask an orthodox

Hindu woman about the significance of her acts

and she will point to the codes of her religion

without haste.

 

" You must not touch the male members in the

family during periods, " my grandmother and

mother often warn me. Their reasoning has its

basis in the religious belief that women are

impure during that time. My reluctance wouldn't

work here because they are rigid in their beliefs.

 

It was after I wrote an article about honor killings

in Islam and the provision cited for it in the

religious text that I became fascinated by the

portrayal of women in religion. Also, because

studies have revealed that most acts like honor

killings are not in accordance with religious

ethics.

 

Lately I have concentrated on Hinduism because

Hindu women, like Islamic women, have been

suffering largely because of religious dogma.

Women, though the counterpart of males, are

portrayed as the slave. The term " impurity " is

synonymous with female. Women are impure

several times during menstruation and even after

childbirth.

 

" The religion that suppresses us must be called a

vice, there is no point of virtue, " says Susmita, a

female high school student. " What wrong have

we done to God? "

 

Like Susmita, many blame religious beliefs for

creating favorable ground for discrimination. But

there is a clear contradiction also because

Hinduism worships the goddess with utmost

respect. Rather, say major gods in this particular

religion are female. It is even claimed that

Hinduism has the longest, continuous history of

goddess worship. Female divinities like Laxmi,

Saraswati and Kali are worshipped as mother

goddesses.

 

But this triumph of the divine feminine has

caused no notable difference for suffering

women. Goddess worship in general has not have

gifted females with greater authority and

independence. Even some of the ways in which

Hindus relate women to the goddess are rather

unfair.

 

Sita, who is taken as an example of the devoted

wife (of lord Rama), is worshipped for her

sacrifice for her husband. Bur lord Ram made her

take the fire test to prove her purity as she was

abducted by Ravana. Suspecting her purity, Lord

Ram exiled her while she was pregnant and made

her bring up their sons in the jungle. To this day,

a loyal and self-sacrificing wife is compared to

Sita. Likewise, the goddess Laxmi is always

portrayed as massaging the feet of lord Vishnu. In

every Hindu household, wives and mothers are

referred to as the Laxmi of the house, as Laxmi is

the devoted wife as well as the goddess of

fortune.

 

In religious texts like Swasthani, women are

portrayed as self-sacrificing and submissive for

the sake of their husbands. They are exposed as

fasting for months to get the husband they desire.

Parvati worships and fasts for a month to get

Shiva as a husband.

 

Twenty-year-old Aruna was in fasting for more

than a month. The fasting is called " Swasthani

brat. " There is a popular saying that the fasting is

for the well-being of the husband and for

unmarried ones. It is said that they can get the

husband they desire. For women in Hinduism, the

husband, or pati, is the spiritual lord.

 

In an essay in a book titled _Is the Goddess a

Feminist: The Politics of South Asian

Goddesses_, Rita Das Gupta points out that the

Smriti literature that is the foundation of Hindu

codes of conduct recognized Stri Dharma as the

proper duty of the women. Stri Dharma stipulates

that the focus of a women's entire religious

devotion should be her husband.

 

Most of the female divinities are portrayed as

wives of the gods, but their significance has been

overshadowed with various interpretations to

undermine their sovereignty. The tradition of

Shakti worship has dominated Hinduism. Shakti

is the female divinity who represents the power of

her divine male counterpart. In her essay, Gupta

says that though in Devi Mahatmya, or the

glorification of the goddess, the female is

portrayed as absolute, and various concepts of

feminine principles combine with the notion of

ultimate reality to create a great goddess who is

the power inherent in creation and dissolution.

This is not stressed in any Shakta tradition [!!!]

[really???], and interpreted from the male point of

view.

 

But an ignored fact is that Hinduism stresses the

balance between Shiva and Shakti. Shiva, a male

here, has to be accompanied by Shakti, a female.

The two beings are so inseparable that they fuse

together to create Ardhanareshowr, who takes on

a half-male and half-female form and is

considered most powerful. We celebrate many

festivals praising the Shaktis, like Kali. In

mythology, when the gods couldn't defeat the

demon called Maishashur, they worshipped the

goddess Durga, who manifested as the destroyer

Kali and killed it, saving the gods.

 

Interpretations of religious texts have always

been from a male point of view because

throughout religious history they have been in

power -- similar to the notion that the winners

write the history. Women are always denied self-

determination. Who knows if the goddess Laxmi

sits at the feet of lord Vishnu. Whoever drew the

sketch must have been a male; or, the truth could

have been altered. None of the religious texts is

the truth; they are fictions produced and

reproduced many times as per the convenience of

those in power, or those who sought power. To

liberate women from male-dominated tradition,

we need to reinterpret everything. The liberation

of women is a huge challenge as religious

misconceptions of vice are deep rooted in society

as a whole.

 

Religion and Women's Liberation

Smita Poudel

OhMy News, Korea

 

Further reading:

Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine

Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition by

David Kinsley.

 

Victory to the Mother: The Hindu Goddess of

Northwest India in Myth, Ritual and Symbol by

Kathleen M. Erndl.

 

Is the Goddess a Feminist?: The Politics of South

Asian Goddesses edited by Alf Hiltebeitel and

Kathleen M. Erndl.

 

Religion and Women's Liberation

Hindu women suffer largely because of religious

dogma

 

 

---------------------------

 

Dear devotees of the Adi Shakti,

 

Namaskar: I bow to the Divine Mother that resides in you.

 

i just want to comment on the last paragraph:

 

" Interpretations of religious texts have always

been from a male point of view because throughout

religious history they have been in power -- similar

to the notion that the winners write the history.

 

This is true and that is cause of the low status of women in Hinduism

and Islam. But i have heard Muslim men making comments that left me

shaking my head. In one documentary a guy from North-West Frontier

Province of Pakistan shot his wife dead just because she was seen

talking with another male relative. He spent six months in prison and

fined some cows by the panchayat (male dominated village committee).

His regret ..... losing his cows instead of the 'animal' he shot dead.

 

" Women are always denied self-determination. Who knows

if the goddess Laxmi sits at the feet of lord Vishnu.

Whoever drew the sketch must have been a male; or, the

truth could have been altered. "

 

i know that the Goddess Laxmi does not sit at the feet of lord Vishnu but

besides Him as an equal partner, His Shakti. That is true for all the deities,

barring none. Yes, those who make Her subservient to lord Vishnu must be

obviously males.

 

" None of the religious texts is the truth; they are

fictions produced and reproduced many times as per

the convenience of those in power, or those who

sought power. "

 

This is a false statement. It is the scriptural truth of the Divine

Feminine that has been misinterpreted by those in power. That is why

we do not hear of the Adi Shakti (Holy Spirit, Ruh, Aykaa Mayee) who

is the active aspect and power of God Almighty in creation, sustenance

and destruction. It is this Divine Feminine/Mother/Shakti within

humans who grants Self-realization and liberation to all. The

Primordial Mother is again in ascendancy and revealing Her Ultimate

Reality. All the followers of the 'patriarchal religions' will only

be able to resurrect/liberate/evolve themselves into the eternal

spirit at Her Feet. The male guardians of these patriarchal religious

regimes are not going to welcome the Matriarch of All, unless they

want liberation. It is actually a simple way to compel those in power

to submit themselves unconditionally to Her, and start respecting the

feminine half of humanity.

 

We are but at the earliest dawn of the Millennium of the Spirit and

holding Her Truth in the palm of our hands. The Truth is that the

same Divine Feminine pervades all the Holy Scriptures and religions.

It is going to take time for it to enter human onsciousness .......

................. but the promise of moksa (liberation/release from

mundane earthly existence) can accelerate the process.

 

Jai Shri Ganapathy,

 

 

jagbir