Women In Ancient India essays

Women In Ancient India essays In ancient India, women occupied a very important position with, in fact a superior position to, man. Literary evidence suggests that kings and towns were destroyed because a single woman was wronged by the state. For example, Elango Adigal's Sillapathigaram teaches us Madurai, the capital of the Pandyas was burnt because Pandyan Nedunchezhiyan mistakenly killed her husband on theft charges. Valmiki's Ramayana teaches us that Ravana and his entire clan was wiped out because he abducted Sita. Veda Vyasa's Mahabharatha teaches us that all the Kauravas were killed because they humiliated Draupadi in public. To instill such high ideals in humankind, Indian ancestors created a plethora of godesses who enjoyed equal status with their husbands. The concept of Ardhanareeshwarar, where God is depicted as half-man and half-woman, is a concrete example to support this argument. In many philosophical texts God is referred to a Tat, meaning It and that God is beyond gender. And, one would find a comparable Godess for each God. Further, we know for a fact that ancient India was permissive; women could have multiple husbands, widows could remarry, divorce was permitted for incompatability or when estranged. In contemporary India, women occupy a paradoxical status. On the one hand, there are godesses featuring in the "Hindu" pantheon and revered by men. On the other, some wives are burnt because they did not bring enough "dowry" (the horrible institutionalized and illegal practice of expecting the woman's parent to provide a large purse to the groom); women are victimized by powerful local political figures and their family; some women are abducted by rich youths with impunity; and there are credible stories of female infanticide in rural India. Surely, these cases are not the norm. Nevertheless, it is horrifying to see that they happen. Some may argue that these incidences no way compare to the domestic violence rate i ...