Women have always been
an integral part of the social existence of living beings. Had it not been for
women, there would have been no peace in the society. As per many psychological
studies, it has been found that the inner strength in women is way more than
that in men. Surprisingly, even before and yet after such studies, the society
still calls women as the weaker gender, exploits them and then treats them with
utmost sympathy.
However, if we look at
the historical perception of a woman’s position in a society, we would clearly
understand the strength of women and the respect they earned. There have been many significant women that
we have come across and such women do set examples for the women in the present
society. Few such examples of extra-ordinary women are Princess Diana, Rani
Laxmi Bai, Sarojini Naidu, Annie Besant, Jane Austin and Kalpana Chawla.
The list does not end;
it just takes a breath and paves the path for further substance. If we clearly
look at the list above, we would understand the diversity of success a woman
can achieve. Considering the exhaustiveness of the above list, it is also
necessary to peek into the window of mythology where we have seen women in the
forms of powerful goddesses as Athena in Greek Mythology, Venus in Roman
Mythology, Durga in Hindu Mythology and many more. Sage Agastya says
"women combine the fickleness of the lightning the sharpness of a weapon
and the swiftness of the eagle.[1]
On one hand, where women were worshipped as idols; on the other hand, the real
forms of women were made to undergo instances of exploitation. Altekar says
that to ascertain the position of women in Hindu society, one should study
their position, under different circumstances, like normal i.e. in peace time
and abnormal i.e. in war time because during wars, the attitude of the society
towards women was very unsympathetic, particularly, if the women had the
misfortune of falling into the hands of the enemies.[2]
The pictures of
misfortune of women are patent in Hindu mythology where Draupadi was treated as
an article of victory and object to be gambled for. Sita was required to pass
through a test of purity even after she faced the distressful sight of
abduction. Later, the concept of sati was also initiated to test a woman’s love
for her husband when there was no such test for a man. Women have been made to
face many circumstances of misery through time immemorial.
Apart from just the
basic sustenance in the society, women have also performed a vital role in the
society as a mother which is considered to be a mandatory part of a woman’s
life. Becoming a mother was so important that the concept of institution of
Niyoga (Levirate) was introduced into the Aryan society from some un-recognized
source. Under the system of Niyoga, a widow or a woman whose husband was not
virile was allowed to have conjugal relations with her brother-in-law, who was
regarded as the most eligible person for this duty, or some other near
relation, till she gave birth to an off-spring[3].
That was a time when a widow was also granted with the permission to have two
sons through Niyoga who was preferred over an adopted son.
The irony depicted in
the above paragraph is that in all situations, the word “son” is a mandate. They
were allowed to keep a conjugal relation unless they conceive sons because
daughters were not considered important even though the ones who are supposed
to give birth were daughters at some point of time.
[1]
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/52365/9/09_chapter%201.pdf
[2]
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/52365/9/09_chapter%201.pdf
