Role Of Women In Classical India

The status and role of women in classical Indian society. Ancient India was less than a sanctuary for women. Women were generally considered inferior to men. Ancient India was a patriarchal system where women were relegated to a subservient to men role in the society. This made them vulnerable to abuses by their spouses in their youth and under the control of their sons in their old age. Freedom, a right that we have grown accustomed to taking for granted, was a concept alien to those women. The Indian scriptures, of which The Ramayan & Shakuntala forms a key component, gave certain freedoms to the women of that era that were eventually curtailed by the patriarchal attitude of the society. Men who occupied all positions of power,
prestige and influence were content with this arrangement in the social fabric. As the ancient India evolved over time, their traditions became more atrocious towards women. Practices such as sati and child marriages became common place. Indian scriptures of the time as well as folklore are replete with stories of how women were degraded in the society, and how the society never spoke up to protect those women. The root of all crime against the women lies in the fact that they are treated as property. They were valued more for their beauty than for their intelligence and skills. Besides India, all ancient societies have portrayed women as fragile and needing protection of the men. In traditional societies such as India, it is often the case that women inherit the social status of the men and family that they are married into. It is, hence, a no brainer that parents in India (even today) are quite keen to get their daughters married as early as possible. This is to ensure financial stability and for the woman to secure a status in the society. This attitude further restricts any social reformation in the Indian society. This is all shown in the story of Ramayan. All regions of prominence were completely run by men in different methods and forms of warriors, priests, cultural and tribal chiefs.
Women had very little to almost no power in the areas of politics and to the public. The female’s main duty was to look after their families also being faithful wives to their husbands, by following their orders and being loyal. Families followed a male dominated hierarchy. They depended solely only on the husband to make decisions in the household. Male oriented societal values gave women no rights to express their rights and interests. For example, in the Book of Ramayan, Sita played the main role. Sita had been kidnapped which caused her husband to doubt her loyalty and love for him. After a lifetime of dedication and commitment towards her husband Sita was publicly disgraced by being forced to walk across a path of fire to test her love for him, she was later banished. In the Ramayan, women are portrayed to be inferior to all men. For example, Sita was admired based on her looks and can be used for entertainment, but she cannot be respected, only objectified for amusement. Sita is too innocent to avoid Ravana. She invites him into her home, which leads no help to prevent her from getting kidnapped. The punishment of Ahalya illustrates this passive immobility when she is turned to shapeless granite, then forced to ponder the arrival of Rama's passing by and kicking dust upon her. When time comes, and the situation is faced upon good and evil, almost all females in Ramayana depend upon a men to give them everything they desire. Looking at the sex appropriate ideals that were extremely noticeable throughout Ramayana are a reflection of the values that shape ancient indian society today. In other words , the value of a female is dependant of their beauty and the level of pleasure she can provide for her husband,whom then rates her of value or nothing. The constant battle for woman's rights in India is often focused on crimes such
as rape, sexual violence , female infanticide. When looking at Women's organization however, they have never been question of discrimination in the Indian society. In the ancient story of Ramayan, there is an example of the way their women are portrayed. Ravan raped Rambha. Rambha was Ravanas daughter in law and he was her uncle, yet he still molested her, he had no respect for her or for women in general. Ravan was also the same person who had kidnapped Sita. After Ravans violation with Rambha, she was shattered. She was shaking with fear and shame; she then met with Nalakubara and explained to him everything that happened to her on the way. When Nalakubara, husband of Rambha, heard that Ravana had violated, Nalakubara thought a lot and got quite. He overcame with anger and he took revenge. Nalakubara took water in his hands and did an old ritual, he pronounced a terrible curse. When Ravana found out about this curse he prevented himself from molesting any woman who did not consent with him. This curse had protected the chastity of Sita. As for Rambha, she was upset, she was lifeless and for a thousand years she kept thinking about her life. She thought about what she had gone though and what her main purpose was in life. Rambha concluded that her only purpose to be placed on this earth was to have a life with no meaning. She realized she lived a life full of seduction and unfaithfulness and that was definitely not the life she wanted to live. In the Book of Shakuntala, Shakuntala has a lot of loyalty towards her husband Dushyanta. Even after he can't remember her, Shakuntala does not look for the solace of an alternate man nor does she require it in light of the fact that she's totally given towards her husband. Shakuntala is harmed by Dushyanta's inability to remember her, she then turns to her child to solace her and stays all alone, keeping up her high feeling of pride and reliability to her one and intimate romance. He declines to recognize the tyke she has brought into this world as his child. He calls her numerous disgusting and impolite words, for example, a "prostitute" and the "mother of an illegitimate kid conceived of bold desire”.He demonstrates no admiration actually for the exceedingly debasing garments she is wearing. At his words, Shakuntala turns into a goaded snake. This is the man she had picked for herself thirteen years prior, believing that he would never deceive her. This is the man to whom she had surrendered her heart and her body. One of these woman is Shakuntala whom he falls in deep love with. As they enjoy their journey of expressing their love. One day Dushyanta gets a curse put upon him. The curse had made him forget all about Shakuntala. The hermit however had a twist to her thinking as she told her friends that is Dushyanta had been shown a meaningful object representing the relationship he would have his memory back. This is the man who had conceived a child with her and left, promising to send his people to come and get her and then forgotten all about it. Now he is insulting her in the middle of a public assembly, in the presence of his ministers and noblemen – insulting her in such crude, merciless words. This shows how rude he is towards her, providing for her no appreciation, notwithstanding wedding her & having an infant with her, then allowing her everything to sit unbothered. This demonstrates that the males in the classical ancient times showed zero to no respect for women in general because they had no value or noble status in the community. Women are expected to not really have a life of their own, their only way of living a happy life would be if they were with their husbands. Shakuntala presents herself before the king , Dushyant , who is under a curse and does not realize and acknowledge the presence of his wife , leading her begging for guidance by god. The spell is later broken when a fisherman finds a signet ring within the stomach of a fish , symbolizing the same ring that Shakuntala had misplaced on her path to the court. As the king suffers from guilt , his wife finds in within her to forgive , leading them to live happily. She then gives birth to a boy who they have chosen to name Bharat. The play then continues with Duhyanta on a hunt, then finding himself around three woman at the Ashrama, one of the sacred locations within india. Today, Indian society is immensely cultural and their traditions rooted in the religion Hinduism. It is often hard to separate what is cultural from what is religious in such societies. Hence, even though certain attitudes may not have a place in Hinduism yet they have found solid home in India. Women earn less than the men do. This is true of western societies in certain fields as well. However, the western societies have proactively stood up against crafting artificial barriers that may hinder one's progress or role in society based on one's gender. Even though India has enacted laws to protect the women there is negligible enforcement. In conclusion, even though attitudes towards women have begun to change and organizations are working in both the rural and urban areas of India for women's rights, it is evident that there is still a long way to go. Women's rights are just beginning to be realized in India. Even though Indian constitution is secular, yet the attitudes are still reminiscent to some extent of the ancient India. Hence, it is safe to assume that more work is required before women can truly be considered equal to men in India. As well, when women have children it boosts the husband’s potency, because the wife becomes more dependent. So the capability to govern their home and the ascendancy still reposes in the husbands hands. However, they still go through prejudice, molestation, degradation and bleeding outside home or some even inside as shown in the examples of The Ramayan & Shakuntala.