Women's Role In Hinduism And Buddhism

The roles of women through the customs of both Hinduism and Buddhism have been a pivotal part in achieving universalization between the orders. Some considered women as obstacles in their goals, while others worshipped them as goddesses. Within Hinduism’s quest for Moksha, and Buddhism’s quest to attain Nirvana, women were acting to gain equality as practitioners of their chosen religion. In a dominion primarily controlled by men, one must wonder how exactly women dealt with the limitations in their social circles, and what these limitations might be. In Hinduism, women held high positions as wives and mothers. According to the religion, home was the center of worship and God blessed the family as a collective, which made women vital
for various rituals (Ellwood & McGraw P. 92). The religion had its own version of how womanhood should be. This idealized woman is married, bearing at least one son. She must be humble and self-sacrificing to her family, she is uneducated and must wait for her husband to bathe, eat, and sleep before she does so. This woman must do her best to make herself look presentable in beauty and in manner, and must complete all the general tasks expected from a wife. (Ellwood & McGraw P. 94). Their day begins as the husband prays, and optionally lays his body on the sacred mark to indicate which deity he has chosen, followed by performing the Puja with his wife, who then assists in the offerings. The wife is able to perform these rites assuming her husband is not available, and in some places, the wife may also offer the food and perform these rites herself even while he is with her. It is said the wife honors the divine through her husband, and the husband honors the Shakti through his wife. (Ellwood & McGraw 80, 81). In terms of community, there is no particular distinction between man and woman. Everyone waits in line to reach the temple, and mothers bring their children while teaching them in ritualistic customs. Older women are helped by the young and male family members. Inside, women are in front of congregations, while the men take their place in the “Garbha”, the sanctuary womb. This is the part of the temple where the deity is surrounded by flowers, and is also located in the back of the temple. (Ellwood & McGraw P. 91, 92). As religious rites grew and turned more complex, education was paramount in order for people to perform these rites. This in turn lowered women’s participation in the religion substantially, especially more so as the tradition dictated that women should bear a child after puberty, causing far less time for women to be educated. Hinduism became a religion which emphasized men as holding the power of education, and women as bearing sons who would acquire the knowledge to perform the religious rites. A women’s social status was entirely determined on this single fact. (Ellwood & McGraw P. 92, 93) Once the ascetic ideal was developed, which centralized around the realization of the One-Brahman, women were unable to be a part of the movement. Men also began seeing women as an obstacle to their “road to liberation”. The order of Shankara, who was the nondualist master of Advanta Vedanta, male only sect, believed women were the Maya (illusion), a realm of ignorance and unreality, in comparison to the one true realm of the Brahman. (Ellwood & McGraw P. 93). In the Laws of Manu, it is stated that “It is the nature of women to seduce men in this (world); for that reason the wise are never unguarded in (the company of) females.” (Bhuler 1998). The one path that was available to women seeking to devote themselves to a deity was the Bhakti. This path was also easy for women to transition to, as they already devoted themselves to their homes. Women were able to find a path to liberation with the acceptance of the Bhakti. (Ellwood & McGraw P. 96). In accordance to the path of the Moksha, there are Four stages of Life: student, householder, forest dweller or hermit, and renunciant. Women’s lives had their own set of principles, which all leaned toward the concept of marriage. These were: maidenhood (being eligible for marriage), wifehood (living a married life) and widowhood (having been married). (Ellwood & McGraw P. 93). Widows were heavily looked down upon, as the ideal woman should self-sacrifice herself to keep her family, and in particular, her husband’s well-being in check. In order to keep her social role, the widow may choose to become the sati, and burn alive with her husband at the pyre. This was referred to as the “noble choice”, and the widow would be granted good karma, allowing her to join her husband in the next life, or be reincarnated as a man to start the quest of the Moksha. (Ellwood & McGraw 95).
In more recent years, women practitioners of Hinduism have come into their own, and are fighting for more equality than ever previously obtained. On April, 2011, women all charged into the Mahalakshmi temple in Maharashtra and took over the Garbha. Despite the efforts of the priests and policeman, the women were able to perform the Puja themselves. (Ellwood & McGraw P. 99, 100). The role of the women in the Hindu traditions is one of support, one of bias, and one of complete and total sacrifice of their identity as a human being.
In Buddhism, one ignores society and undergoes a path to achieve the full extent of Nirvana. Women were able to continue their existence as wives and practice Hinduism, or they were able to leave all attachments behind in an attempt to follow the Buddhistic ideologies. The story written in the Vinaya (The Book of Discipline), describes the events that form the order of the nuns, the Bhikkhunis. In this story, those who followed the Dharma, or the social order and/or idealistic view of the universe, wished to be a part of their own religion. Mahaprajapti, the Buddha’s aunt and foster mother, negotiated with the Buddha, and wished for her and her five hundred followers to join the Buddha in his life of the renunciant. After several attempts, the Buddha’s attendance, Ananda, managed to successfully sway the Buddha as he agreed to the founding of their organization. He did have, however, several rules which were created to show the hierarchy of the monks over the nuns. It was later that the nuns wished to remove the first rule, which stated “A bhikkhuni who has been fully ordained even for more than a century must bow down, rise up from her seat, salute with hands palm-to-palm over her heart, and perform the duties of respect to a bhikkhu even if he has been fully ordained only a day. This rule is to be honored, respected, revered, venerated, never to be transgressed as long as she lives." (Bhikkhunis 2012) This request was never accepted, however, as it would mean going back on their word to the Buddha. The various rules limiting the power of the nuns caused their development to stagnate, and lowered their ability to receive charitable support. This has been speculated to have been one of the major reasons for their eventual demise as an organization. (Ellwood & McGraw P. 148). A passage in the Poli, much like what was written in the Laws of Manu, states “Even when… stricken or dying, a woman will stop to ensnare the heart of a man.” (Ellwood & McGraw P. 148). Many believe such passages stem from those who, much like those of the Hindu traditions, believe women to be an obstacle in attaining Nirvana. The Buddha has also commented on the issue stemming from the lust of men. (Ellwood & McGraw P. 148). Motherhood is thought of as a very high position in Buddhism, and one with a great deal of responsibility.
If a mother honors her role through her life, she is able to command a great deal of honor and respect. The purpose of the mother, as well as the father, is to persuade her children to move away from an evil path and to instead have them do good; to educate them properly, and to marry them when the time comes. As a wife, she must support her husband at all times. (Kariyawasam N.D.). Through Vajrayana Buddhism, Buddhism is a combination of the universe in the forms of duality; forms of both men and women. Prajna is known as the feminine form, and encompasses the infinite space that is emptiness encompassing the wisdom of the world made manifest. Karuna is the Masculine principle, encompassing form, activity, and compassion. Vajrayana Buddhism believe that the body symbolizes a vehicle through which one may achieve Nirvana. Due to this, females are often revered and treated as a goddess (Ellwood & McGraw P. 151). Similarly, in Tantric Buddhism, the goal is to pass through archaic ideas and go beyond the prejudice of women, instead worshipping them. The purpose being that doing so would provide the “surest path to enlightenment”. (Ellwood & McGraw P. 152). Women also have the ability to become nuns, lay-women, yoginis, and tantrikas. who are full-time practitioners and travel to teach the Tantric way to both men and women. (Ellwood & McGraw P. 152). Despite the
intentions, there is a huge emphasis on male authority in Tantric Buddhism, as well as support for less education for women. Women were also thought of as objects, and it has been said that they were sexually exploited by men (Ellwood & McGraw P. 152).
In the modern age, there is now a Buddhist specific women’s movement, including various American feminist Buddhist scholars.
Rita Gross, for instance, has made several arguments that attack the negative outlook towards women from Buddhist culture. Buddhism has argued that equal rights for women in the religion can be looked at as being attached to the social problems of the world, which in effect directly negates the purpose of Buddhism. Ultimately, this has created a “catch 22” where women fighting for equal rights is considered as attached, but on the other hand, men fighting to keep the power of gender hierarchy intact can also be considered as being attached. (Ellwood & McGraw P. 154). In the end, women of the Buddhist religion accept their births and believe their circumstances to be of the natural order of existence rather than the power between women and men. (Ellwood & McGraw P.
153).
The roles of women in Hindu and Buddhistic culture is a difficult one. They are a central part in completing important rites and becoming a pillar in the home, but they are also targets for men’s bias in completing their eventual goals. Women have always seemed to work harder at attaining their positions than men throughout history, but their support throughout the constant advancement of religion can never go unnoticed.