WOMAN ACCORDING TO HINDUISM

quote from the Rig Veda 5;61;6— 8:

“Yea many a woman is more steady and better than the man who turns away from the Gods, and serves not. She who assists the weak and the worn, the person who thirsts and is in want; she sets her mind upon the gods.

Those deluded relatives who live off a woman’s property (i.e. dowry) — her carriages, her clothes, and so on are evil and go to hell. (Manu 3:52)

Fathers, brothers, husbands and brothers-in-law who wish for great fortune should revere women and adorn them. (Manu 3:55)

The deities delight in those places where women are revered, but where women are not revered all rites are fruitless. (Manu 3:56)

Where the women of the family are miserable, the family is soon destroyed, but it always thrives where the women are contented. (Manu 3:57)

Therefore men who wish to prosper should always honour women with ornaments, clothes and food at celebrations and festivals. (Manu 3:59)

Here’s another quote from a great Law-giver Vasiṣṭha 28: 1 -3

A woman is never defiled by having a lover, (na stri dusyati jarena) nor a Brahmin by Vedic rites, nor a large body of water (a river or lake) by urine and faeces nor fire by consuming [impure substances].

Whether she has strayed on her own or been expelled, or have suffered rape, or been kidnapped by robbers, a woman must never be abandoned; to forsake her is not prescribed [by the sacred law]. Let him [her husband] wait until the time of her menstruation, by her temporary impurity she becomes pure. (2-3 Vasistha 28:1-3)

Now the Vedic texts were rather restrained in their treatment of women in the ancient agrarian context - women had their feminine roles determined by their biology and men had theirs. Women were free to choose their own husbands (svayamvara) and the day to day economical transactions were largely in the hands of women. They had a large degree of social freedom. But the really remarkable textual prescriptions are found in the Tantras of the Middle Ages - here’s an example from the Lakshmi Tantra Chapter 43 - supposedly the teaching of Goddess herself:–

62. A yogin (dharma practitioner) should never abuse a woman, either in deed, speech or thought. Wherever I am the realities are, wherever I am the gods too are.

63. Wherever I exist , merits too exist, wherever I exist Krsna too exists. I am the womanhood pervading the entire universe and inherent in all women .

64. He who abuses women, abuses Lakshmi herself, he who abuses Lakshmi abuses the entire three worlds.

65. He who bears ill-will against any woman, is ill-disposed towards Laksmi herself. He who is ill-disposed towards Lakshmi is ill-disposed towards the entire universe.

66. He whose heart is gladdened by the sight of women - like moonlight, and who never entertains evil thoughts about them, he is most dear to me.

67. Just as there is no sin whatsoever in Narayana or myself , O Indra, Neither in a cow, a brahmin nor a scholar of Vedanta.

68. In the same manner no evil whatsoever exists in women O Indra. Just as the Ganga and Sarasvati (rivers) are free of impurity & sin.

69 - 70. As also the Aruna river, so too are all women revered as being sinless. The fact that I, the Mother of the three Worlds, am the basis of womanhood, makes my power manifest in women. Thus a woman is the mother of the three worlds, a goddess full of abundance.

71. Knowing women as my direct manifestation, how can a yogi refrain from revering them? One should never hurt women, and should never even think of wronging women.

72. A yogin who wishes to attain the fulfillment of yoga, should always act to please women. He should regard all women as mothers, as goddesses as my very self

Hindu rules about purity. All the exudates of the human body are considered impure and defiling i.e. saliva, urine, feces, blood. So the presence of any of these substances on the body render one ritually “impure” and therefore not fit to enter into sacred spaces.

So it is not gender specific but substance specific. If a man or a woman has diarrhea regardless of the number of pads they may be wearing they cannot enter a temple or participate in religious ceremonies, spit on the beard or hands like after eating, also render one impure. So does the presence of blood on a person - whether it be in the form of menstruation or a bleeding wound in a man.
the fact is that the menstrual discharge is waste matter - the lining of the uterus which is being discharged.

Going to the temple is not an essential feature of Hinduism - you can go your entire life without ever seeing the inside of a temple and still be a good, pious wholesome and devoted person .

Islam, Judaism and Hinduism all have similar attitudes to menstruation and women during their periods.

Terms are important and translations can be misleading.

The term used for menstruating women during the 4 days of their period is ASUCHI which is loosely translated as “impure”. In Sanskrit SUCHI actually means “bright” and ASUCHI as “dull” as in lacking luster. It is a fact that many women do not feel at their brightest and bubbliest during their periods. There is pre, peri and post- menstrual tension, pain discomfort, and in the old days tampons consisted of rags and hygience was somewhat lacking.

In traditional agrarian society women were busy 24/7 without days off and holidays. So the ancients decided to give women four days off every month - they did no work, no cooking, nothing - they had complete down time and were served by others. Nowadays this is not an issue - but social and historical context is important when understanding ancient prescriptions.

For most Hindus it will be interesting to know that there is a sūtra which says:–

 śayanād utthita nāri śuci, aśuci pumān !

Which means a woman arises from her bed everyday PURE whereas men arise IMPURE! In other words women are pure every day of the month except for four. They can go to temple, worship, cook etc. without bathing - just washing their hands, feet and face. Men are perpetually impure and need to rectify this by daily bathing and reciting of the gayatri mantra!

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