In the recent few years, Hinduism as a
religion has seen development through legal trends, unfortunately to no avail, the
ideology of patriarchy and Savarna prerogative has budged not a little. The idea
of gender and sexuality in the past has been a subject of discourse in the Brahman
community for ages and the same has seen development from passive liberalness
to scrutiny and strictness.
It would be pertinent to mention the position
of women in society before beginning of civilization. Uma Chakraborty in her
book Gendering Caste has talked about
the transition in the principles and laws of Hinduism by the hands of Brahman
community. In the prehistoric Paleolithic and Mesolithic period, women unlike
men played an integral part not only in nurturing kids but also in hunting
grounds. Pictography at sites like Bhimbetka gave accounts of how women were
involved in tasks that are stereotypically considered to be accomplished by men
alone. Through archaeological tools and anthropological accounts, it was observed
that this communities observed the relation between mother and child as a noble
relation which led to the birth of “Mother Goddess”.
It has been opined by many that with the advent
of civilization, it became important to guide people, in which religion became
the guiding force for society. In the early periods, Rig Veda being the oldest
was followed by Upnishads and commentaries. Gautama, author of Dharma-sutra in
the 7th century BC declare Veda as the source of Dharma.[1]
As per the feminist view, the Rig Veda as compared to the later Vedas is more liberal
than other, as though it treated women as an inferior, the rights and status it
gave was more liberal and allows greater freedom than other Vedas when it comes
to property rights, Niyoga and marriage. It also allowed inter-caste marriages
while the same is forbidden in other Vedas. The position worsened with Vashishtha,
who objectified women with the view that “A woman in not independent, the males
are her masters” (Vashishta, Dharma
Shastra, Chapter 1, Page 37) and supported other social evils such as polygamy,
child marriage, discrimination of caste.
An example of Brahmanical biasness and
patriarchy would be of Kautilya, political law giver and Minister to
Chandragupta Maurya who in his book Arthasahastra
allows widow remarriage but simultaneously discourages in many ways.
However, the position of women in Buddhism
and Jainism is much lenient and better as compared to Hinduism. In Buddhism
there exists no concept of inequality while it is considered that practice of
Sati, Slavery, Dasi System were abolished because of the empathetic role Jainism
played. Though the position in these religions was more liberal they had little
influence on Hindu law due to its strict code.
Hinduism under the patronage of Brahmans saw
transitions of intersectionality between gender and caste for centuries and
supported patriarchy and discrimination with the argument of prerogative of
being higher caste and lawmaker.
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