Yatra Naryastu Pujyante ! Ramante tatra devataha !
Yatraitastu Na Pujyante, Sarvstatrafalaha Kriya !!
Where WOMEN are respected, GODS make their HOME, However, those societies always suffer from GRIEF & FAILURES where WOMEN are OPPRESSED!
Great thought to go by isn’t it? And how many of us follow it, I guess not many. By this I don’t mean that every husband goes around beating his woman. India is a country where women gets a lot of respect for example she gets raped reason being she eats chowmein maybe (as said by our great politician) or maybe she wears jeans (again courtesy to our great politician), then in some houses husband comes home drunk beats her up why because he has a right on his wife, then she is sometimes forcefully raped by her husband as called marital rape and she can’t raise a voice against it because ‘marriage is a private affaire’. We basically don’t pay respect to the women but we celebrate 9 days navratre festival of durga Devi, strange isn’t it? Paying respect to the idol is compulsory but to the lady is on your discretion.
Here is a prayer form a father while giving away his daughtrer in a holy matrimony:-
In SANSKRIT:
“Pra itaha muchhami na amritaha subadha amritha karam!
Yatha iyam Indraha midhvaha suputra subhaga asati!!
( Oh my daughter, here I let you go away from a father’s house, but I hope you shall be tied with the house of your loving husband. Oh holy God Indra, you may bless her with happy married life and fulfilling motherhood..).
Clearly VEDAS had laid out the noble way of behavior for the VEDIC MEN without a doubt. Ancient VEDIC society envisioned WOMEN as free-spirited individuals and as NOT merely sexual objects. They knew how to balance freedom against the natural biological boundaries drawn by the nature for MEN & WOMEN. They also knew if this fine balance was not maintained how adversely it may impact the society with ill effects.
Similarly WOMEN were treated as noble, holy, respectable individuals and equal-half of MEN . Further women were looked upon as MOTHERS, SISTERS and HOME-MAKERS guiding and contributing in training of their young off-springs into becoming responsible, character-based citizens of tomorrow’s society.
The status of women in early Hindu society was an enviable one. They could avail of the highest learning and there were many seers and philosophers among them. Ghosha, Apala, Lopamudra, Vishwvara, Surya, Indrani, Yami, Romasha – all these names highlight the position and the esteem which Hindu women enjoyed in the Vedic period. Devi-Sukta’of the Rigveda is courtesy ‘vac'( daughter of sage Ambhrna). In a theosophical debate between Shankaracharya and Mandana Mishra, the latter’s wife was appointed to be the judge – obviously because of her superior knowledge and spiritual attainments. Vrihadaranyako panishad(2.34)gives the evidence of Maitreyi opting for Brhamvidya rather than wealth and worldly pleasures. Women were also allowed to observe celibacy1 (Atharvaveda 12.3.17). and study Vedas. Not only this, the Ashvalayana and Gobhil Grihyasutras and Harit-Dharmasutra show even the sacred thread ceremony (the Upanayana Samskara) being performed for women. Women used to teach also. Paninikalin Bharat by Dr. Vasudeo Sharan Aggarwal, page 281). Additionally, queens like Kaikeyi helped their husbands in the battlefield. It would thus be seen that at that time there was not a single area where women did not take part or excel their counterpart’s – men.
As far as the history of ordinary womenfolk goes, their position on the whole was free. Girls were normally not married till they were in their late teens and sometimes even later. They had a fair amount of choice in the selection of a mate, which is evidenced by the – then prevalence of the “swayamvara-system“. The cases of Sita, Damayanti, Draupadi, Shakuntala (the adopted daughter of sage Kanva) are the instances of the choice women enjoyed in choosing their husbands. From birth till death a Hindu had (and even today has) to perform hundreds of ceremonies and not even one of them could be performed without the presence of the wife(Rigveda 5.102).
After the history comes the present, in the present scenario the condition of a woman has completely detoriated. The amount of domestic violence cases has lowered my head in shame. It’s quite shameful that the lady is beaten up and raped either by the husband or her in laws. How can someone be so inhuman? A lady leaves her home and come to your house with outmost amount of trust and love. I don’t think she deserves a treatment like this.
Coming to the technicality, Domestic violence is when one partner in an intimate relationship abuses the other. The abuse can be physical, sexual, and emotional or a combination of all three. Physical abuse can include very aggressive acts, such as beatings and forced sexual activity including intercourse, or it can take the form of less severe acts like throwing, shoving and slapping. In emotional abuse, the abuser constantly humiliates and puts down the victim. The weapons of emotional abuse include verbal insults, threats, control of physical activity, unfounded accusations of infidelity, control of economic decisions and social isolation. Depending on the relationship, the physical or emotional abuse may happen very often or not as often. Either way, once violence begins, it will usually continue and get worse over time. No matter how often the abuse happens, the victim of domestic violence suffers constant terror and stress, living in fear of the next episode.While women is most commonly the victims of their male partners, domestic violence can happen between all sorts of people and in all sorts of relationships. It happens between people who are married and between people who aren’t living together. Domestic violence is a common reality in our society. It occurs in all social classes, ethnic groups, cultural and religion. Most people don’t realize how common it is, because very often victims of abuse keep quite.
This thing will only improve when our education system will become more strong. If sacred VEDAS thought it was necessary to educate young MEN & WOMEN of those eras with their responsibilities, why can’t the same education be taught to modern generation with necessary modification suitable in the modern era? The objective must obviously be creating a character-oriented vibrant society of tomorrow. Nothing wrong in that, is there? The Law-enforcement agencies and Judiciary must also be extra sensitive to the crimes especially against WOMEN and must act swiftly and urgently within the ambit of law. For as the old proverb goes, justice delayed is justice denied…The lawmakers of the land must also pay heed to the changing environment (Economic & Social) and enact stringent punishments for the crimes against WOMEN so that it serves as a deterrent and to avoid recurrence.
Finally, there is an enormous amount of Knowledge & Wisdom in the past of our society. Ours is a culture that has spawned the civilization of the world. We must take efforts to learn and understand it and, if felt necessary, modify it to suit the modern era without losing the core ideals and implement it to the benefit of entire mankind.
I think if we all make a effort we can make a difference in our society.
BE THE CHANGE TO SEE THE CHANGE
