Widows in Hinduism Society - Essay Example

Widows in Hinduism Introduction The role of women in religion has been disputed with time by different denominations defining their positions and perspectives towards women in the society and other sacred phenomenon in life. Majority of these religions and denominations classify the roles and positions of women on status quo, equality in relation to men, restrictions to some aspects in social life and through other social and cultural principles within their respective societies. Hinduism is not left behind in relation to their perspective on women more so the widowed ones which can greatly be pegged on different traditions, content and themes of various contexts in history and authenticity and authority of texts and other sources of information that they rely on for history purposes. For instance, some traditions in Hindu kingdoms which used Manusmrti texts to refer their history advocated in many occasions to restricting women rights whereas the modern Hindu society has a new perspective on women and their roles in the society. In general, different traditions within these kingdoms dictated the roles and position of women in that while some advocated male chauvinism, some kingdoms included respected courtesans; sacred women to worship and service their deities, educated and trained women in their kingdoms and those who could perform extra ordinary activities such as magic (Fisher & Adler, 2011). Books and other literary works have been written on the subject matter, women and Hinduism, with majority concentrating on the treatment of women before and after the British colonial rule, and this article will reflect on the Hinduism’s understanding of widowhood and traditional treatment of widows. During British colonial rule, child marriage was a common practice in India where girl children as young as below ten years could get married to an older man; a practice/ tradition of some societies where women were treated as sex slaves or believed to have a role of a “house wife” irrespective of their age. The major problem was when a husband dies as the widows had a diminished role and position in the society and were required to spend their lives languishing in poverty and constantly worshiping God; restricted to the right of re-marrying and having a happy family with another man. Re-marrying being treated like a taboo, the widows had to be confined in an ashram for Hindu widows to spend their lives in renunciation, segregation from other society members so as to expiate bad karma and to relieve their families of financial and emotional burdens. It is sometimes understandable if bereaved members in the society are inhabited in a special location during the sad moments of death where they can be counseled and guided on ways to catch up with life after the loss but for Indians it was quite different. For instance, it was discriminative to send a widow to the ashram on the basis dependence by her on the family and society members with which was not clearly defined how the widower would be treated in such occasions. In Deepa Mehta’s 2005 film “Water”, a reflection of Hindu society back in 1938 is brought to life showing how widows were treated, their declined role and position in the society and how they were perceived as a bad omen or cause of karma in the society. For instance, the film shows how Chuyia, a seven year-old-girl loses her husband and she is sent to ashram for Hindu; a small dilapidated two-story house where fourteen widows used to live in an encroached environment for renunciation and the need to relieve their families of financial and emotional burdens. Clearly, it is evident that women at the time were only important or valued as long as the husband is alive, a notion that could eventually change upon his demise. For example, in the case of Chuyia, the society did not consider her age, the emotional disturbance at the time and her destination that is, the hostility of ashram to a young girl; a clear indication of widespread male chauvinism in India during the time degrading the role and position of women in the society. In some traditions within the Hindu communities, women were treated as a source of income more so widows of whom according to the society their value had diminished with the demise of their husbands and could be used as “sex tools” by other men willingly or unwillingly but coerced by Madhumati, ashram ruler. For instance, in the ashram from the film, Kalyani, the second youngest widow from Chuyia was forced to prostitution as a child by Madhumati as aside source of income to support the welfare of ashram. Against her wish but with no choice Kalyani had to indulge in the risky sexual behavior; greatly propagated by the society’s perception of widows as a bad omen and source of karma, a situation worsened when Kalyani decided to fall in love with Narayan only to find out he was a son to one of her “sex clients” and drowned herself to death (Hamilton &Mehta, 2005). In a nutshell, this kind of societal and psychological humiliation affects not only physical growth but development as whenever ones becomes a widow, her chances and roles of survival in the society and other aspects of life were limited and restricted; an explanation as why out of the fifteen widows in the ashram, only Shakuntala could read. This is a reflection that despite getting married as early as seven years old; at this age one cannot be fully educated or finalized the school curriculum, one is not physically and mentally mature to handle a family or her personal matters and general self-actualization, as long as u are a widow your life, opportunities and other channels to a good, comfortable and healthy life were over. Conclusion As a reflection of the Hinduism societies in the colonial period, widowhood has gone through several injustices, trauma and other psychological effects that can only be understood by studying and analyzing the same phenomenon in the modern perception. For example, despite legalization of re-marriages by colonial laws at the time, these societies perceived it as a taboo; with Madhumati waiting to initiate a grieved woman into widowhood, recruiting Chuyia into prostitution for income after Kalyani’s death and Shakuntala’s struggle to evade recruitment to prostitution for her and Chuyia, it is evident that traditionally once one was a widow the only place she could occupy was ashram and only activities were renunciation and prostitution which are against human rights and freedoms. References Hamilton, D., & Mehta, D. (2005). Water. Mumbai: Jorden Electronics. Fisher, M. & Adler, J. (2011). Living religions. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall. Read More