We are a bunch of hypocrites. We say that women must be given equal rights and equal opportunities in every sphere because after all females constitute 50% of the world population. And there are women in power in almost every sphere of society. The ancient texts refer to a wife being an ardhangini (better half). But does this discount the fact that we still are very much a male chauvinist society?
I was appalled to read a statement made by learned judges of the Bombay High court wherein while hearing a divorce petition, the judge remarked that "A wife should be like goddess Sita who left everything and followed her husband Lord Ram to a forest and stayed there for 14 years,". While it is not unorthodox for judges to refer to religious texts and quote from them, it was rather surprising to see this coming from a judiciary that is considered to be one of the most progressive in the country.
A bare reading of the Hindu epics, i.e., the Ramayana and the Mahabharata suggests that a woman was to be treated as her husband's property. Infact, this was still the case till the 19th century in most parts of the world. Hindu women in India have very recently been given equal rights with respect to their father's property but a Hindu woman can still not be considered a coparcener with rights to inherit the coparcenary property.
The epics suggest that Ramayana should be considered to be the ideal way of life. The protagonist, Ram is referred to as Maryada Purushottam (the ideal man). Does idealism suggest that a man should question his wife's virtue and subject her to agnipariksha to prove that she is 'pure'. Should a man who banishes his pregnant wife be considered an ideal husband? And a wife who accepts her husband inspite of such atrocities be a woman of virtue? I think not.
Similarly, the Mahabharata is rife with examples of subjugation of women. A woman gets married to one man but is 'shared' by his brothers. She is then commodified and placed as a bet in a game of dice. There are attempts made to strip her in an open court but there is nobody who comes to her rescue. The only one who saves her from this humiliation is Lord Krishna who himself has been described as a Casanova married to several women. Is this the kind of society we envisage? Rather, doesn't such a mentality already exist in the light of the numerous incidents that we read every other day? A virtuous wife is one who will blindfold herself for life just because her husband is blind. It is rather unfortunate that such notions are considered to be the ideal way of life.
In a nation that is plagued with crimes against women and where even the judiciary considers subjugation of women to be a way of life, female emancipation means little. So the next time a case of incest comes up, will the Honourable Court suggest that a wife should be like Draupadi?
