Book Review | Study on Ancient Indian Women Skips the Essentials
Fundamentals are overlooked in research on ancient Indian women
Shashi Warrior
This book explores ancient Indian literature to try to trace the path of feminism in ancient India. In the opening chapter, the author clearly states that literature ceased to be obsolete during the Gupta period, around the 7th century AD. Its sources are sharply defined: Vedas, Ramayana and Mahabharata, Smritis, Dharmashastras, Arthashastra and Kamasutra. It also includes coins and inscriptions, as well as Buddhist and Jain texts. According to the blurb, the aim is to “try to free Indian feminism from the ‘white man’s burden’”.
A few pressing questions. Did feminism as a school of thought exist in ancient India? Much of the spiritual literature that has survived from the 7th century, including the Main Upanishads and the Tantrik Nisvasa Tattva Samhita, focuses not on individuals but on the jivatmas they embody. The issue of gender, caste or species is irrelevant, as a jivatma can be male in one birth, female in another, or even an animal.
At what depth are the stories told? There is no information on the backstories behind characters like Ravana: the book mentions Mandodaris’s moral behavior as she questions her husband’s actions, but not the karma that led him to death and destruction. Ravana was one of the birthplaces of one of Vishnu’s guardians, and his choice of punishment led him to become what he was. He had no authority in the matter. In some versions, Mandodari herself is Sita’s mother, and there is a prophecy that her daughter will cause Ravana’s destruction; Thus, his own organization comes to the fore. Another version is that Sita was Vedavati reborn to destroy Ravana.
How meticulous and complete is the selection of literature? Some notable omissions: Upanishads (introduces the theory/philosophy of multiple births aimed at moksha, and in this sense is incompatible with concepts of agency and feminism), Tantric literature, and Vishnu Purana (which states that women should achieve the highest spiritual goals and gain the worlds simply by adhering to their husbands and performing household duties, without the need to make onerous sacrifices or lifelong Vedic devotions. The studies required for men in the upper castes also indicate that women in Kaliyug are fickle also says etc.).
Highlighting a small number of exceptional female figures risks conflating individual agency with broader social power. Characters like Kunti and Draupadi lived in tightly regulated patriarchal structures, but they also represented unusually clear and strong personalities in rich environments. Treating these as indicative may obscure the much narrower range of actions available to most women, even across comparable social strata. The author acknowledges some limitations late in the book: His three disclaimers refer to geography, theory versus practice, and context. But given the selection of literature, another double disclaimer would have been appropriate.
While the mission of freeing Indian feminism from the burden of the historical white man is laudable and genuine, we too have to give credit where credit is due, and this book, a limited study of India’s social architecture, fails to take into account its civilizational or spiritual basis. To me, this is one long example of imposing a modern perspective on a group of ancient civilizations to which it does not actually belong.
Women in the Womb of Time
By Mukul Kumar
Ink Occam
p. 317; 799 rupees/-
