The status and divinity of the Gods in Hindu religious traditions and scriptures stand unique for the special status that they confer upon the Goddesses.
The Bharatiya civilization is a feminist civilization and this is exhibited during the celebration of the Feminine during Dussehra and Navratri celebrations. The status and divinity of the Gods in Hindu religious traditions and scriptures stand unique for the special status that they confer upon the Goddesses, something not commonly found in other contemporary religious traditions. Women are celebrated and revered the same as male Gods and are sometimes held in higher regard than their male counterparts. The Goddess Durga’s representation of Shakti (power) is a brilliant illustration of womanhood that is divine, powerful, and just. This form of Durga—and other forms of Amman and Mother Goddess—are prevalent in most parts of Bharat.
NEED FOR BHARATIYA VIEW OF FEMINISM
The West looks at issues through the binary lens, whereas in the Bharatiya tradition it is harmony and balance. When one sees the Western concept of feminism, there is a predominant emphasis on the idea of resistance and upending the status quo as perhaps the only way to bring women into the mainstream. Even worse, the women are to be portrayed either as alternatives to men or similar to men. Such attempts create contradiction that the Western world and its emulators failed to grasp even a century after the movement began.
In Bharatiya traditions, this is not the case. Here, women are essential components of culture, traditions, and everyday practices. The women’s role is not about rebellion but bringing harmony and correcting the course. Unlike Western understandings, women and their roles are not stiff and monotonous, but their roles are multifaceted emotions and characters that range from loving and compassionate to fierce and retributive. We have Goddesses like Saraswati, Sita, and Parvati, who are known for their divinely loving and poised nature. However, we also have Goddess Durga and Kali, who are fierce warriors who undertook violence to restore order and justness in the society. These shades highlight that the same woman can be accommodative and caring while also being punitive and harbinger of justice and righteousness.
For such reasons, there is a greater need today to look back at our civilizational paths and highlight the musings of our traditions that have women take important roles without abandoning their true selves. Neither men nor women in society are to replace each other but act in harmony. This is the Bharatiya view of feminism that does not contradict and conflict with different roles but views them as one. The order in society is established according to respect and honour. While transgressions of roles and rights of women in the past exist, women in Bharatiya traditions and mythologies do not sit back and wait for help and being saving; instead, they take up the task themselves.
NAVARATRI AND GODDESS DURGA
The festival of Navratri (Nine Nights) is in veneration and celebration of Goddess Durga’s victory over Mahishasura. Each nine days is dedicated to one avatar of Goddess Durga—Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri, and Siddhidatri. The story of Mahishasura gives us the origins of the Goddess Durga, who was born out of “collective powers of ‘Tejas’ of all Gods.” Armed with Lord Shiva’s mighty Trident and Lord Vishnu’s Sudharsan Chakra, she defeated the demon Mahishasura, who had wreaked havoc and terrorized the Earth and even the Gods. The symbolic meaning of her birth and character is to be understood in different facets of womanhood that comprise all the purposes of victory over evil and amalgamation of all divinity into one figure. Her life and legends present myriad lessons to learn and emulate for society today. In such a sense, the Goddess Durga is an icon for women’s empowerment and breaking the gender stereotypes that, over centuries, have limited women to child-rearing roles and household chores.
Another element to pay attention here is that the equality of men-women duo in Bharatiya tradition is not singular. Instead, it is represented best as Shiva-Shakti, wherein both masculine and feminine components are not just touted as equal but together make one image of God that is half male and half female. For such reasons, one sees the tradition of placing names of female Goddesses before male Gods is regular practice. One can also observe this with phrasings like Sita-Ram, Parvati-Shiv, Lakshmi-Vishnu, among others. Very similar to this is the referencing of great warriors and scholars in Hindu cultures named after their mothers, which is how often they were regularly introduced. An excellent example from Mahabharata is Gangaputra (Son of Ganga) Bhisma.
Centuries of subjugation have upended Indian attitudes and confidence in their own traditions and wisdom. Yet, the values of great culture persevered, and it is incumbent upon us to carry them forward by emulating the morals of these festivals. Respecting women is not a virtue but a fundamental aspect of being itself. The world and the being itself are a composite of masculine and feminine energies, and one should aspire to merge them in their words and actions. Remember Lord Shiva’s manifestation of Ardhanarishvara, part Shiva and part Shakti. The real challenge and task ahead of one is to not merely acknowledge divinity and self-consciousness but to amalgamate them and act those virtues out practically in one’s actions.
Long before, the global community and Western countries, in particular, sought to create International Women’s Day to celebrate women and their contributions. Through the Navratri celebrations, Hinduism has venerated women as the lynchpin of relationships, families, and society. People observe fasts, organize social/cultural events, and retell stories and legends to learn and celebrate Shakti in its different manifestations.
The Goddesses in Hindu traditions are not worshipped and venerated merely for their power and strength but for the higher ideals they espouse and represent. In light of the great traditions and culture that the Bharatiya civilization inherited, our duty is to respect, honour, and celebrate them by rising above the confines of caste and gender. After all, women are the Goddesses that give life and are, in a true sense, maas, the creators and nurturers of individuals, of families, of society, and the nation itself. The Navratri festival is the celebration of the Feminine energy for conquering Evil and restoring the good and peace and prosperity throughout.
Prof Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit is the Vice Chancellor of JNU.