Hinduism And Women

"Urvashi: When will the son be born and seek his father? Mourner-like, will he weep when first he knows him? Who shall divide the accordant wife and husband, while fire is shining with thy consort's parents?"

"According to this theory Pururava-Urvashi dialogue hymn was one of the earliest known performative texts. Urvashi was the key figure of this text. There are legends showing relationship of Urvashi with dramatic art. Through a legend recorded in Natyashastra it is implied that she was responsible for bringing on earth the heavenly art of drama."

"Then from her husband's body forced he out and firmly with his cord Bound and detained the spirit, like in size and ...length to man’s thumb. Forthwith the body, bereft of vital being and deprived of breath, Lost all its grace and beauty, and became ghastly and motionless."

"The figure replies that he is Yama, king of death; that her husband's time is come, and that he must bind and take his spirit."

"After binding the spirit, Yama proceeds with it towards his own quarter, the south. The faithful wife follows him closely. Yama bids her go home and prepare her husband’s funeral rites, but she persists in following, till Yama pleased with her devotion grants her any boon she pleases except the life of her husband. She chooses that her husband’s father, who is blind may recover his sight. Yama consents, and bids her now return home. Two other boons are granted in the same way, and still Savitri follows closely on the heels of the king of death. At last, overcome by her constancy, Yama grants a boon without exception. The delighted Savitri exclaims."

"The kings daughter and the hermits son are therefore married, and the bride strive to forget the ominous prophesy; but as the last day approaches her anxiety becomes irrepressible. She exhausts herself in prayers and penances, hoping to stay the hand of the destroyer; yet all the while dares not reveal the fatal secret to her husband. As the last dreaded day arrives, and Satyavan sets out to cut in the forest. His wife asks leave to accompany him, but with a heavy heart. Satyavan soon makes the wood resound with his hatchet, when suddenly through his temples shoots a thrill of agony, and feeling himself falling he calls out to his wife to support him."

"Whether his years are few or many, be he gifted with all the grace Or graceless, him my heart has chosen, and it choseth not again."

"Then she received her fainting husband in her arms, and sate herself On the cold ground, and gently laid his drooping head upon her lap; Sorrowing, she call'd to mind the sage's prophecy, and reckoned up The days and hours. All in an instant she beheld an awful shape Standing before her, dressed in blood~red garments, with a glittering crown Upon his head; his form though glowing like the sun, was yet obscure; And eyes he had like flames, a noose descended from his hand, and he Was terrible to look upon, by her husband’s side he stood And gazed upon him with a fiery glance. Shuddering she started up And laid her dying Satyavan upon the ground, and with her hands Joined reverently, she thus with beating heart addressed the Shape: Surely thou art a god, such form as thine must more than mortal be. Tell me, though godlike being, who though art, and wherefore art though here."

"Nought, mighty king, this time hast thou excepted: let my husband live; Without him I desire not happiness, nor even heaven itself; Without him I must die. "So be it! faithful wife“, replied the king of death. “Thus I release him;” and with that he loosed the cord that bound his soul."

"The Princes Savitri is so beautiful that people think she is a goddess. But is her mind and heart, not her beauty, which makes her a heroine. When she finds a man worthy to wed her, no one sway Savitri her from hearts path – not even Yama, the God of death. Savitri pursues him as she carries her husband’s spirit to his kingdom. It is finally Savitri’s, cleverness which wins back her husband’s life."

"Good Sávitrí her lord obeyed, And a high saint in heaven was made, And for the self-same virtue thou Hast heaven in thy possession now."

"Ideal characters must always be presented before the view of the girls to imbue them with a devotion to lofty principles of selflessness. The noble examples of Sita, Savitri, Damayanti, Lilavati, Khana, and Mirâ should be brought home to their minds and they should be inspired to mould their own lives in the light of these."

"They [nine women in Hindu mythology] are Ahalya, Draupadi, Tara, Kunti, Mandodari, Sita, Savitri, Parvati, Damayanti, Maitreyi and Shakuntala. All of them were not held in the same degree of esteem and reverence. The first five women, known as pancakanya, may well be remembered in daily prayers but none of them is regarded as an ideal woman, at least not recommended by anyone for emulation by others."

"Gandhi, father of the nation, asked Indian women to follow the examples of pure and pious Sita, Savitri and Parvati and appreciated the firmness of the character of Draupadi and Damayanti."

"Why is it that our country is the weakest and the most backward of all countries? Because Shakti is held in dishonour. Without the grace of Shakti nothing is to be accomplished... To me, Mother's grace is a hundred times more valuable than Father's... fie on him who has no devotion for the Mother....If an Indian woman in Indian dress preaches the religion which fell from the lips of the Rishis of India, it will inundate the Western world. Will there be no women in the land of Maitreyi, Khana, Lilavati, Savitri and Ubhayabharati?"

"Savitri, a lovely daughter of a king Ashwapati, loves Satyavan, the son of an old hermit, but is warned by a seer to overcome her attachments as Satyvan is doomed man, having only one year to live."

"Aswapati, king of the Maduras, for a long time had no children, but at last he had a very beautiful daughter, named Savitri. As no one had asked her in marriage after she had become of full age, her father allowed her to make her own choice."

"King Dushyanta, then, bestowed the name of Bharata upon his child, and formally installed him as the heir apparent"

"O goddess, my union with thee took place privately. Therefore, I was thinking of how best to establish thy purity. My people might think that we were only lustfully united and not as husband and wife, and therefore, this son that I would have installed as my heir apparent would only have been regarded as one of impure birth. And dearest, every hard word thou hast uttered in thy anger, have I, O large-eyed one, forgiven thee."

"The tale of Satyavan and Savitri is recited in the Mahabharata as a story of conjugal love conquering death. But this legend is, as shown by many features of the human tale, one of the many symbolic myths of the Vedic cycle. Satyavan is the soul carrying the divine truth of being within itself but descended into the grip of death and ignorance; Savitri is the Divine Word, daughter of the Sun, goddess of the supreme Truth who comes down and is born to save; Aswapati, the Lord of the Horse, her human father, is the Lord of Tapasya, the concentrated energy of spiritual endeavour that helps us to rise from the mortal to the immortal planes; Dyumatsena, Lord of the Shining Hosts, father of Satyavan, is the Divine Mind here fallen blind, losing its celestial kingdom of vision, and through that loss its kingdom of glory. Still this is not a mere allegory, the characters are not personified qualities, but incarnations or emanations of living and conscious Forces with whom we can enter into concrete touch and they take human bodies in order to help man and show him the way from his mortal state to a divine consciousness and immortal life."

"A celestial voice spoke to Dushyanta"

"The mother is but the sheath of flesh; the son sprung from the father is the father himself. Therefore, O Dushyanta, cherish thy son, and insult not Shakuntala. O best of men, the son, who is but a form of one's own seed, rescueth (ancestors) from the region of Yama. Thou art the progenitor of this boy. Shakuntala hath spoken the truth. The husband, dividing his body in twain, is born of his wife in the form of son. Therefore, O Dushyanta, cherish, O monarch, thy son born of Shakuntala."

"The monarch, then, O thou of Bharata's race, seeing the purity of his son established by the celestial messenger, became exceedingly glad. And he took unto him that son with joy. And the king with a joyous heart then performed all those rites upon his son that a father should perform."

"O Devi [Lakshmi], whose heart is full of mercy, who is worshipped throughout the three worlds and who is the giver of all fortune and the mother of Creation. All glories to You, o shelter of all living entities. O fulfiller of all desires, You are the wonderful energy of Lord Achyuta [Vishnu], who is maintaining the three worlds. You are the Supreme Goddess. O protector of the devotees, all glories to You. O Devi, it is You who fulfills the desires of the devotees, and it is You who engages them in the service of Lord Achyuta. You are eternal and deliverer of all fallen souls. All glories unto You. O Devi, for the welfare and protection of the three worlds, You take on many forms such as Ambika, Brahmi, Vaishnavi, Maheshwari, Varahi Maha-Lakshmi, Narasimhi, Indri, Kumari, Chandika, Lakshmi, Savitri, Chandrakala, Rohini and Parameshwari. All glories unto You, whose glories are unlimited. Kindly be merciful upon me."

"O Shakuntala, I do not know having begot upon thee this son. Women generally speak untruths. Who shall believe in thy words? Destitute of all affection, the lewdMenaka is thy mother, and she cast thee off on the surface of the Himavat as one throws away, after the worship is over, the flowery offering made to his gods. Thy father too of the Kshatriya race, the lustful Viswamitra, who was tempted to become a Brahmana, is destitute of all affection. However, Menaka is the first of Apsaras, and thy father also is the first of Rishis. Being their daughter, why dost thou speak like a lewd woman?"

"This is thy son, O king! Let him be installed as thy heir-apparent. O king, this child, like unto a celestial, hath been begotten by thee upon me. Therefore, O best of men, fulfil now the promise thou gavest me. Call to mind, O thou of great good fortune, the agreement thou hadst made on the occasion of thy union with me in the asylum of Kanwa."

"Thou seest, O king, the fault of others, even though they be as small as a mustard seed. But seeing, thou noticest not thy own faults even though they be as large as the Vilwa fruit. Menaka is one of the celestials. Indeed, Menaka is reckoned as the first of celestials. My birth, therefore, O Dushmanta, is far higher than thine. Thou walkest upon the Earth, O king, but I roam in the skies! Behold, the difference between ourselves is as that between (the mountain) Meru and a mustard seed!Behold my power, O king!....O king, Truth is God himself; Truth is the highest vow. Therefore, violate not thy pledge, O monarch! Let Truth and thee be even united. If thou placest no credit in my words, I shall of my own accord go hence. Indeed, thy companionship should be avoided. But thou, O Dushyanta, that when thou art gone, this son of mine shall rule the whole Earth surrounded by the four seas and adorned with the king of the mountains.'"

"When he was only six years of age, endued with great strength he used to seize and bind to the trees,... lions and tigers and bears and buffaloes and elephants. And he rode on some animals, and pursued others in sportive mood. The dwellers at Kanwa's asylum thereupon bestowed... on him a name called Sarvadamana (the subduer of all)."

"After Dushyanta had left the asylum having made those promises unto Shakuntala, the latter... brought forth a boy of immeasurable energy. And when the child was three years old, he became in splendour like the blazing fire."

"Bear ye without delay this Sakuntala with her son from this abode to that of her husband, blessed with every auspicious sign. Women should not live long in the houses of their paternal or maternal relations. Such residence is destructive of their reputation, their good conduct, their virtue. Therefore, delay not in bearing her hence."

"Shakuntala having spoken to the monarch in this wise, left his presence. But as soon as she had left, a voice from the skies, emanating from no visible shape, thus spoke unto Dushyanta..."

"In the story of Sāvitrī we have one of the finest of the many ideal female characters which the older epic poetry of India has created. Sāvitrī, daughter of Açvapati, king of Madra, chooses as her husband Satyavat, the handsome and noble son of a blind and exiled king, who dwells in a forest hermitage. Though warned by the sage Nārada that the prince is fated to live but a single year, she persists in her choice, and after the wedding departs with her husband to his father's forest retreat. Here she lives happily till she begins to be tortured with anxiety on the approach of the fatal day. When it arrives, she follows her husband on his way to cut wood in the forest. After a time he lies down exhausted. Yama, the god of death, appears, and taking his soul, departs. As Sāvitrī persistently follows him, Yama grants her various boons, always excepting the life of her husband; but yielding at last to her importunities, he restores the soul to the lifeless body. Satyavat recovers, and lives happily for many years with his faithful Sāvitrī."

"After a long search she fixed upon Satyavan son of the blind ex-king of the Salvas, living in the forest. His name means “truthful,” and he was distinguished for every excellency."

"If this be the course sanctioned by religion, if, indeed, I am my own disposer, hear, O thou foremost one of Puru's race, what my terms are. Promise truly to give me what I ask thee. The son that shall be begotten on me shall become thy heir-apparent. This, O king, is my fixed resolve. O Dushyanta, if thou grant this, then let our union take place."

"Well-spoken, O princess, this that thou hast said! Be my wife, O beautiful one! What shall I do for thee? Golden garlands, robes, ear-rings of gold, white and handsome pearls, from various countries, golden coins, finest carpets, I shall present thee this very day. Let the whole of my kingdom be thine today, O beautiful one! Come to me, O timid one, wedding me, O beautiful one, according to the Gandharva form."

"...first of kings wedded the handsome Shakuntala of graceful gait and knew her as a husband."

"And the timid and beautiful Menaka then entered the retreat and saw there Viswamitra who had burnt, by his penances, all his sins.... And beholding her beauty and accomplishments that bull amongst Rishis was possessed with lust and made a sign that he desired her companionship...And they then passed a long time there in each other's company. And sporting with each other, just as they pleased, for a long time as if it were only a single day, the Rishi begat on Menaka a daughter named Sakuntala. And Menaka went to the banks of the river Malini...And there she gave birth to that daughter. And she left the new-born infant on the bank of that river and went away."

"Thou, O Menaka, art the first of celestial Apsaras...My heart is trembling with fear. Indeed, O slender-waisted Menaka, this is thy business...you must see that Viswamitra of soul rapt in contemplation and engaged in the austerest penances, who might hurl me down from my seat. Go and tempt him and frustrating his continued austerities accomplish my good."

"And beholding the new-born infant lying in that forest destitute of human beings but abounding with lions and tigers, a number of vultures sat around to protect it from harm.... I went there to perform my ablution and beheld the infant lying in the solitude of the wilderness surrounded by vultures. Bringing her hither I have made her my daughter. And because she was surrounded in the solitude of the wilderness, by Sakuntas (birds), therefore, hath she been named by me Shakuntala (bird-protected)."

"I shall send thee, for thy escort, my troops of four classes. Indeed, it is even thus that I shall take thee to my capital, O thou of sweet smiles!"

"My illustrious father hath gone away from the asylum to fetch fruit. Wait but a moment and thou wilt see him when he arrives...'O Dushyanta, I am the daughter of the virtuous, wise, high-souled, and illustrious ascetic Kanwa."

"And entering quite alone he saw not the Rishi (Kanwa) of rigid vows. And not seeing the Rishi and finding that the abode was empty,... there came out of the Rishi's abode a maiden beautiful as Sri herself but dressed as an ascetic's daughter. And the black-eyed fair one, as she saw king Dushyanta, bade him welcome and received him duly."

"O thou of the fairest complexion, how hast thou been born as his daughter? This great doubt of mine it behoveth thee to dispel."

"The ring is lost on the way and Shakuntala, overcome with grief after being rejected by Dushyanta, collapses and is then she is carried away by a divine light. After a few days the ring is found in the stomach of a fish and Dushyanta, upon seeing it, remembers everything. He feels sad he rejected Shakuntala. Later on his way back from heaven where he had gone to assist Indra on an errand, he visits the hermitage of Maricha. There he sees a boy daringly attempting to bare the jaws of a lion’s cub. On inquiry he learns he is none other than his own son Sarvadamana."

"Upon her arrival, King Dushyanata cannot recognize Shakuntala. He even thinks it improper to eye a damsel who is a stranger to him. He could not believe that this woman was his wife."

"And the king [Dushyanta] having entered that forest which was like unto Indra's garden, soon forgot his hunger and thirst. And he was pleased beyond measure. And the monarch, laying aside all signs of royalty, entered that excellent asylum with but his minister and his priest, desirous of beholding that Rishi [Kashyapa] who was an indestructible mass of ascetic merit."

"Viswamitra, of old, having been engaged in the austerest penances alarmed Indra, the chief of the celestials, who thought that the mighty ascetic of blazing energy would, by his penances, hurl him down from his high seat in heaven. Indra, thus alarmed, summoned Menaka."

"The moment the king had left, Kanwa arrived at his abode. But Shakuntala, from a sense of shame, did not go out to receive her father. That great ascetic, however, possessed of spiritual knowledge, knew all. Indeed beholding everything with his spiritual eye, the illustrious one was pleased"

"After the king returns, sage w:DurvasaDurvasa comes to call on sage Kanva. The latter was away and Shakuntala was so lost in her thoughts of king Dushyanata that the sage’s words:” I, a guest has come”, fell on her deaf ears."

"Dushyanata in the course of hunting expedition arrives at Kanva’s hermitage and there in the garden he sees Shakuntala engaged in watering the plants along with her maids. Mesmerized by her beauty, he desires to marry her while she also is deeply impressed by the sight of the royal dignitary. They then marry in the 'Gandharva' style. The king returns to the capital while Shakuntala, left behind does not ask her the king's promise to make her son the prince consort to succeed him."