Hindu Mythology

Lesson 6: The Mahabharata

The Game of Dice and the Status of Women

After being staked by Yudhishthir and lost, Draupadi is dragged to court, where she asks Bhishma whether it was permissible for her husband to stake her after he had staked himself and lost. Today Draupadi would have asked whether it was permissible for her husband to stake her at all. Even at that time Draupadi’s question was considered very bold as can be discerned from Bhishma’s reply. He said that if Yudhishthir had not first lost himself then there is no doubt that he had the right to stake her. The situation does become unclear after his staking himself and losing. But even a pauper can dispose of his wife any way he wants.

If this is the fate of the consort of an emperor then one can easily imagine the status of ordinary women in society.

Manu, the first man, formulated detailed rules regarding conduct of a society. He described what members of each caste should do in a variety of situations relevant to them. He described the conduct between husband and wife and between father and sons. He covered diverse situations like the punishments to be meted out by the king and the distribution of property after death. Ancient society was governed strictly according these rules. The suppression of women is evident in these rules and so are the reasons for this.

In early societies there was a need to expand the population. (In The Bible God tells Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply) There was no family planning and no contraception. Manu says “Reprehensible is the husband who approaches not his wife in due season.” Women were literally baby manufacturing machines. Obviously no man would want his wife to bear another man’s child. The caste system made things more complicated. If inadvertently the blood of a lower caste were introduced in the family the ancestors in heaven and the descendants for all time to come would be maligned. There was no way of telling if the child was the husband’s or the lover’s. Hence the safest way was to prevent the women from having any outside contact. They were kept busy at home and allowed outside only under supervision. Thus they were reduced to the state of being a man’s property and treated as such in other matters as well.

Even if a woman conceives outside her marriage, there has to be a man involved. The question arises as to why he is able to go free. This is where the fullest chauvinistic nature of the Laws of Manu is seen. Manu allotted to women a love of their bed and of ornaments, impure desires, wrath, dishonesty, malice, and bad conduct. He absolves the erring man of all responsibility.

This situation appears all the more abhorrent because we compare it with contemporary societies. However there are material differences. Today keeping population under check is more important than expanding it so continuously producing children is not a necessity. The practice of contraception plays an important role. The establishment of paternity through DNA tests has eliminated the guesswork and accusations. All these in totality have eliminated the need to keep women under guard.

Optional Exercises

6a. Read about the episode from ‘The Indian Epics Retold’ on page 256.

6b. The complete Laws of Manu is available on line at the following site.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/manu.htm

The conduct between a husband and wife is covered in Chapter IX
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/manu/man...

6c. Though the laws discriminate against the lower castes and against women, academically they are remarkable in the sense of the detail and forethought contained in them. They are akin to the constitution of a modern country. Perhaps the only equivalent of ancient times is The Code of Hammurabi.
http://www.lawresearch.com/v2/codeham.htm

Compare and contrast The Code of Hammurabi with The Laws of Manu.

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