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'THE STATUS OF WOMAN IN SRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB'
'THE STATUS OF WOMAN IN SRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB'(Comparative study) Sri Guru Granth Sahib is the torch-bearer of gender equality. Affirmation of the dignity of the human being, male as well as female, is innermost to the hymns of Sri Guru Granth Sahib (gurbānī). Thorough study of gurbānī reveals that equal status of man and woman in society has been firmly emphasized. There are several references in gurbānī, which determine the status of woman. It is a truth that the religious aspect has contributed in a considerable way in creating bias against woman and in keeping them in a state of backwardness. It is always the scripture, which determines the role and status of man and woman and their relationship in the social order. In reality, Sri Guru Granth Sahib is the only scripture of the worlds’ scriptures, which advocates strongly the equality of woman. For that reason, ‘The status of a woman in Sri Guru Granth Sahib’ is a very important subject and needs analytical and comprehensive study. However, before discussing the topic straight, it is essential to be acquainted with the connotation of the terms- ‘status’, ‘woman’ and the ‘status of woman’. ’The word ‘status’ indicates - state, place, character, grade, cachet, quality, prestige, etc.1 “The noun status has 2 senses: 1. The relative position or standing of things or especially persons in a society. Synonyms: position 2. A state at a particular time Synonyms: condition.2 A person's status is a set of social conditions or relationships created and vested in an individual. In sociology or anthropology, social status is the honor or prestige attached to one's position in society (one's social position). It may also refer to a rank or position that one holds in a group.”3 The word ‘woman’ stands for the female human being, lady, and women collectively, an adult female, etc. ‘Woman’ is the standard general term for the adult human being of the sex distinguished from man.4 In Sri Guru Granth Sahib the words- istree, naaree, aurat, dhan, etc. are synonymous of the word woman. It is generally said that the development of any society can be judged from the status a woman occupies in relation to man in that society. A woman performs a number of roles in the family, community and the wider social system. Her status in the society is determined by her composite status depending upon her various positions and roles. To an extent, it also depends upon her consciousness of her own status. In the final analysis, the status is "the conjunction of positions a woman occupies as a worker, student, wife, mother the power and prestige attached to these positions and the rights and duties she is expected to exercise".5 In general no society can be called free and just, until its woman enjoys full independence and get all the opportunities for recognizing her potential. Historically speaking, when Guru Nanak founded the Sikh religion (after the event of rivulet Vein), “the status of woman was not very encouraging rather she was living in multi-constraints. Each and every religion from time memorial has sought to push the woman back, keep her in check, make use of her as booty in war, make use of her body for pleasure, and make use of her labour as slavery. The World Society stands on the bedrock of the Family unit, of which the woman is half partner, yet the man dominated Social Order backed by the religions and religious texts of all religions, seeks to actively suppress the woman– as lowly, unclean, unfit to rule and much worse just as an object of pleasure and property to be traded as livestock. In Judaism, Christianity and Islam woman has very little say in anything.”6 To study the status of woman in Sri Guru Granth Sahib more clearly, it is proper to see woman’s status in other Semitic (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) as well as Indian religions (Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Yoga Cults). Woman’s status in Semitic Religions: In Judaism to be a woman is considered degradation. The very conception of woman in the Old Testament as accepted by the New seems to be very low. It is told that a modern Jew in his daily prayers says, “Blessed are Thou, O Lord our God! King of the Universe, who hath not made me a woman.” 7 According to another scholar: “She could go to the synagogue but she had to sit in a separate area, from the men or, if she were in the temple at Jerusalem, she was restricted to its outer portion, the women’s court, which was five steps below the men’s courts".8 She was treated just like a slave having no religious, social or political rights. In Christianity it is believed that woman destroys God’s image in man. In the Holy Bible, we find the birth of woman having taken place from one of the ribs of Adam.9 This made her subservient to man forever. Eve, the first woman persuades Adam to eat the forbidden apple, thus committing the world's first sin, a landmark recognized as the fall of mankind.10 Ever since the fall of Adam, woman has been looked down as a hindering factor in the spiritual progress of man. She has been degraded, demoralized and discredited as arresting the imagination of man. Virginity is considered a worthy offering to Christ. As Dr. Radhakrishnan observes, “Christian Europe has been brought upon the belief that death would have been unknown but for the unkindness of woman. She was accused of treachery, backbiting and tempting men to doom.11 In Islam also woman is demeaned. The Holy Quran contains explicit details concerning the inferior treatment of women. This includes the right of a man to divorce his wife, never vice versa, and the wearing of a veil to cover a woman's face, called burkah, in public. The Quran reminds men, "Your women are a tilth for you (to cultivate) ... And they (women) have rights similar to those (of men) over them in kindness, and men are a degree above them."12 The Qur'anic verse regarding the testimony of two women being equal to that of 0ne man is as follows: And get two witnesses out of your own men and, if there are not two men, then a man and two women such as ye choose for witnesses.13 Woman’s status in Indian Religions: In Hinduism, woman was reduced to the status of slave ever since the establishment of Brahman’s dominance and enforcement of Manu's code. According to Manu, "Though destitute of virtue or seeking pleasure (elsewhere) or devoid of good qualities (yet) a husband must be constantly worshipped as a God by a faithful wife."14 Commenting on the sad plight of woman, R.C. Majumdar writes, "The poor wife was expected to follow her husband even in death by burning herself alive, but the husband, "having given sacred fires to his wife who dies before him, may marry again, and again kindle the fires". Strangest of all, women who once even composed Vedic hymns were not allowed to study the Vedas and perform sacrificial rites.”15 In view of that, Indian woman was destined to a life of unending humiliation and misery. Manu makes it more hurtful when he says that in childhood a woman must be a subordinate to her father, after marriage to her husband and in the old age (after the death of her husband), to her sons.  As a result, the poor woman was made to tolerate all the abuses and humiliations silently. It is a disheartening statement that she had been deprived of the freedom and opportunity to develop as a complete person. According to Jaina religion, “a woman cannot even have pravrajjya, i.e., initiation in the sannyas", and since women produce microorganism their body, they cannot attain Sannyasa.", and it is further told, “Though she possesses right knowledge, right faith and follows strenuous behaviour, she cannot attain Sannyasa.”16 Buddhism does not stand much in favour of woman. According to one scholar, the founder of Buddhism, Lord Buddha, “Instead of considering woman a necessary adjunct of society her company was considered to be an obstacle in the development of higher powers in man. Nirvana was beyond question for woman, or even in company of woman.” So we can see that according to Buddhism to get Nirvana one has to give up family life which means the escape from woman.17 The Yogis, an ascetic creed, stressed the need of renouncing women and taking vow to remain celibates for ever for the attainment of salvation. Yogi Gorakh Nath called women a she-wolf (baghani), who prohibits man on spiritual path and deprives man of his youthful vigour. Indian woman was looked down upon to such an extent that she was treated as "man's shoe, the root of all evils, a snare, seducer and a temptress.	From above description it is clear that at the time of Sri Guru Nanak Dev, Indian woman was severely degraded and oppressed by their society. She was debarred from any kind of religious education or spiritual experience. Her function was only to perpetuate the race, do household work, and serve the male members of society. Woman had been kept under veil, Child marriage was a common factor, widow remarriage was not allowed. Female infanticide was common and the practice of sati was encouraged, and sometimes even forced. Sati is an Indian custom of immolation of a woman on her dead husband's funeral pyre either self-willingly or by societal inducement and compulsion. A Sikh scholar writes, “On the one hand she was being crushed in the Hindu male-dominated society in many cruel rituals like sati and parda etc; on the other hand she was to live under veil as a Muslim woman. At the same she was to live under the constant fear of loosing her modesty (she may be Hindu or Muslim) because of the regular invasions by the Muslim plunderers from outside of India.18 With the above forwarding of the article- status of woman in Semitic and Indian religions, we may proceed to view the status of woman in the light of gurbānī (the hymns of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Woman’s status in Sri Guru Granth Sahib: Without doubt, Sri Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, was the first person who stood up for the neglected and depressed woman and protected her rights. He lifted to raise her up the same as the equal of man. He encouraged her to take an active role in every sphere of life. He had several energetic and sympathetic words to say for her. The central point is that a woman, who gives birth to even kings cannot be termed as inferior. Sri Guru Nanak Dev explains: From woman, man is born; within woman, man is conceived;      to woman he is  engaged and married. Woman becomes his friend; through woman, the future generations come. When his woman dies, he seeks another woman; to woman he is bound. So why call her bad? From her, kings are born. From woman, woman is born; without woman, there would be no one at all. O Nanak, only the True Lord is without a woman. (p.473) In Sri Guru Granth Sahib a woman is not considered an evil who leads man astray. Nor is she regarded an obstacle in the realization of the spiritual ideals. Sikhism is a householder's religion for man and woman alike. The Sikh Gurus honoured the institution of marriage (grhastha) and strongly denounced asceticism. They castigated those yogis who left their houses and lived on the generosity of the common people. The yogis took pride in being celibates but inwardly they were in fact craving for sexual indulgence.19 In the words of Sri Guru Nanak Dev: With bowl in hand, wearing his patched coat, great desires well up in his mind. Abandoning his own wife, he is engrossed in sexual desire; his thoughts are on the wives of     	others. (p.1013) In Sri Guru Granth Sahib, man and woman are considered as complement to each other, one is incomplete without the other. Marriage is an unbreakable spiritual union since the foundation of marriage is not simply a physical unification, but a never-ending true love. In view of the fact that both man and woman are co-partners in their life as both command the same respect and equality. Loyalty is enjoined upon both: They are not said to be husband and wife, who merely sit together. They alone are called husband and wife, who have one light in two bodies. (p.788) To get rid of the burden from the parents of a girl, the custom of dowry is also denounced: Any other dowry, which the self-willed manmukhs offer for show, is only false egotism and 		   a worthless display. O my father, please give me the Name of the Lord God as my 			  wedding gift and dowry. (p. 79) Gurbānī rejects the prevalent superstition of sutak, according to which a woman giving birth to a child remains in pollution for a given number of days, depending upon the caste to which she belongs. Sri Guru Nanak Dev states that pollution is not in childbirth: The impurity of the mind is greed, and the impurity of the tongue is falsehood. The impurity of the eyes is to gaze upon the beauty of another man's wife, and his wealth. The impurity of the ears is to listen to the slander of others. O Nanak, the mortal's soul goes, bound and gagged to the city of Death.... All impurity comes from doubt and attachment to duality. Birth and death are subject to the Command of the Lord's Will; through His will we come and go. (p. 472) For upgrading the position of woman the practice of female infanticide is severely banned. Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji issued orders banning the Khalsa from associating with those who practiced female infanticide. There is directive in Sikh Rahit Maryada: A Sikh should not kill his daughter; nor should he maintain any relationship with a killer of daughter. In addition to this, child marriage is taboo for Sikhs and remarriage of widow is permitted. If a woman's husband dies, she can remarry. For a Sikh woman to keep her face hidden by veil (ghund/ parda) is not allowed.21 In Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the practice of ‘sati’ is also condemned. The Gurus denounced it as unforgivable cruelty on woman and they struggled hard for the ending of this brutal social practice. Sri Guru Amar Das proclaims: Do not call them 'satee', who burn themselves along with their husbands' corpses. O Nanak, they alone are known as 'satee', who dies from the shock of separation. They are also known as 'satee', who abides in modesty and contentment. They serve their Lord, and rise in the early hours to contemplate Him. (p.787) In gurbānī, very connotation of the word ‘sati’ is transformed to a virtuous character: -In the minds of the virtuous (sateeaa), contentment is produced, thinking about 			    their giving. (p. 466). -In the Dark Age of Kali Yuga, they come together through destiny. As long as the Lord commands, they enjoy their pleasures. By burning oneself; the Beloved Lord is not obtained. Only by the actions of destiny does she rise up and burn herself, as a 'satee'. Imitating what she sees, with her stubborn mind-set, she goes into the fire. She does not obtain the Company of her Beloved Lord, and she wanders through countless incarnations. With pure conduct and self-restraint, she surrenders to her husband Lord's Will; that woman shall not suffer pain at the hands of the messenger of death. Says Nanak, she who looks upon the Transcendent Lord as her Husband, is the 				blessed 'satee'; she is received with honor in the Court of the Lord. (p.185) The woman in Sri Guru Granth Sahib not only have the equal right to religious experience rather she has got a very respectful place which came to light for the first time in Indian 	society, The Gurus went further. They used the Woman symbolically in gurbānī to represent the disciple. In the words of Prof. Puran Singh, “the whole of Guru Granth is the voice of a wedded woman or a maiden pinning in love of the beautiful. Her nobleness in Guru Grantha is infinite; her freedom is of the highest. Both man and woman as sexes are forgotten in her voice. She becomes the Supreme Reality and a freed Soul. In the freed soul alone is the subordination of one to the other effectively abolished and all disputes hushed.” 22 There is no discrimination between being man or woman in the field of spiritual realization. Woman is not a hurdle in the spiritual journey of man. Various virtues of ideal women have been also portrayed through examples.23 Gurbānī encourages woman to attain education. In Sri Guru Granth Sahib there are many references giving the qualities of the ideal women (suchaji), who is most noble of all the family (sabh parwarai mahi sreshat) with thirty two qualities (bateeh sulalkhnī’) 24: She is blessed with all sublime (thirty two) attributes and her generations are unblemished. Her Husband, her Lord and Master, fulfills her heart's desires. Hope and desire (my younger brother-in-law and sister-in-law) are now totally content. She is the most noble of all the family. She counsels and advises her hope and desire. How blessed is that household, in which she has appeared. O servant Nanak, she passes her time in perfect peace and comfort. (p.371) Bhai Gurdas, interpreter of Sikh beliefs, pays enriching compliments to womankind: A woman is the favourite in her parental home loved dearly by her father and mother. In the home of her in-laws, she is the pillar of the family, the guarantee of its good fortune. . . 				Sharing in spiritual wisdom and enlightenment and with noble qualities endowed, a woman, The other half of man, escorts him to the door of liberation.” (Varan, V.16) In the end we can conclude that Sri Guru Nanak Dev and the other contributors of Sri Guru Granth Sahib raised their voice for justice to woman and granted the scriptural basis for equality, which was not to be found in the scriptures of other religions. In Sri Guru Granth Sahib focus is on prevention of sex based discrimination and to put woman on equal footing to man where she has right to all aspects (spiritual, religious, ethical, cultural, educational, economical, political, social, etc.) of life. Dorothy Field, a western scholar, has truly remarked: “The most notable social improvement was the emancipation of women. Many women found salvation through the Guru’s teachings.” 25 Indeed, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the living Guru and the Holy Scripture of the Sikhs elevated the status of woman on par to that of man. References and Footnotes 1. Dictionary reference.com. 2. Wordnetweb. 3. En.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social status. 4. Webster's New World College Dictionary. 5. Dr. Upinder Jit Kaur, Article- ‘ROLE AND STATUS OF WOMEN IN SIKHISM’. (From net) 6. Sikh Philosophy Network 7. Shaikh M.H. Kidwai of Gadia Woman, Seema Publications, Delhi, First Indian Edition, 1976), P. 13. 8. Nalini Keller, Women under the Cross, Cosmo Publications, India 1997, p. 15.4. 9. Genesis II, 21-25.  	10.  Robert O. Ballou: The Portable World Bible, Penguin Books, 1976, p. 237-241. 11. Religion and Society (George Allen and Unwin Ltd., London, 1966) P. 139. 12. Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, translator: The Meaning of Glorious Koran, Mentor Book, New 	American 	Library, New York and Scarborough, Ontario, 1924, p. 53, Surah II, 223-228. 13. ii. 282. 14. "She who shows disrespect to (a husband) who is addicted to (some evil) passion, is a drunkard, or diseased, shall be 	deserted for three months (and be) deprived of her ornaments and the furniture. She who drinks spirituous liquor, is 	of bad conduct, rebellious, diseased, mischievous or wasteful, may at any time be superseded". "A barren wife 	may be superseded in the eighth year, she whose children (all) die in the tenth, she who bears only daughters in the 	eleventh, but she who is quarrelsome without delay". Cited by R.C. Majumdar, Ancient India (Delhi, Motilal 	Banarasidass, 1960), p. 474. 15. Ibid. 16. Gurnam Kaur’s paper- ‘GURU GRANTH SAHIB AND EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN’ presented in 2004(from net).. 17. Ibid. 18. Ibid. 19. Dr. Upinder Jit Kaur’s Article- Role and Status of women in Sikhism (from net). 20. G. S. Talib, Article- Women in Sikhism. 21. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Sri Amritsar. 22. See Ref.: Dr. Gurnam Kaur’s paper- GURU GRANTH SAHIB AND THE GENDER EQUATIONS presented 	in 2004. 23. Lakhbir Kaur Bahra’s Ph.D.Thesis- Philosophy of Guru Granth Sahib and Its Educational Implications. 24. 'ਬਤੀਹ ਸੁਲਖਣੀ' ਤੋਂ ਭਾਵ ਹੈ ਸੰਪੂਰਨ ਸ਼ੁਭ ਗੁਣ। ਅਨੇਕਾਂ ਵਿਦਵਾਨਾਂ ਨੇ ਆਪਣੀ ਆਪਣੀ ਬੁੱਧੀ ਅਨੁਸਾਰ ੩੨ ਸ਼ੁਭ ਲੱਛਣ ਗਿਣੇ ਹਨ- ਸੁੰਦਰਤਾ, ਸਵੱਛਤਾ, ਲੱਜਾ, ਚਤੁਰਾਈ, ਵਿੱਦਿਆ, ਪਤੀ ਭਗਤੀ, ਸੇਵਾ, ਦਯਾ, ਸਤਯ, ਪ੍ਰਿਯ ਬਾਣੀ, ਪ੍ਰਸੰਨਤਾ, ਨਿਮਰਤਾ, ਨਿਸ਼ਕਪਟਤਾ, ਏਕਤਾ, ਧੀਰਜ, ਧਰਮ ਨਿਸ਼ਠਾ, ਸੰਯਮ, ਉਦਾਰਤਾ, ਗੰਭੀਰਤਾ, ਉੱਦਮ, ਸੂਰਬੀਰਤਾ, ਰਾਗ, ਕਾਵਯ, ਚਿਤ੍ਰ, ਔਸ਼ਧ, ਰਸੋਈ, ਸਿਊਣ ਅਤੇ ਪਰੋਣ ਦੀ ਵਿੱਦਿਆ, ਘਰ ਦੀਆਂ ਵਸਤੂਆਂ ਦਾ ਯਥਾ ਯੋਗ ਸ਼ਿੰਗਾਰਣਾ, ਬਜ਼ੁਰਗਾਂ ਦਾ ਮਾਣ, ਘਰ ਆਏ ਪ੍ਰਾਹੁਣਿਆਂ ਦਾ ਸਨਮਾਨ ਅਤੇ ਸੰਤਾਨ ਦਾ ਪਾਲਣ। ਮਹਾਨ ਕੋਸ਼, ਪੰਨਾ ੨੯੩੭(from net). 25.The Religion of the Sikhs (London: Murray, 1914), p.59. Gurwinder kaur, Patiala.