Empowerment of women in the Ramayana Sita
The Ramayana depicts and upholds the rights of men and women, especially of the latter in keeping with Manu's injunction (Manusmriti 3.56 - 3.59). Manu's Dharma Shastra or Smriti was widely diffused throughout the ancient world. However, ancient cultures adopted patriarchal patterns of mal...
| Published in: | Nidān |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Univ.
2010
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| In: |
Nidān
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| Further subjects: | B
Women
B Ramayana B Sita B Dharma B Gender |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | The Ramayana depicts and upholds the rights of men and women, especially of the latter in keeping with Manu's injunction (Manusmriti 3.56 - 3.59). Manu's Dharma Shastra or Smriti was widely diffused throughout the ancient world. However, ancient cultures adopted patriarchal patterns of male control and domination over women, relegating them to the position of chattels. The Ramayana in its various versions accords women the rights and powers enjoined by Manu, within the patriarchal system. But this egalitarian approach does not extend to Sita, wife of the protagonist of the Ramayana and the supreme exemplar of virtues as a woman and wife. She has to exert herself to acquire her rights, from accompanying Rama into exile to fending off Ravana. The greatest tests of her strength of character and self-empowerment come when she questions Rama's harsh words in Lanka (Valmiki, Yuddhakandam cxvi-5) and rejects life with him, after suffering banishment, and chooses to leave the world. There are thus binary views regarding women, as well as Sita herself (Chirkut 2006: 37), whereby Sita is hailed as a Goddess (Valmiki, Sundarakandam 16.14 and Tulasidasa, Balakanda 4) and subjected to calumny at the same time. This paper will examine how Sita negotiated questions of freedom, dignity and wider human rights and the lessons to be drawn for a new social contract between men and women. It will also explore what qualities truly describe Sita, Valmiki's great heroine. Is it the compliant or the defiant Sita, or both? |
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| ISSN: | 2414-8636 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Nidān
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.58125/nidan.2010.1 |