The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c16.75

c16.75

The above masterly and just indictment of Varāhamihira shows clearly that the case of the misogynist is very weak; how is it then that it ever came to be advanced? It appears that some Hindu writers have painted the woman in very black colours, not so much because they believed in what they said, but because they were anxious to dissuade men from marriage and family life. Varāhamihira expressly states that the Renunciation (Saṁnyāsa) School was accustomed to decry women with the above end in view¹. Of course there were a few writers in this school too, who have taken a balanced view of the whole situation and given due praise to women for the invaluable assistance which they give to their husbands in the realisation of temporal and spiritual goals of life. This, for instance, is the case with the author of the *Yogavāsiṣṭha*². Such thinkers were, however, in a small minority. As a rule, in order to induce men to adopt a life of renunciation, which they honestly believed to be essential for salvation, the writers of the Saṁnyāsa School felt that they might indulge in hyperbolic language in describing the faults, drawbacks and vices of woman, who is the centre and attraction of family life for man.