The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c7.s1.1

c7.s1.1

Being of hoary antiquity Hindu literature has naturally preserved some traces of promiscuity existing in prehistoric times. The Mahābhārata informs us that in the land of the Uttarakurus¹ and in the city of Māhishmatī² the institution of marriage did not exist. It may be, however, added that Uttarakuru is very probably a mythical country, not existing on terrestrial globe, and that the evidence about Māhishmatī consists of an observation made by its Pāṇḍava conqueror Sahadeva during his short stay there in the course of a hurricane military campaign. It may not be worth more than the proverbial traveller’s tale. According to the Great Epic it was the sage Śvetaketu who decreed that promiscuity should be supplanted by regular marriage¹. Whether the state of promiscuity, here referred to as existing in prehistoric times, is a mere possibility intellectually conceived, or whether it actually did exist in some sections of society in certain parts of the country, we do not know. There are a few passages in the epic showing that a state of promiscuity may not have been an impossibility at an early period. They disclose an astounding laxity in sexual morality. It must, however, be noted that most of these passages have a context and are not to be taken at their face value. Thus Śarmiṣṭhā observes that there is no difference between one's own husband and the husband of a friend¹; but we must note that this is an argument advanced by a woman driven into desperation by the unnatural punishment of eternal maidenhood inflicted upon her. When eventually king Yayāti yields to Śarmishṭhā's importunities and is taken to task by Śukra, his father-in-law, he observes that duty and chivalry rendered it necessary for him to comply with Śarmishṭhā's request². The astounding proposition here advanced by him is, however, nothing but an untenable defence put forward by an accused who is at a loss to know how to defend himself. The traces of promiscuity that we get in the epic have to be referred to pre-Vedic times; for we find the institution of marriage well established in the Ṛigveda.