The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c8.55

c8.55

The apotheosis of the mother has reached a greater height in India than anywhere else. The son could never abandon his mother, even if she was boycotted socially and religiously. He was to respect her more than father². Of course, there are also passages which place the father and the preceptor higher than the mother (*Manu*, II, 145-6), but these are probably due to later sacerdotal influence. Eventually Hindu culture solved the problem of the relative superiority of these three by classing them all together as *atigurus* or supreme worthies (*Vishṇu*, 31,1-2).