History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c28.s2.94

v2.c28.s2.94

Reading all that has been said in favour of and against women in ancient Sanskrit Literature it may be said that the higher minds of Hindu Society were quite aware of the worth of women, that they insisted on chastity as the highest virtue for them, that there was no doubt an undercurrent among common people of poor opinion about women, that those who valued an ascetic life and wanted to wean people away from worldly ties and attachments looked down upon women ('vairāgyamārgeṇa' as Varāhamihira happily puts it) and exaggerated their faults. It has to be borne in mind that many of the passages condemning women are put in the mouth of persons who were for some reason or other angry with women or wronged by them or dissatisfied with their conduct. Further in assessing passages disparaging the character of women one maxim of the Pūrvamīmāṁsā system must not be lost sight of. The maxim is stated by Śabara (on Jaimini II. 4. 21) as follows:¹³⁵⁹ 'the purpose of a text censuring anything is not censure pure and simple, but the purpose is to enjoin the performance of the opposite of what is censured and to praise such performance'. The object therefore of the authors that censured women was to inculcate the great value of chastity and obedience for women and not merely to paint a dark picture of them.