Gems of Gurbani

Guru Granth Sahib

Asa di waar  15

Atrocities and sub human position of the downtrodden humanity called achhut was not only the disturbing condition of the Hindu society that Guru Nanak took to task. He found the position of women also very humiliating. Many Hindu scriptures mostly written by Brahmans and his likes degraded the position of women and pushed them to the rank of shudras and animals. Anything coming from the religious scriptures becomes a belief and members of the society merge it into unwritten rules that are passed from generation to generation. Same way the position of women in Hindu society was degraded and made into an object of trading. Birth of a boy was celebrated because he came with a price tag that could be traded according to the status and social standing in the society. Birth of a girl was seen as a curse because her marriage was a costly affair and always dreaded as burden on families. In many homes they were treated badly and exploited for household jobs.  Always discrimination was practiced in food, education, clothing and other expenditure where the girl was in a home along with boys. In pre-Aryan societies girls were considered as assets because in an agrarian society they were great helping hand. To marry and bring a girl as bride was an expensive affair for men since they had to barter domestic animals and other assets for her. Aryans brought urbanization with them and for survival they were depended on others and since they were fair skinned they hated the aboriginal Indians so the integration was not affected. The early Aryans were nature worshippers and believed in God that sits somewhere in the sky so fire was worshipped because its fumes could take the offerings put in holy fire to heaven. Slowly this tradition of offerings became commercialized and gave birth to Brahmanism. To retain the higher position and earning the offerings lots of unwritten rules were followed. Brahman also negotiated marriages and made alliances and the dowry was introduced for unlikely alliances. Sometimes for bettering their social positions alliances were traded. This trend percolated to all economic levels of the society. This weakened the position of woman in family and in society because for this trade she was the object and expected to obey. The onslaught of Islam in India further weakened the position of woman because she was not only abducted but taken away to the markets of Kabul and Saudi Arabia for auctioning. Purdah system was introduced to save women from such humiliations and she was also confined to homes. Education, freedom and status were denied to women and her condition was deteriorated further by people and writers of religious books and epics who sanctified the wrong doings.

On this deteriorating condition of woman Guru Nanak has tried to sensitize society, He says; within a woman a man is conceived and from a woman he is born. With a woman he is betrothed and married. With a woman man contracts friendship and with a woman the process of propagation keeps on going. If a wife dies another is sought because with a woman man restrains his passions. Why call her bad from whom are born Kings? From a woman, a woman is born. Without woman there can be none. Nanak only the true Lord is without a woman.

To continue……