Women In Hinduism Research Papers

The principal philosophical systems of India are divided into two branches: āstika and nāstika. This division, however, is basically religious, not philosophical or logical. Whatever might have been the original meanings of these two... more

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- by Ramkrishna Bhattacharya
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- 6
  Jurisprudence, Philosophy Of Law, Women In Hinduism, VEDA

Link to full text: https://rdcu.be/bb29v This article traces the hagiographical legacy of the fourteenth-century Kashmiri saint Lal Ded, demonstrating a dramatic shift in her... more

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- by Dean Accardi
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- 14
  Hinduism, Hagiography, Postcolonial Studies, South Asian Studies

Although the Bhāgavata Purāṇa presents an innovative soteriology of emotion that explicitly identifies kāma as the gopīs' path to union with Krishna, a close reading of his commentary on the rāsalīlā (and other passages treating the... more

This paper discusses the concept of lakṣmaṇ-rekhā that originates in the later Rāmāyaṇa tradition and for centuries has functioned as a metaphorical expression denoting a strict (moral) boundary that should not be crossed, as its... more

This paper discusses the concept of lakṣmaṇ-rekhā that originates in the later Rāmāyaṇa tradition and for centuries has functioned as a metaphorical expression denoting a strict (moral) boundary that should not be crossed, as its transgression inevitably exposes one to danger. It has featured prominently in Indian public discourse on female chastity and is also very much present in different sociocultural and political contexts, often vocalised in literature, works of art, etc. In the concept of lakṣmaṇ-rekhā, one of the most basic and at the same time most important functions performed in culture by symbolic boundaries is manifested-the function of delineat-ing the known, familiar, safe and permissible from the unknown, unfamiliar , dangerous, impermissible. Significantly, these boundaries have inherent moral weight and help individuals as well as whole societies to structure and regulate the universe they live in, on the micro and macroscale. In this paper, first I discuss textual evidence that can be found in well known Hindi Rāmāyaṇas such as the Rāmcaritmānas, the Rāmcandrikā and Rādheśyām Rāmāyaṇ, as well as in the Sūrsāgar. This analysis of literary material is meant to contextualise various levels of explicit and implicit meanings of the concept of lakṣmaṇ-rekhā that emerge from traditional sources in Hindi. In the second part of this article, I offer a survey of relevant Hindi dictionary entries and then focus on modern nonliterary (and not only Hindi) usages of lakṣmaṇ-rekhā. Finally, I place the previously examined literary and linguistic material in the context of the findings of contemporary social scientists on the concept of symbolic boundaries (Epstein 1992). It is hoped that this study that gives emphasis to structuring and regulating (but not only) aspect of boundaries can contribute to our understanding of how broadly understood safety and values are negotiated in contemporary Indian society by way of drawing (ethical) boundaries and what happens if they are compromised.

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- by danuta stasik
- •
- 5
  Hinduism, Hindi Literature, Women In Hinduism, Hindi

Discourse on interfaith marriages in India at present involves diverse narratives ranging from opposition and resistance to acceptance. These alliances deserve greater focus in terms of their uniqueness, challenges as well as everyday... more

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- by Shweta Verma
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- 5
  Indian studies, Women In Hinduism, Indian Muslims, Marriage and Family

This chapter looks at some of the issues of old women in India with a special focus on widows in the city of Vrindavan. In India, social mores inhibit women from re-marrying, resulting in an increased likelihood of women ending up alone.... more

What is comparative poetics, and where is it to be found? The tradition of verses in Kashmiri ascribed to the fourteenth-century female ascetic Lalla might seem a strange place to look for answers to these questions, given that the... more

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- by Sonam Kachru and +1
  Jane Mikkelson
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- 12
  Religion, Comparative Literature, Persian Literature, Literature

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- by Amanda J. Lucia
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- 4
  Hinduism, Spirituality, Women In Hinduism, Guru movements

Static models of Hindu women as marginalized and muted subjects have in recent years been enlivened by a body of work that investigates the ways in which women both subtly and overtly resist, contest, and re-imagine these roles. This... more

Undeniably the most famous episode of Kṛṣṇa's youthful life in Vraja, the moonlit tryst with the gopīs has been celebrated across India for millennia-variously recounted in Sanskrit and vernacular languages, and sensuously represented in... more

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- by Tracy Coleman
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- 8
  Hinduism, Indian studies, Vaishnavism, Women In Hinduism

This article aims to better understand the relationship between women, roadside shrines, and the urban streetscape in Mumbai. Our embodied experiences in space are gendered, and whether we are talking about real or imagined opportunities... more

The taxonomy of the romantic heroine in the Braj poetry is extended and elaborated. The nomenclature employed for each kind is descriptive and far beyond the regular, hackneyed girlfriend, lover, beloved, sweetheart, and darling type.This... more

Rather than studying various manifestations of the “divine feminine” in Hindu tantric texts, this paper proposes to examine the ritual role of women in the earliest (seventh to ninth centuries CE) scriptural sources that teach the cult of... more

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- by Judit Torzsok
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- 8
  Hinduism, Tantric Studies, Tantra, Women In Hinduism

This briefing starts with a self-reflexive discussion of the transition between two research efforts: a Masters study completed in 2004, which argued for a postcolonial feminist film practice, and a PhD study currently in progress.... more

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- by Subeshini Moodley
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- 17
  Hinduism, Visual Anthropology, Film Studies, Film Theory

Are women entitled to become ascetics? An historical and ethnographic glimpse on female asceticism in Hindu religions This paper is the result of a lucky encounter I had during my fieldwork in Varanasi: while I was looking for religious... more

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- by Daniela Bevilacqua
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- 5
  Gender Studies, Women's Studies, Women In Hinduism, Sadhus

This article focuses on a Tamil Hindu woman named Aaru, who embodied the Goddess in possession performances from age thirteen, resisted marriage through her twenties, and committed suicide at twenty-nine. Grounded in ethnographic... more

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- by Amy Allocco
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- 15
  Hinduism, Gender Studies, Ethnography, Narrative

Reports responses to interviews conducted in three rural villages in Eastern India in January 2000 as well as replies to questions asked at a forest meeting in West Bengal of groups/persons interested in rural women and development. The... more

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- by Clement Tisdell
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- 18
  Hinduism, Rural Sociology, Gender Studies, Education

This essay attempts to morph the graph of the “Nation” in Anandamath into a graph of multiple desires. That is, it concerns itself with some of the personationalities of desire which find graphic relief in the novel. The main purpose of... more

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- by Sharon Pillai
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- 30
  Hinduism, Gender Studies, Translation Studies, Indian Philosophy

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- by Frank Korom
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- 20
  Hinduism, Anthropology, Indian studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology

Articles should relate to the study of any aspect of Hinduism. As such, the study of Hinduism is broadly conceived to include, not merely the traditionally recognized areas within the discipline, but includes contributions from scholars... more

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- by Amanda J. Lucia
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- 7
  Religion, Hinduism, Globalization, Transnationalism

An inter-disciplinary journal focusing on women and related issues GOJe& cet ue:

The Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya (Brahma Kumaris) has become a global spiritual movement with a membership of around 1 million in almost 130 countries. Its earliest history—in Sindh, India during the 1930s—was dynamic and... more

The Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya (Brahma Kumaris) has
become a global spiritual movement with a membership of around 1 million in almost 130 countries. Its earliest history—in Sindh, India during the 1930s—was dynamic and controversial. With support from the male founder, children and young women asserted themselves against the weighty pressures of culture and tradition so that they could fulfil their vision of becoming maryadāpuruṣottam (the ideal human who adheres to the highest moral code throughout life). The Brahma Kumaris was revolutionary in its beginnings but today is comparatively conventional. The organisation is an exemplar of a contemporary movement with deep Hindu roots that, through various adaptations, has both remained a haven for members from its beginning and has become more germane to the rest of the world.

The chapter begins with an introduction to the Brahma Kumaris and its
connection to, and contention with, the Hindu community. Original documents from the Brahma Kumaris’ foundation years reveal the esoteric nature of members’ early experiences. The impact of those experiences, and their associated disciplines, upon the society in which they were embedded created social upheaval. This resulted in court cases and an eventual move to the then newly formed, post-Partition India. The compelling narrative of the early days, very different from the modern Brahma Kumaris, has inspired extensive spiritual endeavours in generations of members. I explore the persistence of Hindu ideas and the ways in which their endurance and fluidity have strengthened the adaptability of the Brahma Kumaris on its journey into Europe. Through shifting identities and tensions between both tradition and modernity, and
Hinduism and secularism, I suggest that the Brahma Kumaris was born and is sustained by the purity of Hindu ideals in the lives of its students. With the ultimate goal of world transformation, the Brahma Kumaris has become a social reform movement through the ascetic practices of its members, who have held fast to the founder’s vision that was established in twentieth-century Sindh, while fluidly adapting its offerings to ever-changing societies in India, Europe, and even further afield.

This paper is on the devastating condition of the cows and bulls in India despite the fact that the cow is considered as the sacred holy mother of the Hindus. This exploitative condition of the animal is associated with the condition of... more

This paper is on the devastating condition of the cows and bulls in India despite the fact that the cow is considered as the sacred holy mother of the Hindus. This exploitative condition of the animal is associated with the condition of the human beings (the supposed subjects of the Republic of India, citizenship is yet to be proved by the tiresome and confusing processes of NPR-NRC-CAA-DPB ⤡ ⤡) in a metaphorical manner. Psychoanalytic tools are deployed to understand this love-hate relationship with the female body embedded within the high-caste Hindu Brahmins. This aporia is also observed in the reverse sexism of the Hindu worldview.

This is the narrative of cruelties against floras and faunas along with humans in summarized form:

I. OUR DREAM-1: TIRTHADARŚANA

A staunch Hindutvavādīn couple with their son are visiting (in a dream state) different Hindu shrines and found conspicuous consumption and ostentatious display of dairy products along with merciless buffalo sacrifices by the Hindus. They are utilized as mere “means-in-themselves” by the Hindutvavādīns.

Requesting for introducing “Uniform Vegan Food Code” for all the Hindus⤡(written in a sarcastic way within the claustrophobic situation of contemporary Indian governmentality.)

II. OUR DREAM-2: ANIMAL FARM

The Hindu family has found that the world richest cow-slaughterer is a Hindu. After viewing the dilapidated condition of the dairy farms in India, they are astonished as cows and bulls are severely exploited by artificial milking, repeat breeding and IV fertilization. The farm-owners deprive calves of their mothers’ milk. Even it is alleged here that the imagined nationality of the Hindus are mainly responsible for cruelty against animals. The Hindu family has found that there are deep-rooted contradictions within the community.

They, as victims of financial abuse, are now superimposing themselves with the animals as in India, human rights are also compromised. They are within the animal farm.

BOX-I

1. CONFESSION OF A VICTIM OF FINANCIAL ABUSES (VIEW @researchgate) ⤡

2. CONFESSION OF A VICTIM OF FINANCIAL ABUSES (VIEW @academia.edu) ⤡

Their perception regarding such a catastrophic situation is also subscribed by the recent reports made by two international organizations from the USA and Sweden respectively:

BOX-2

1. India is now only ‘partly free’ under Modi, says report ⤡ (As reported on 3rd March, 2021 © BBC News)

2. India Is No Longer a Democracy but an ‘Electoral Autocracy’: Swedish Institute ⤡ (As reported on 11th March 2021, © The Wire)

III. OUR DREAM-3: THE TĀṆḌAVAM OF THE GORAKṢAKA ⤡

Despite the fact of being the main culprit for the cruelty on animals, Hindu cow-vigilantes (goons) take the law in their own hands—they are brutally murdering Muslim cow-exporters in broad daylight.

IV. WAKING STATE: MEETING A PSYCHOANALYST

The psychoanalyst (school: Non-coercive Psychiatry without imperative) analyzed the dreams with following keywords:

Aporia, decidable undecidable, undecidable decidable, contradictory uncontradictions, uncontradictory contradictions, reverse-sexism, liminal ritual, homo hierarchicus, weaning complex, narcissistic injury/blow/wound Narcissistic rage, onanism, jouissance, hyperreal, ritualization, commodification, Theta/θ-Role and Criterion (Goal, Source, Benefactive), hysterization, fragmented body in mirror-stage, sacred grooves, iso-corporeals, imago, collective unconscious, imaginary order, childhood configuration, Oedipus Complex, Electra Complex, Yayati and Babur Complex, castration complex, eros and thanatos, genealogical fantasy, Oresteian dream, regicide, oligarchy, representation.

Last of all, they, the Hindu divided family, show their ailing state: “We are crying by venting out our anger against Hindutvavādī SA(VA)GE CAPITALISM!”

They have taken their recourse to biological regression as they think there is no geographical space for escaping from such atrocities.

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- by DEBAPRASAD BANDYOPADHYAY and +2
  Akhar Bandyopadhyay
  ONCE IN A BLUE MOON ACADEMIA
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- 15
  Hinduism, Psychoanalysis, Animal Ethics, Sigmund Freud

Through the centuries of patriarchal control women have negotiated many layers and levels of existence working out various forms of resistance through various mediums which have often gone unnoticed. Bhakti was one such medium which was... more

Through the centuries of patriarchal control women have negotiated many layers and levels of existence working out various forms of resistance through various mediums which have often gone unnoticed. Bhakti was one such medium which was open to women. Since religious space was the only space available to women in medieval times many women embraced bhakti and it provided them the space to define their own truths in voices that revision society, polity, relationships and religions. Women’s articulation here is often at odds with the dominant male voice which is the only voice that is heard in traditional historiography. Gender becomes a useful category of analysis for elucidating the many ways in which relations of power are constructed and represented in society. Using a number of hagiographic accounts, inscriptions and primary sources, the author reconstructs the bhakti movement when newly emerging social groups, attempted to redefine their position and status within the given traditional hierarchy and spearheaded a movement articulating their demands for restructuring the existing order. If we are to search for the historical figures of the women bhaktas we will hit a wall. There is very little information on them in the conventional sense yet there are many unconventional sources which have largely remained unilluminated till today. Yet many of these women bhaktas go much beyond the shadowy realms of the past and are very much alive today in popular culture and the day to day life. We have totherefore turn to the collective memories and remembrance which are based on their bhajans and poems. It is from these that we can get few glimpses of the lives of these women in medieval times. Most of these women lived during the period from 12th century to 17th centuries. A glance at the writings of these women Bhaktas show that they were spurned by patriarchy and thus Bhakti becomes an outlet for them. Most of these women were encultured into a certain culture which was mostly a closed culture, but through this movement a certain space was created for their freedom and mobility. This gave courage to the women to outpour divine melodies from the heart articulating their concerns and singing unfettered in their own voices. Though many of the women saints in medieval India had emerged from an atmosphere of discrimination and oppression where patriarchal values still were held in high regards, many of them charted their own course and in the end emerged as individuals with a mind of their own and all this was possible due to the space provided by bhakti. For all these women bhaktas the rejection of the power of the male figure that they were tied to in subordinate relationship became the terrain for struggle, self assertion and alternative seeking. They defy patriarchal norms of marriage and walk out (except in the case of Bahina bai) and live life in their own terms. This book will be very useful to scholars interested in Feminist History. Scholars of religion and Asian Studies will also find this book a useful source of information. The sensitive and rigorous research will be of great help to young scholars interested in embarking on a journey to discover the religious history especially with regards to women history in the South Asian context.

Nine Nights of the Goddess explores the festival of Navarātri alternatively called Navarātra, Mahānavamī, Durgā Pūjā, Dasarā, and/or Dassain which lasts for nine nights and ends with a celebration called Vijayadaśamī, or the tenth (day)... more

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- by Caleb Simmons
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- 12
  Religion, Hinduism, Ritual Theory, Women In Hinduism

Located in Vidisha District, Madhya Pradesh, the area of Badoh-Pathari is home to a rock shelter with a sculpted panel depicting seven mother goddesses. A weathered inscription next to the sculptures was reported as early as 1926. The... more

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- by Dániel Balogh
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- 8
  Hinduism, Women In Hinduism, Indian History, Indian Epigraphy

Pīpā was the rājā of Gagraun in Rājashān in XV century. According to his hagiography, he went to Banāras, following a divine inspiration, and became disciple of Rāmānanda. He left his kingdom together with his youngest wife, the beautiful... more

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- by Pinuccia Caracchi
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- 9
  Hinduism, Hagiography, Women In Hinduism, Bhakti

In this article, the author proposes a feminist reading of medieval South Asian literature that aims to dismantle a long held split-image view of Hindu “femininity.” With this reading, Comeau also presents stylized poetry as a viable... more

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- by Leah Comeau
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- 16
  Religion, Hinduism, Gender Studies, Translation Studies

Review of Dharma: Its Early History in Law, Religion, and Narrative, by Alf Hiltebeitel. South Asia Research. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. International Journal of Hindu Studies 22.2: 343-349.

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- by Tracy Coleman
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- 16
  Buddhism, Hinduism, Buddhist Studies, South Asian Studies

Two volume encyclopedia on women in the world's religions from prehistory through present day. The project includes articles by 120 expert scholars in 17 of the world's religions. Edited by Susan de-Gaia.

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- by Susan de Gaia
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- 20
  Christianity, Jainism, Sikhism, Daoism

A seminal research article comprising the key scholarly texts on the Brahma Kumaris. Each sections includes a 400 word commentary and an annotated bibliography. Sections include Introduction, General Overviews, Feminism, Organisational... more

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- by Tamasin Ramsay
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- 10
  Hinduism, New Religious Movements, Sociology, Sociology of Religion

In the ancient South Asian texts about ritual known as Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas, the wives of the king play an interesting role in terms of bodily actions and ritual rhetoric. Especially the so-called " chief wife " (mahiṣī) is described as... more

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- by Lennart Bes
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- 22
  History of India, Courts, Queenship (Medieval History), Tamil Nadu

Every theocratic state needs religious boosters to survive as a totalitarian state. It can be seen regularly happening in Pakistan. It came into being on August 14, 1947 as an Islamic State but the first formal dictator General Ayub Khan... more

During the period of the Kashmiri Sultanate (1320-1586 CE), Kashmir became the home to an abundance of saints who continue to be revered and referenced by the Kashmiri populace. Two mystic saints in particular, Lal Ded and Nund Rishi, are... more

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- by Dean Accardi
- •
- 9
  Hinduism, Hagiography, South Asian Studies, Islamic Studies

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- by Loriliai Biernacki
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- 4
  Hinduism, Tantra, Women In Hinduism, Hinduism and Psychology

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- by Lance E Nelson
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- 19
  Hinduism, Gender Studies, Women's Studies, Medieval Women

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- by R.K.K. Rajarajan
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- 8
  Hinduism, Tamil Literature, Women In Hinduism, Hindu Mythology

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