A household is a space for socialization, such as social bonding and social transformation. A woman’s contribution to the household is always considered extra compared to others. Women are linked with the household, but their labor and value have always been undermined. From the context of Brahmanical literature, we notice the marginalization of women in this sphere.
The Grihya Sutra is a compilation of texts that describe the main function of the household and the duties of both genders within it. The roles envisaged for men and women in the Brahmanical text can be complex. These texts were written by men, exclusively for men. Hence, the understanding of women in these texts can mirror their own beliefs. Some of these perceptions of women continue to exist even today. In her work Engendering the Early Household, Jaya Tyagi puts forward the concept of 3 R(s). for understanding the early Indian text, the social construct, and gender roles. The 3 R(s). are Reading, Reconceiving, and Reconstruction.
The Grihya Sutra, a part of the Sutra corpus (Kalpa Sutra), lays down the essential rites and rituals performed in a household. It shows how Brahmanical thoughts put forward the idea of griha, the household while prescribing roles for both men and women. The householder is the protagonist in the Grihya Sutra, and he maintains the cosmic order. The griha forms the core existence, and all activities emanate from it. The Grihya Sutra also mentions the exact manner of constructing the house and taking the territory where it shall be built. The householder needs to perform rites before the house gets built; this naturally forges a special bond with the house. Once the building is complete, the householder enters the house with his wife Jaya, his eldest son, some cattle, and grains. The emphasis on the wife as Jaya, the one who begets offspring, shows that the wife is significant when she gives birth to children, especially sons.
Domestic fire receives a special status. The griha agni identifies and links the grihapati and other members. The householder and his wife become a single entity. Their relationship with ritual fire must begin immediately after marriage.
The grihapati holds a higher status than other members of the household. With this power, he makes important decisions and controls the resources of the house. The grihapati is not the same as the pati. The grihapati can be an unmarried man too, but in most cases, he is married. He is not only the lord of the house but also the lord of the wife. She cannot exist without him. Only when he dies do the power and responsibility fall upon the wife. Still, there is no provision for women to set up a household without husbands.
The early Grihya Sutra does not denote the wife as grihini. The terms for the wife– bharyah, patni, jaya, and dara–show her dependency on the husband. The word bharyah means the dependent one, she who needs to be supported. Patni comes from pati, jaya from the word root jan and refers to her ability to give birth. Lastly, dara denotes someone who focuses too much on her sexuality. The ritual link of a woman in a griha is only through her husband and her children. She is always firmly kept in a hierarchical place.
There is a connection between the griha, the patni, and the griha agni in ritualistic terms. No one can coexist individually. They are bound to each other through the householder. Once a person receives the status of a householder, the texts give him power, status, and social acceptability. For a wife, it is almost dramatic to transform from a kanya to Jaya and enter motherhood. Still, the ritual roles of a husband and wife create inequality. The wife does not have independent status in the griha rituals. She only assists her husband, the sole focus of all rituals. Judging Asvalayana Grihya Sutra, we can see the extent to which a woman’s status is linked to her husband. It states that when the husband dies, the woman has to lie down north of the body on the pyre to accompany him to the other world. However, the brother-in-law helps the widow get up from the pyre before it is lit. He is a representative of the husband. His action suggests that he will now take care of the widow and his family. This points to the practice of niyoga or levirate marriages.
Marriage is considered essential to life. Brahmanical texts project marriage as an event that creates balance in the cosmos. A wrong marriage can result in dire consequences and create havoc. The Asvalayana Grihya Sutra also discusses eight different types of marriage. These marriages became a source for kinsmen to enforce control over women of the household. The book further mentions that the progeny from a correct marriage can purify several generations of households.
The eight types of marriage are Brahma, Daiva, Prajapatya, Arsa, Gandharva, Asura, Paisaca, and Raksasa. The progeny from the first four can purify generations. It is uncertain if the rest can do so. The progeny from the other four marriages is not approved in the Brahmanical order. The Grihya Sutra includes marriage rites as a crucial part of the ritual process. Society expects that a woman in the role of a bride shall lay high standards, lead her life in compliance by following her husband, and maintain silence during Vedic mantras. The bride must support her husband in rituals, and she has to give a social commitment to give birth to progeny, more importantly, sons that the griha deserves.
One can trace the nature in which women were depicted in Brahmanical literature. In light of the various practices of marriage dominating the Grihya Sutra, we can see how male-centric work framed a woman’s space in the household.
REFERENCES
- Tyagi Jaya, Endangering the Early Household: Brahmanical Percept in the early Grhyasutras, middle from the first millennium B.C.E
- Leslie Julia, McGee Mary, Invented Identities: the interplay of gender, religion and politics in India
Monalisa Joshi
I am a recent Ancient History postgraduate from the University of Delhi, casting around for escalating practical work experience in the domain of History and Archaeology. My prime objective is to blend my theoretical knowledge with practical skills. Gender studies is a topic which gives me that spark to understand the perspective of women. I have always been fascinated by such topics and wish to explore new thoughts and ideas.
