Swati Rath & Mahila Pratishtha ISSN 2454-7891

Dr. Bikram Keshari Mishra Volume: 6 Issue:1 July – September 2020

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Locating Gender Discrimination in Hindu Religion:

An Overview from Odia Community
1 2
Swati Rath & Dr. Bikram Keshari Mishra
1
Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of Sociology, Ravenshaw University,
Odisha, India. Email: swatirathnicky@gmail.com
2
Associate Professor and Head, Department of Sociology, Ravenshaw
University, Odisha, India.

ABSTRACT
The Post-Vedic period saw the wave of degradation of Vedic values and the
Sanatan Philosophy became polluted by the so-called religious leaders who
devised the ways to rule the Hindu religion for their own malafide intentions.
They induced gender discrimination in order to keep apart almost half of the
society from religious activities. This gender-stereotypical mentality
suppressed the women's psychosis and mind-set and the women folk believed
themselves as the Second Sex. Scores of rigorous restrictions were imposed
on the female sex by citing the myths through parables and fables just to
prove their logic. The then society was not that educated and enlightened and
the society blindly believed these religious leaders. As such a girl child since
her birth and in her upbringing is made to understand that she is born to be
a bride and a mother. She is destined to be a property of others (i.e. Paraya
Dhan). In religious activities, she was meant for the role of an arranger
where the male part to be the performer. All these restrictions are meant for
the women: be it their period of menstruation, the time of pregnancy, after
the childbirth and even in their widowhood, they are barred from many
socio-religious activities whereas there are no such restrictions for men.
Thus the point of analysis pertains to the Odia Hindu community so far as
Gender Discrimination is concerned. These gender discriminations may
persist till the mass psychosis chooses to revolt.

Key words: Hinduism, Stereotypes, Gender Discrimination, Odia community

Introduction
The creator (the Almighty) of the earth (Biswa-Bramhanda) has created it with
a mechanism, so that the creation would continue to roll on and on. For that,
life on the earth was given the ability to reproduce. The human being as such,

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being a living species possesses the capability to reproduce like other living
beings. In the process of natural reproduction two sexes are born i.e. male and
female. The human being became the special one possessed the power to
think, speak with all emotional expressions like to laugh and to cry, to love,
and to hate, etc. The human being also equipped with a thirst to acquire
knowledge to know all the whys and what’s. We can name it as Evolution. As
time passed the human being gradually formed the society in order to live
collectively. Accordingly, innumerable societies surfaced throughout the earth
with two sexes having equal social and biological importance. With the
growth of the population, the acquisition of knowledge, there appeared the
social thinkers who formulated the doctrine of social life through teachings
and prescribed the social law with equal participation of both the sexes. At the
subsequent stages, these two sexes were seen as two genders and the social
role of these genders were particularised. During the Vedic period, the
position of a female or a woman was accepted in society with dignity. Along
with the male, the female part was the Karta of the family and the religious
activities were evenly allotted with respective abilities. The female as a mother
or wife had equal command on the members of the family. There is no dearth
of examples that the female part sharing the knowledge at par with men. The
case of Jajnyanbalka and Maitreyee shows the state of knowledge sharing by
both the genders. Subsequently, in the post-Vedic era, the socio-cultural
atmosphere took a side turn and drifted away from Vedic philosophy. The
caste system was formulated according to the principles of Karma (the work
that a person does) and Guna (quality and ability that a person possesses).
This principle of the caste system was manipulated by the introduction of caste
by birth and making it inheritable. The less knowledgeable upper-caste
especially Brahmins acquire the social leadership through mythical texts and
induced a male-dominated social pattern and thereby discriminating the
female sex. As time passed the society got accustomed to it. The gradual
gender-stereotypical atmosphere took the social system in its clutch in such a
way that transformed the mind-set of the female part of the society. The
female part itself accepted that they are the second sex and second fiddle to
men. Right from birth, they are given to understand and follow that they are
born to become a wife and a mother. They were also tutored to be a “Pati
Parayana” (Loyal to her Husband) whereas the male part enjoyed all the
freedom and dominate the social and family structures as undisputed Karta. If
we consider Ramayana, Sita was discriminated time and again and ultimately

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buried herself in the lap of mother earth. The entire story of Ramayana shows
the wives of defeated characters became the possessions of the victors. The
study of Mahabharata also had the same social picture where the women part
seemed to be voiceless. Droupadi was shared by five husbands where all her
husbands (Pandavas) have other wives. Kunti bored her children from
separate husbands. Perhaps during the age of Mahabharata, the seed of social
change begun. An analytical study shows, the war of Mahabharata was fought
between two social patterns that are between female-centric and male-centric
social structures or in other words Matriarchal and Patriarchal family structures.

Gender in Caste and Religion

While discussing gender discrimination in the Hindu religion one must be
aware of the fact that Hinduism more a way of life than just a mere religion.
Besides this, there should be a focus on the fact that Hinduism admittedly a
caste-based religion. Hinduism has been descended from the Sanatan Dharma
from the time not known to anybody. It was rolled on and rolled on from ages
to ages and as such become a way of life for entire human society. It had the
principles of human value and its teachings through Vedas and Upanishads,
were without any discrimination of biasness to any section of the society. A
period appeared when these Vedic values and teachings were manipulated by
the social managers- Brahmins- self-styled Pandits, Purohits to reign the
society for their own commercial and malafide interests. They introduced the
“Karma Kanda” (the extracts of the part of the Veda where all the religious
rituals like yajna etc. are depicted) and the text depicted there, in which they
cited stray extracts of the portions of Veda to suit their personal gain. If one
goes by Gita, lord Krishna formulated the four-fold caste system in order to
make a social balance and division of social responsibility, according to the
quality and ability of a person. “Chaturvarnam Mayasrusta Guna karma
Bivagasah” (the four castes are created by me according to the quality and
ability of a person and the work it does for serving the society.). The so-called
spiritual and religious leaders of post-Vedic society deviated from this
doctrine and imposed the caste system as inheritable. The inheritance of caste
made the upper caste members of the society especially Brahmins became
dominant. Taking advantage of the situation, the manipulated Vedic ideology
induced restrictions, discriminations, biasness, blessing and cursing etc. As a
result, the after-effect of these Brahminic social diktats segregated the society
caste wise as well as gender-wise. The gender-wise segregation was perhaps
the most heinous social crime committed by these Brahmins where almost half

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of the society remains in the receivers' end. The women part of the society
irrespective of their caste made to be as a corner social animal. Right from
birth in all stages of her life, she was restricted in every step. The principles of
Veda have categorically specified the role of women in all social and religious
activities and prescribed the dignity of women at par with men. The sanctions
of Veda restrict the man without a female life partner i.e. “Wife” from
practicing or performing many socio-religious activities which are mandatory
in the Hindu religion. It is also prescribed in the Veda that a man in his
bachelorhood cannot perform any religious events like “Pinda Dana” (offering
rice balls to the ancestors) and “Kanya Dana” (giving a girl away in
marriage)etc. For that the women- the “Ardhangini” (Better half) become half
part of the Hindu religious events. One of the bright examples is Sri
Ramachandra performed the yajna by placing a gold idol of Sita when Sita
was banished. The post-Vedic supremacy of Brahmins completely violated the
doctrines of Veda by introducing manipulated Karma Kanda and Sastras. The
then society blindly accepted these approaches of Brahmin and as a result, the
society was caste-wise divided and gender-wise segregated.
The Question of Gender Discrimination
In the context of gender discrimination, the Odia community is of no
difference from other Hindu communities. One can say the gender
discrimination has stayed in the community structure with a deep-rooted
socio-cultural practice. In numerous discriminatory practices either based on
blind beliefs or fake mythical texts without any justified logic. It is a pity to
observe that the carriers of these discriminatory practices are women section
of society. Right from the birth of the child, which is brought up by the
women, from that stage the gender discrimination germinates by giving more
importance to the baby boy in comparison to a baby girl. In this regard, Rao et
al., (July 1015) opined that the twenty-first century witnessed huge changes in
the Indian way of life under the influence of modernization, westernization,
industrialization, technical advancement and population mobility across the
globe. However, the moment a baby is born the first thing that comes to mind
is “boy or girl?” and the issue is beyond the biological one. After the birth of a
child, the socialization process begins which is completely basing on gender,
in other words in a gender centric social environment which we may term as
“Gender Socialisation”. Society expects different attitudes and behaviours of
boys and girls. Gender socialization is the tendency for boys and girls to be
socialized differently. Boys are raised to conform to the male gender role, and

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the girls are raised to conform to the female gender role. A gender role is a set
of behaviours, attitudes and personality characteristics expected and
encouraged of a person based on his or her sex. From the childhood, the mind-
set of the girl child is influenced and doctored systematically and deliberately
to accept her mother and other elderly female members in the family as her
role model, but she never taught to be like her father and other elderly male
members of the family. Although true sex differences are far less apparent in
childhood, gender differentiation seems to have more significance for children
than adults. As soon as children are born, society identifies them either “she”
or “he”. Parents select gender distinct clothes, blankets and even toys. So the
socialization process begins from the birth of a child and the discriminations in
all stages by parents, teachers or society are likely to develop feelings of
inferiority in the girl child. Taking another instance, men and women are
socialized differently and women are socialized to be more compliant and
passive. Religion- particularly traditional, established religions- expects
compliance, conformity and passivity from its congregation. Men are
socialized to be more dominant and therefore, while they take leadership
positions in churches (indeed in many churches and religions they are the only
ones permitted to take leadership positions) they are less happy to simply
accept what they are told from the pulpit. (Retrieve from
https://www.tutor2u.net/sociology/reference/sociology-gender-and-religious-
belief on 19 July 2020). As Simon De Beauvoir has rightly said that, women
are sold a false ideology by religious teachings which encourages them to
believe that they will get their reward in heaven and should therefore, be
committed and devoted to their faith. It is a proven truth that the man-made
gender discrimination awarded the male part of the society to be in command
and the female part prejudiced with a position of a “Second Sex”.
Gender Dimension in Hindu Religiosity of the Odia Community
Before discussing the effect of the supremacy of Brahmins and gender
discrimination in Odia Hindu community one has to have a birds’ eye view on
the topography of Odisha’s religious and Cultural Revolution. Odisha is a land
of traditional festivals. Every other day there comes to a religious occasion
observed in the family. For that, it is identified as “Bara Mase Tera Parba”
(all the twelve months have different occasions). Many religious festivals
observed within the family and many occasions are community occasions.
Odisha by and large was a pure Hindu community till invaded by Mughals.
Odisha’s socio-religious and socio-cultural practices were, like any other part

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of “Bharatvarsa” which was religiously and culturally guided by

Brahminismic principles of the post-Vedic era. The then Bharatvarsa did not
have an administrative boundary line. It was a bunch of warring feudal states
having their respective sovereignty but identified as Bharatvarsa culturally.
Odisha as a part of this culture like others in Bharatvarsha had gender
inequality and gender discrimination towards women. In Odia culture, the
birth of a girl child was not taken kindly by the senior members of the family
including senior female members. On the other hand, the birth of a male child
is taken as pride. In this regard, Mohapatra (May 2013) has described that
even in modern Odia family the birth of a daughter is not an occasion of
happiness and ordinarily the celebrations of the birth of a son are definitely
more joyful than those of the birth of a daughter. In a typical Odia family both
in rural and urban areas, the girls are not given equal rights with the son in the
matters of food, clothing, education etc. They are often married even without
their own consent. At the marriage of the daughter, she was blessed as
“Putrabati Bhaba” (be a mother of sons),“Sataputra Jananibhava” (be a
mother of hundred sons). A mother repeatedly giving birth to girl children
considered as a bad omen. There are instances where a man married many
times to have a son or the women were compelled to bear child after child
until a son is born. Odisha is a region that lives in villages. The village culture
identifies the Odisha and Odia as a specified socio-cultural unit. All the socio-
religious rituals are observed with the equal participation of men and women.
The main kind of worship that is conducted by Hindu women today is the
daily domestic puja which gives Hindu women a positive and somewhat
powerful role in Hinduism. Although there are different kinds of Pujas or
worship, the daily puja is a domestic worship in which the whole family
participates to express devotion to a certain deity. Even though all the family
members take part in this worship, women are the main participants because
certain domestic rituals are to be done specifically by the women of the
household. Not only are they specifically for women, but they also carry a lot
of power. Women's rituals are powerful because they are meant not only for
women’s salvation but for the salvation of all their family (Oxtoby, 2010,
Retrieve from Munoz, M. (2017). The role of women in Hinduism: Becoming
leaders of patriarchal traditions on 9 July 2020). In spite of that the women
section as always seen to be discriminated in every step of life. If we discuss
the social rituals, women though perform the major role are side-lined and the
male part of the society always remains in the front line. The women of the

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family virtually do the Puja (worshipping) with many restrictions. They are
bared to touch the “Deities” (particularly the idol of Lord Hanuman) and
“Salagram” (the sacred stones) etc. Not inside the family, in the temples also
they are restricted to touch the “Shivalingam” etc. There are also many
temples that restrict the entry of women like “Sabarimala” in Kerala. Even a
daughter of an Odia family is not given the “Prasadam” (food offered to God)
of Mahalaxmi(Goddess Laxmi) after her marriage. In a nutshell, it can be said
that, though the Hindu Philosophy awards a woman, a dignified position in
society as well as in the family, designating as “Ardhangini” and
“Dharmapatni” (Rightful Wife or Lawful Wife) but in practice, a woman
throughout her life faces gendered discriminations.
The worst stage comes in the life of a woman of an Odia community, if to her
misfortune she becomes a “Widow”. The entire family and relations pounce on
her with a series of restrictions and do’s and don’ts. It is more pathetic when
she loses her husband at an early age, throughout her widowhood life
beginning from not wearing the vermilion and bangles (Sankha and Sindura),
she is loaded with a dress code to wear only white saree etc. and a menu of
vegetarian food without onion, garlic and so many vegetables. She is further
restricted to use any cosmetics etc. In this context again Mohapatra (may,
2013) has rightly given an example that, if the husband deserts her or dies
untimely, the condition of the women becomes worst of all, her parents and
relatives believe that this calamity has fallen because of her bad luck and
despite our so-called modernity anyone is reluctant to marry a widow because
still widow’s remarriage is not considered as a good sign. In the traditional and
religious rituals, the widow women are not allowed to take part in these
practices. Even in the marriage of her own siblings, she is barred from
touching anything as she is considered as a bad omen. Thinking about the
wellbeing of her children she restrains herself from doing so. Another
punishment-like religious act is imposed on her during the month of “Kartika”
in the name of moksha for her husband, she is to observe the “Habisha”
(boiled rice-dal with ghee) for the whole of the month. At the old age, thinking
her as a burden she is taken to “Puri” (the Jaganath Dham) and stays there
almost in a pitiable condition for the whole month. Similarly, another religious
ritual also imposed on her to observe all the twenty-four “Ekadashis”
(eleventh day of the fortnight) where she is to observe fast for all day. In the
entire Odia community, all these restrictions are found but the Odia Brahmin
families rigidly focus on these restrictions. It seems a very peculiar

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discriminatory practice that men after being a widower live a normal life as
before without any type of restrictions. Thus in an Odia community, a woman
in all stages of her life tolerates discrimination and made to remain mute.

Concluding Remarks
The discussions above imprints a note of interrogation in the mind that why
the women are subjected to all these discriminations even after the arrival of
the modern age. People in the society claim themselves educated, enlightened
and take pride in the women reigning the space, their achievements in military
and other forces, their prominence in the field of science, education, politics
and in all other spheres. It is petty to note that no remarkable changes have
been achieved for the abolition of these discriminatory practices. No doubt
laws have been framed but what about the implementations and the necessary
will power? The unfair treatment of women in Hindu society is not a new
phenomenon. It has been going on for centuries and millenniums. We are
gradually becoming aware of the 24/7 news cycle and social media. It is
evident from the experiences that, it is not Hinduism that is responsible for this
but it is the human nature and the vulnerability of human beings to evil
conduct. Outwardly religions seem to be restrictive and encourage orthodox
and outdated practices. However, if we dig deeper, we will realize that most of
these rules were invented by men in the name of religion to control and
dominate others or secure resources, power and wealth for themselves.
(Jayaram V, hinduwebsite.com, retrieved on 12-July-2020). In the hands of the
wicked, religion becomes oppressive, whereas in the hands of the wise and the
awakened they become the means to express love and compassion. The arch-
villains (the Pandits, Purohits etc.) of Hindu Puranas and epics were deeply
religious people who practiced the Dharma according to their convenience.
The Bhagavad-Gita succinctly describes how wicked people with demonic
qualities practice their faith with egoism and delusion. If religion tends to be
oppressive, we have the right to reject them and follow our own conscience or
intelligence.

The Vedas loudly proclaim that intelligence is God himself (Prajnanam

Brahma). Intelligence should be the rightful guru in this world of conflicting
interests and approaches. We should put intelligence or discerning wisdom on
the high pedestal in our public and private lives and discard superstition, blind
belief and obscurantism.

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