The Status of Women and The Bhakti Movement in India

Originating in ancient Tamil Nadu, the Bhakti movement in

India spread to the north during the late medieval ages when
north India was under Islamic rule. The movement was
spontaneous and counter to the predominant caste ideology
which was dividing Hinduism. The adherents of the
movement had their own rendering of devotional expression.
While in the south, devotion was centered on both Shiva and
Vishnu (in all his forms), the northern devotional movement
was centered on Rama and Krishna, both of whom are
believed to be incarnations of Vishnu. Though initially the
Bhakti movement was considered unorthodox due to its
defiance of caste distinctions and disregard of Brahmanic
rituals, it…show more content…
Well aware of this, the saints of the movement narrated their
philosophy in local dialects and lyrical forms. They also
expressed their ideologies and teachings through hymns and
poems. In contrast, while the male bhakti saints clamoured
for change and protested against the injustices in society, the
woman was still expected to be at the back of the home. The
male bhaktas did not have any intention of including women
in these changing times. One major exception to this is
Nanak, who spoke for the empowerment of women. He
wrote : It is by women that we are conceived and it is from
her that we are betrothed and married It is a woman we
befriend and it is she keeps a race going When one woman
dies another is sought for and it is with her that we get
established in society Why call her evil from whom are born
kings and great men. (Nanak)
The Nirgun sant especially, looked down on women. Even
sants like Surdas, Dadu dayal and Tulsidas felt that women
were to be kept subdued and in control. However, saints like
 Mirabai, Bahinabai, Dayabai, Janabai, Sahjo Bai, Akka
Mahadevi and Kanhopatra, to name a few, through their bold
poetry and self-expression, embraced this movement and
broke through the conventional restrictions of medieval
Indian society. Women saints wrote of the obstacles of home,
constraints of married life and meaningless household
The Bhakti and Sufi movement was the glorious religious movement introduced with
the idea to promote Love and devotion toward God. Although Indian society is known
for its various religions, creeds, and faiths, it shows different values in its forms. On
the one hand, the Bhakti movement originates with the idea to approach society,
walk on the path of Love and devotion. In contrast, the Sufi movement came into
existence to provide a deep understanding of Islamic philosophy under the roof of
Hinduism. Nevertheless, both the revolutionary movements brought positive changes
to different sections of society, especially in the life of women. Let’s discuss the
impact, salient features in detail. 

Sufi movement 
 The evolution of the socio-religious movement led the Muslim saints to provide a deep study of
Vedantic philosophy and Buddhism culture in Indian society. The movement was proposed
between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. However, the Muslim saints closely witnessed
the values of the Indian religion and planned to develop Islamic philosophy, giving rise to the Sufi
Movement. 
 The movement was the reaction to the Hindu influence on Islam, which influenced both Hindus
and Muslims to provide a single platform. The Muslim saints taught the essence of Love and
devotion through their ideologies and beliefs. 
 Eventually, the saints were called Sufis, owing to their Wool garment styles. They consider Love
to be the only way to reach God by singing and dancing for their Lord. Some leading Sufis are
Fariduddin Ganj-i-shakar, Khwaja Muinuddin Chisti etc.

The Bhakti movement 

The Bhakti movement is another socio-religious movement in Indian history,
proposed in the early medieval period. It was purely rooted in the devotion to God.
The leading saints of the Bhakti movement are Ramanuja, Vallabhacharya, Nanak,
Kabir, Sri Chaitanya, and Ramananda.
 All the leaders approached devotion and Love to identify God. Thus, because of this
movement, the movement is known as the Bhakti Movement.

Although the concept was not new to Indian society, it was not given importance in
the medieval period. The roots of Bhakti can be found in the Vedas, which now is an
integral part of Hindu society.

What were the main features of the

Bhakti movement?
The main features of the Bhakti movement include-

 Bhakti, devotion, and Love are the sole essence of salvation.

 There is only one God with different names.
 Self-surrender
 Repeating the actual name.
 Strictly objectifying blind faith, ceremonies, and superstitious rituals.
 A confident mindset for deciding about religious matters.
 No differentiation in caste.

Role of women in the Bhakti

movement 
 Like the saints, women also took an active part in the Bhakti movement during the medieval
period. The women challenged the superstitious birds of the society by chanting mantras, singing
poems, songs about life. 

 At times when the feminist restricted to enter any particular space, the women broke all
stereotypes by pleasing their way of living life. It led to a positive change to reform polity, society
and relationships, and religions in India.

 Not only this, but the strong women left their children and family and then travelled ways to reach
their God. They not only excavated the lord status from their husbands but also gave up their
families and motherhood. In this way, the Bhakti movement played a different role for men and
women. 
 On the one hand, the male followers followed their path by remaining a householder; on the
other hand, female followers could only follow the Bhakti movement if they sacrificed their
domestic life and discarded their marital ties altogether. 

 Although, Mirabai is the most prominent example of women sacrificing their household life to
worship their Lord Krishna. Mirabai was the Rajput princess of the 15th century who denied
marrying Raja Bhojraj and spent hours worshipping Lord Krishna at the temple. Also, she
followed the same path even after the death of Raja Bhojraj and refused to live a life of a widow.
She sang songs and poems for her God all through her life. 

 Therefore, the Bhakti movement developed the roots of feminism in India. The women created
an autonomous space for themselves with their devotion and unfolded all the societal norms that
bound them. The feminist displayed an epitome of true strength to the world by inspiring many to
follow their choice. They overshadowed material realities and social identities only to proceed
with their journey of devotion. 

 Henceforth, the Bhakti and Sufi movements act differently to form the structure of society.
Different ideas propelled both revolutions. Saints formed the Sufi movement to introduce Islamic
Philosophy, then the other Bhakti movement aimed at devoting oneself to worshipping the Lord. 

Conclusion 

The Bhakti and Sufi movement brought revolutionary changes to Hindu society in the

early medieval period. It broke many superstitious beliefs and norms regarding the
lower-category caste and Hinduism. The Muslim saints in the Sufi movement
constructed the roots of Vedantic, Islamic philosophy, and Buddhism culture through
Sufism. Whereas, the Bhakti movement helped the Hindus and their women take the
journey of Love and devotion to God. Undoubtedly, the women in the Bhakti
movement sheered their devotion and tenacity toward Lord Krishna by sacrificing
their household lives. Both the movement meant different in shaping the structure of
Hindu society. 

Bhakti as a concept means devotion and surrender. Originating from South India
in the 7th century, the Bhakti movement propagated the idea that God dwells in
each individual and one could attain God through faith and devotion. Earlier
historians perceived the Bhakti movement as a literary or at best an ideological
phenomena which had religion at the basis of its inspiration. But later it also came
to be regarded as an attempt at bringing about an egalitarian society, or as a
protest against Brahmanical monopoly.

With everyone equal in the eyes of God, the movement brought religion and
spirituality to the marginalized classes – specifically women, whose religious
expression was restricted in many ways. It was a movement that not only aimed
at individual salvation and a mystical union with God but also towards socio-
religious egalitarianism. It liberated both God and man (inclusive of woman) from
the shackles of Brahminical monopoly. The movement created a space where
one could have a personal relationship with God and removed all intermediaries,
rendering all Brahminical traditions, and the role of Brahmin priests futile.

With such an alternative religious system in place, many women and lower-caste
individuals joined the movement and expressed themselves with no inhibitions.
The quest for salvation no longer required Sanskrit mantras and rituals, but
included dignity of labour.

The movement saw several women saints as well as saints from lower castes
leading masses in their own regions, and singing songs and poems in their
vernacular language. The Bhakti movement was not just one movement, but an
accretion of smaller regional movements towards salvation and against
oppressive hierarchies.

Bhakti saints rejected all fixities to religion and spirituality. When temples closed
doors on them, they, freeing their god from closed doors, carried him in their
hearts; they either discouraged idol worship and worshipped a nirguna (formless)
god or substituted him as one of those who could dwell in humble abodes.
Bhaktins: Pioneers of Feminism in India

Tracing the roots of Indian Feminism led us to women in Bhakti, who challenged
Brahminical patriarchy through their songs, poems and ways of life. At a time
where most spaces were restricted to women, they embraced Bhakti to define
their own truths to reform society, polity, relationships and religions. They broke
all societal rules and stereotypes, and lived their lives as they pleased.

“In the Bhakti movements, women take on the qualities that men traditionally
have. They break rules of Manu that forbid them to do so. A respectable woman
is not, for instance, allowed to live by herself or outdoors, or refuse sex to her
husband- but women saints wander and travel alone, give up husband, children
and family.” – A.K. Ramanujan, ‘Talking to God’

Women saints wrote poems and songs expressing their love for the God, who is
their lover, husband or consort, and about their oppression and desires for
freedom. They not only challenged the god-like status of their husbands, but also
gave up their motherhood and family. In this aspect, Bhakti meant different things
to women and men. While a male bhakta could follow his chosen path and
remain a householder, this was not possible for the women. Most women had to
choose between their Bhakti and their married and domestic life. Many of these
women could proceed on their chosen path only by discarding their marital ties
altogether.

Mirabai, a Bhakti poet of the 15th century and a Rajput princess, denied the
legitimacy of her marriage to Raja Bhojraj and refused to consummate it. She
embraced Lord Krishna and spent hours at the temple worshipping him. Roughly
a decade into their unconsummated marriage, Bhojraj died. Just as Mira had
refused to be his wife, she also repudiated the role as his widow. She would
neither wear the mourning garb, nor follow any of the customs expected of a
royal woman grieving a lost husband. Mira is a fortifying precedent of a woman
who refused to be cowed. She has lived through the ages through her songs and
poems, describing her utmost devotion and love towards Lord Krishna.

In addition to contending male dominance, Bhakti women also had to bypass

gender rigidities. Ramanujan lists the strategies women undertook for the same:
refusing marriage to a mortal; becoming a courtesan; miraculously skipping
youth; walking out of marriage, becoming a man or an old ugly woman; refusing
widowhood norms; refusing motherhood; walking naked; or breaking caste
barriers. Hence, the experience of men and women Bhaktas were starkly
contrasted.

The nakedness of the female body was also perceived as a great threat to men,
and heavily condemned by the larger society, and still is. However, women Bhakti
saints like Akka Mahadevi and Lal Ded challenged these norms. Akka Mahadevi
walked out of her marriage and wandered naked, with her body covered only by
her hair. She wrote in her vachana:
“To the shameless girl
Wearing Mallikarjuna’s light, you fool
Where is the need for cover and jewel?”

Commenting on her own nakedness, she writes:

“People,
male and female,
blush when a cloth covering their shame
comes loose

When the lord of lives

lives drowned without a face
in the world, how can you be modest?

When all the world is the eye of the lord,

onlooking everywhere, what can you
cover and conceal?”

Lal Ded, one of the earliest Kashmiri mystic poets also refused to stay confined to
domestic tyranny and its power hierarchy. She left her home, broke all material
ties and wandered unclothed in search of God. In her verses, she also expressed
her anguish towards the Brahminical code:

“Your idol is stone, your temple a stone too-

All a stone bound together from top to toe!
What is it you worship, you dense Brahmin?
Bind but the vital air from heart to mind.” (Mattoo 334)

On the other hand, Sant Soyarabai neither rejected marriage and nor overtly

defied societal norms. She wrote about her family, daily existence and her
devotion to god Vithoba, pilgrimage to Pandharpur, married life and finding
freedom amidst it. Her abhangas to the misery of daily life and restrictions to
which they were subjected as belonging to Mahar caste, indicate her heightened
caste and gender consciousness.

Medieval India had an atmosphere of immense discrimination, with patriarchy

held in the highest regard. Hence, women sought Bhakti to move out the
restricted domestic spaces and oppose patriarchy and Brahminical hegemony.
The rejection of the power of the male figure that they were tied to in subordinate
relationships became the terrain for struggle, self assertion and alternative
seeking.

Bhakti women laid the roots of feminism in india. With sheer bravery, tenacity and
their devotion to God, they created an autonomous space for themselves and
refused to be tied down by societal norms. They did the unspeakable, and
displayed the true strength of a woman’s spirit. The created their own path to
freedom, and inspired many other to follow their own will. They transcended the
social identities and material realities into a universal spiritual realm.
References

1. “Indigenous Roots of Feminism: Culture, Subjectivity and Agency” By

Jasbir Jain

2. “Divine Sounds from the Heart— Singing Unfettered in their Own Voices: The
Bhakti Movement and its Women Saints (12th to 17th Century)” By Rekha Pande

1. “Rebels, Mystics or Housewives? women in Virasaivism” By Vijaya

Ramaswamy
2. “A search for Feminist roots” By Romit Chowdhury
3. “Mirabai and her Contributions to the Bhakti Movement” By S.M. Pandey
and Norman Zide
Tagged Under:  Bhakti movementBhakti womenSant Soyarabai

Women’s voices in Bhakti Literature

Rekha PandeSeptember 2, 2021

In this paper, we take an example of a religious movement from the 12th to 17th
century to examine how women wrote bhakti literature to bring out their views
and ideas and created a  space for themselves. It’s no secret that women have
navigated numerous layers and levels of life over the centuries under patriarchal
domination. They’ve come up with a variety of tactics of resistance through A
woman-friendly medium was Bhakti. Even if the women were outspoken and
wanted a place to live life on their own terms, the men’s perception of women
remained the same. The movement, on the other hand, tends to strengthen and
reaffirm pre-existing ideas of women.
As in the case of the male bhaktas, 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. This was mostly an oral tradition. Most of the traditional sources
available for writing about the past are very elitist and male-biased and
women’s voices are totally absent from these. None of these women have been
patronized by any court biographers, nor is any religious hagiography available
about them from the time they were deemed to have inhabited. Much of their
history has been reconstructed much later by writers and biographers arising
from the emergent middle class and over the period of time, there have been
many interpolations also.  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 of an average Hindu household.  We have to hence turn
to the collective memories and remembrances 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
the 12th century to the 17th century. In spite of all the interpolations that may
have come over a period of time, a glance at the writings of these women shows
us that they fought for what they believed in and actively resisted when their
positions were challenged. Likewise, women were producers of important ideas
that give us entirely new insights into female religiosity and its distinctiveness
in the medieval world. It is the large-scale participation of women that gave this
movement the character of a mass movement. Religion was the only space
available to women in medieval times and through this legitimate space, women
could define their actions and aspirations and participate in public gatherings,
visit pilgrimage places, compost their own songs and through bhakti directly
reach God.  ( Pande, Rekha, 2010,   67-68)

India witnessed significant socio-economic changes during the thirteenth

Century giving rise to new social groups which could not fit into the traditional
hierarchy. To redefine their place and prestige within the conventional
hierarchy, the newly emerging social groupings launched a movement to
articulate their demands for altering the current system. These saints introduced
religion to the poor and oppressed parts of society by proclaiming that God
resides in each individual and that one might approach God through faith. When
it comes to this movement it’s known as the Bhakti

The word bhakti means devotion, participation, reverence, or adoration. For the
common person, the term is understood in terms of religious devotion only. The
historical works on Hinduism written prior to the nineteenth century by western
scholars did not mention this term.  From the second half of the nineteenth
century, different theories were propounded on the movement and its origins. 
The word was first used by H.H. Wilson to denote Krishna bhakti of the
Vaisnavas of Bengal( Wilson,1846, pp78-79).  Monier Williams did not limit
the word to Krishna Cult but extended it to the whole of Vaisnavism ( Monier
Williams,1891,  p.83). It was George Grierson who developed the idea that
bhakti is a religion, a cult, and a doctrine( Grierson,1909,  p.85). The medieval
period saw both Nigun ( worship of a formless God) as well as Sagun( worship
of a form) worship.

Earlier the bhakti movement was treated as a literary or at best an ideological

phenomenon that has religion at the basis of its inspiration. This has mainly
happened due to the lack of emphasis on social history and hence the socio-
economic factors that have been responsible for bringing in a change have been
ignored( Pande, Rekha, 2000). This lacuna has been removed by some recent
studies on the movement. Tarachand felt that the movement was deeply
influenced by Islam ( Tarachand,1936,   p.120 ). Yusuf Husain also felt it was
influenced by Islam (Yusuf Husain, 1976, 5 ). To some, it was an attempt at
bringing about an egalitarian society (Kambly, 1985, p.83 ), and others view it
as a protest against Brahmanical monopoly(Malik, 1977, p.17). Some have
looked at the movement as a product of the feudal society( Sharma, 1974  ) and
some have seen it as a result of the expansion of artisan classes. Habib speaks of
ties of caste and religious communities in the peasant uprisings and speaks of
Kabir, Dadu, Haridas, and Nanak as leaders of a movement that led to the
formation of new religious communities in the medieval period.  (Habib, 1963,
p.332  ). Others see this due to the increase in commodity production as a result
of trade expansion( Gohin, 1987, p. 1972).

The Bhakti movement was a product of a transitional society where a number of

changes were taking place on the political, economic, and social front. On the
political front, the thirteenth to sixteenth century saw the decline of an all-
powerful state and the rise of a number of provincial and regional states
(Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan, 1980, pp.155-286). By the beginning of the 16th
century, India saw the rise of a number of feudal states like Bengal, Khandesh,
Jaunpur, Malwa, Bihar, Kashmir, and Sindh in the North and Golconda,
Bijapur, Bidar, Gulbarga, Ahmadnagar, Berar in the south. On the economic
front, the Delhi Sultanate witnessed a number of changes. This period saw an
economic organization that was considered superior to the earlier one. In its
earlier phase, it had released forces that led to the expansion of towns and
alternations in agrarian conditions. As a result by the 14th century, there was a
considerable growth of these towns and expansion in craft production and
commerce. All this had occurred due to a number of changes in the various
crafts as a result of improvements in technology. This can be seen in
Sericulture, carpet weaving on the vertical loom, the introduction of the
spinning wheel(charkha) in the cotton textile sector, the Persian wheel in
irrigation, the introduction of paper, the appearance of the magnetic compass as
an aid to navigation and the invention of accurate timekeeping devices for the
regulation of economic activity ( Habib, 1969, p. ) The increase in commerce
can be seen in the increase of coinages a result of the transfer of stored silver
and gold into minted money. (Habib, 1978, pp. 289-91). There is also seen an
increase in the slave market, to provide artisans conversant with the new
technique and cheap labor for the various crafts( Habib, 1978, p.291) Though a
large surplus was being generated it was appropriated by the ruling classes
through taxation.
Though a large number of artisans were coming from the rank of people outside
the profession, they were not accepted as equal among the Indian artisans
organized along with hereditary custom-bound castes. On the other hand, even
though the merchants and tradesmen had attained a lot of wealth they had no
place in the social hierarchy.  The situation was similar to what had happened
during the 6th century. When the rise of Buddhism and Jainism had taken place
and the city had produced its own stratification where the artisans or merchants
were more powerful, yet the Brahmanical literature did not include the trader
and artisan among the superior groups. (Thapar, 1981, pp. 43-45). The social
front was characterized by Brahmanical oppression of the worst kind.  In order
to maintain their status quo, complex rites and rituals were practiced and those
that did not fit into the traditional four castes were termed outcastes or
chandalas( Sachau, 1983, Chapter1). The outcastes were denied any social
prestige and all the privileges of a brahmin such as recitation of the Vedas,
offering of sacrifices to the fire. If a Sudra or a Vaisya was proved to have
recited the Vedas and he was accused by the Brahmin before the ruler, the latter
would order his tongue to be cut off( Sachau, 1983, p.136). This was a period
when Jainism and Buddhism had practically disappeared and it was the
orthodox Brahmins that had reigned supreme.  They alone understood Sanskrit
in which the ancient religious texts were produced and this made the
performance of various rites and rituals their monopoly.  As they had acquired a
lot of power due to the land grants which they had received and these saw their
transformation into a landed elite( Sharma, 1969).
Even among the Muslims when it came to prayers and worship, the caste and
class differences were ignored and the poor and the rich worshipped side by
side but caste was recognized in social relations.  The Muslims were clearly
divided into Sharif Zats or high castes and Ajlaf Zats or low castes. The
conversion to Islam had certainly not made an individual change his old
environment which was deeply influenced by caste distinctions and a general
social exclusiveness.  The different classes of Muslim communities also began
to live aloof from one another, even in separate quarters in the same city
(Ashraf, 1959,p.78).
Throughout recorded history, Indian culture has been dominated by a
patriarchal system, which has resulted If women’s rights were far better in the
Vedic period than they are now, with examples like Gargi and Maitreyi who
participated in Sabha and Samitis, it cannot be denied that ancient societies
were patriarchal since their dominant structure and values were patriarchal in
the first instance. Due to the lack of evidence of a strong structural disjunction
that stopped patriarchy, we may assume this tendency persisted until medieval
times Modern-day Indian social reformers and independence warriors take up
this problem as one of the unfinished business of Indian social reform because
of its continuation.

In a patriarchal society, it is the son who gets highly valued and no such
premium is paid on the girl. The Atharvaveda has a prayer, Oh, God grant us a
son and a daughter elsewhere. The birth of a daughter was less welcome. In the
Atharvaveda and Samveda Mantra Brahmana, we get prayers for a male child.
The husband prays along with the wife, “ Unto thy womb let a foe come, a male
one as an arrow to a quiver, let a hero be born unto thee………give birth to a
male, a son, after he let a male be born, mayst thou is the mother of sons, of
those born and who shall bear, etc. ( Atharvaveda, Gulati, 1985, 16) A son saves
his father from hell, Put and hence he is called Putra( Protector from Put). A
father throws his debt on a son, through a son he conquerors the worlds, through
a grandson he obtains immortality, and through the son’s grandson, he gains the
world of the sun( Visnu Smriti, Charya,1964, 44-46). According to the Hindu
system of philosophy, the purpose of marriage was religious and it is through
this institution that a Grihista could discharge his three debts- To Gods, to
sages, and to ancestors and then he could retire into Vanaprasthaasram ( Manu,
Max Muller, 1985). Hence the son was very central to the Hindu way of life. If
a woman could not give birth to a son or was barren, the very religious purpose
of the family could not be carried out and hence a wife could be superseded if
she was barren and gave birth to daughters only( Lakshmidhara, Gulati, 23).

Women have been given a subordinate status in the Brahmanical religion.  She
is regarded as untouchable and extremely impure during her menstrual period
and during the period of childbirth. She is also regarded as polluted during
widowhood.  She has to purify herself before participating in any religious
ceremony.  By the time we come to Manu, the Upanayana ceremony became
unnecessary for girls and she was debarred from performing religious sacrifices.
The Brahmanical law books enjoined that each individual had to live according
to Dharma but for women, her dharma was only Stridharma.  By embodying a
very critical attitude towards women, their sexuality, their relationship with
their bodies and senses, tantrism heralded the process of acculturation of the
subordinate and brought women to the focus of things.
According to ancient and later Brahmanical law books, it is dharma that governs
the religious and social life of an individual.  According to these, each person
has to follow a set of social and religious duties appropriate to that person’s
individuality ( Seva- Bhav) for each person is a member of a particular
community( Jati). Along with Srutis, Smritis, Sadachar, or accepted good
usages constituted an important source of dharma. If each and everyone
followed their dharma then the results accrued would be beneficial. For a
woman, her dharma was Stree Dharma. Women can function in a socially
sanctioned dharmic way by strictly adhering to their preordained nature and
duties.  A woman thus becomes the mistress of the house and is the custodian of
the family dharma and passing it from one generation to another through her
children. Due to their fickle nature and the inherent pollution in the female body
women are seen as being subordinate to the voice of authority in the family and
have to engage in frequent acts of ritual purifications. They had to visit temples
with great regularity, perform sacred rites with higher faith and submit to
religious fasts. The number of vratas increased and with the passage of time
they were spread evenly over the whole year and invested with a moral fervor
by associating a number of ethical and moral stories with them. These vratas
were meant to purify the body, mind, and spirit that was a ritual marker of
transition from a state of unclean to cleanliness. A woman is seen by
nature( Svabhav) as not only a pollutant but also potentially dangerous because
of her sexuality.  Therefore in the family, her sexuality should always be
controlled and she should be subservient to the male authority.  Her sexuality is
seen as a source of prosperity when it is active but it has to be controlled by her
husband in any other situation and she must totally repress it.
The bhaktas were a product of this society and though many of the Bhakti saints
were clamoring for change and questioned the existing hierarchies and
injustices, women were not a part of this change. They could not rise above the
age-old prejudice regarding women as a barrier to the path of salvation.

The bhaktas were a product of this society and though many of the Bhakti saints
were clamoring for change and questioned the existing hierarchies and
injustices, women were not a part of this change. They could not rise above the
age-old prejudice regarding women as a barrier to the path of salvation (Pande,
2005,252). Large-scale changes in any society would lead to problems of
adjustment and therefore reactions are bound to arise and in India, the massive
changes in north India during the 6th century BC were taken as a benchmark
that led to the rise of the new religious movements. Similarly, the changes
mentioned above also engendered conditions for the rise of new processes and
new languages of domination and consequently resistance of which one was the
emotional bhakti.
The dominant discourse of the Bhakti movement was articulated by men and
what emerges is that this protest against the prevalent social injustices did not
address itself to women. It is interesting to note that, while the majority of the
Bhakti saints especially, Nirgun are very critical of all institutions and revolted
against idolatry, the tyranny of castes and creeds along with temples and rituals,
in .the change which they sought, women were not included.  Though clamoring
for a change and protesting vocally against the prevalent injustices in society,
they conveniently left out the women, relegating her to the domestic sphere, and
only that women became an ideal who was an obedient wife, a Pativrata or a
Sati-Savitri. She had no place in the change that was being sought. It was a
change that was being defined by male parameters. Since the change was being
sought within a given structure it did not attempt at changing the power
structure of society vis a vis man and women. The Bhakti saints were but
depicting the reality of their times. The saints were living in a patriarchal
society and holding patriarchal values, which consider a man superior and a
woman subordinate (Pande, Rekha, 1996).  This would echo Marx’s famous
statement that the dominant ideas in society are the ideas of the dominant
classes. They could not rise from the traditional view of looking upon women
as Maya and an impediment to the path of Bhakti. A women’s status was
defined in terms of her role in the family vis a vis her husband and she had no
worth outside the institution of marriage through which she must serve her
husband( Pande, Rekha, 1993). Though this attitude is by and large prevalent
among both the Sagun and the Nirgun saints, it is more predominant among the
Nirgun saints, who were related to the upcoming non-agrarian sectors and being
associated with tanning, weaving, trading, and tailoring where women were
slowly being marginalized and the old prejudice against them still continued.
Women had no place in the change that was being sought. We may thus say that
the attitude of the male bhaktas towards the women can be best explained by the
fact that though the bhakti movement did not articulate any demands for
property rights to women and thus the production relations were sought to be
altered in favor of men and women were given an illusory representation of
advancement while the same system continued. There are certain clear-cut rules
as to how women must behave and act here, and this is what distinguishes a
respectable decent woman from the other women. Hence women are a
constituency that is affected by patriarchy in uniquely gendered ways. When
women become articulate about who they are sexually and cast off old
patriarchal myths about what a woman can be and what she is not allowed to
become, women become powerful to acquire the ability to say no, demand to
dictate life in accordance to their own wishes. They are thus able to transcend a
given culture by negotiating it and move into a new one and this is exactly what
happened in the bhakti movement.
Religion is one of the areas where there is an avenue open for protest but
paradoxically, religion is also the one area that is the last to change though the
overall socio-economic context has long changed. Thus change occurs in
society at different levels in different contexts. In this context whatever change
occurs tradition cannot be destroyed. Therefore old ideas emerge once again
from different angles.  In the case of Indian women, the domesticity has been
reinforced through insistence on following the family tradition, to maintain the
household, and therefore the movement always negated the achievements of
women outside the household. Here we may point out a major disagreement
based on two assumptions, one being that the Indian family structure did not
change, which is an orientalist reading of Indian history and has been refuted
since many communities like Jats, Nayars, Ahirs had different familial setups
and did not conform to the ideal textual definition of the family as expounded in
the sacred texts. The second assumption is that tradition does not play a positive
role. The historical experience of Indian women and in particular the saints
shows that tradition can play many positive functions to bring about change,
particularly when mediated through religion. This assumption is so deeply
entrenched in modern-day thinking that tradition is often viewed as an obstacle
for development whereas tradition in fact can be considered as a labyrinth of
development( Dawa Norbu, 1996). The fact that many radical changes occurred
in society because of bhakti saints’ reinterpretation of tradition shows that
tradition when reinterpreted can bring about changes that are in consonance
with the socio-economic aspirations. In this tradition, they found space for
articulating many hitherto ‘restricted’ features that were seen by the orthodoxy
as vestiges or intrusions or by the later scholars as a substratum of Hinduism.
These are found in full play in the Puranas, where in the first sentence there is
an idealization of the Vedas but what follows later is the coming forth of many
local forms of worship like dances, worship of trees, tying of amulets, singing,
and spirit possession. These were certain forms that captured the emotional
content and to see the full import of their meaning an etymological
understanding of some words would do justice, for eg the veri atal or dancing as
possessed is a form mentioned in early Tamil literature that makes a strong
comeback in the bhakti tradition as demonstrated by Friedhelm Hardy(Hardy
2001)

In contrast to this many of the women, saints sought to escape patriarchy and
the demands of domesticity by creating an autonomous space and also not being
termed wayward loose by going on a long pilgrimage to different holy places.
This demonstrates the creative use of tradition as both an element of protest and
also to carve out some personal space for themselves. David Kinsley finds that
in many devotional movements, the theoretical harmony between doing one’s
duty, (dharma) and loving the Lord, (bhakti) is called into question. There
seems to be tension between the two. The tension is particularly clear in the
lives of several women saints who found it difficult and ultimately impossible to
reconcile their traditional marriages with their inherent urge to love the Lord.
He gives examples of Mahadevi Akka from Karnataka, Lalleswari from
Kashmir, Mirabai from Rajasthan, and the whole of Krishna mythology with
Radha as its central mode of devotion to show how in the lives of these women,
devotion to God becomes an alternative to marriage. Crushed and confined to
difficult domestic situations these women found an alternative possibility in
their devotion. Renouncing marriage and life in the world generally, they
directed their passions to heavenly consorts( Kinsley, 1980 ). The Lila of
Krishna was one such way of engaging with the heavenly consorts where the
Lila would mean the creation of the universe and was thus extended to all forms
of human activity which were seen as a manifestation of divine play as authored
in a book by the same name. ( Kinsley, 1980).

For the women, Bhakti became an outlet. A study of the writings of these
women Bhaktas shows that they negotiated patriarchy through Bhakti which
provided a space for them. Most of these women were encultured into a certain
culture which was mostly a closed, patriarchal culture, but through this
movement, a certain space was created for their freedom and mobility.

Akka Mahadevi was a contemporary of Basavanna, the founder of the Virsaiva

movement. She was the daughter of a rich merchant in the village of Udutal.
She was a great devotee of Siva and was initiated into worship at a very early
age by an unknown Guru. She grew up into a beautiful young woman and the
chieftain of the land named Kausika fell in love with her. Kaushiki was an
unbeliever and  Mahadevi Akka was forced to marry him much against her
wishes. Most probably he used coercion and a show of authority to subjugate
Akka Mahadevi. The legend goes that she told him that she would leave him if
he touched her thrice against her wishes and when he does so she leaves him
(Ramanujan, 1985,112). When she leaves him she breaks all the marital
relations as well as all the taboos and walks about naked and finally finds solace
in the company of saints. It was these saints who ultimately helped her
consummate her love for Siva by arranging a real marriage to him. This was a
marriage of her choice. She died in her early twenties becoming one with Siva
at Srisaila. (Ramanujan, 1985,114). Akka is one of the best-known poets of
Karnataka. The number of her vachanas which can be culled from various
sources is approximately 350. Besides these vachanas some songs and two
works titled, The vachanas of creation” and Yogangatri are in her name
( Dabbe, Manushi, 1989, 42).

Lal Ded lived during the fourteenth century in Kashmir. She was born in a
Brahmin family and was educated at home in her father’s house. She was
married at the age of twelve into another Brahmin family surnamed Nica Bhatt
at Pimpore. According to the Kashmiri custom she was renamed Padmavati. 
We have a number of legends that talk about the cruelty meted out to Lal Ded.
She endured this torture for twelve years and finally left home. Again it was 
Bhakti that provided her a space to renounce her domestic hell. Padmavati is
supposed to have danced naked singing in frenzy. She now came to be known
as Lal Ded, Lal in Kashmiri referring to the lower part of her belly, which
increased in size and hung loosely over her pubic region.

Mira bai lived in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, according to
historical records In Rajasthan, she was a member of the Rajput nobility A
daughter of Ratan Singh and Vir Kunwari of the Rathor clan, she was raised by
her parents, Ratan Singh and Vir His great-grandfather founded Jodhpur, and
Mira’s paternal grandpa was the founder Medata city and the surrounding 360
villages were ruled by her paternal grandfather Dudaji. Kudki was one of the 12
towns he handed Miras father Ratansing as a gift It was at this fort that Mira
was born She received Vaishnavism from her father line because her paternal
ancestors were Vaishnavas

As a little girl, Mira pestered her mother to tell her who her husband was when
she witnessed a wedding procession, according to tradition. So that Mira’s
mother wouldn’t have to keep asking questions, she pointed to a statue of
Krishna and informed her that this Because of this, Mira regarded herself as
married to Growing up, she married into the royal line of Mewar’s Rajput
Sisodia Rajputs and became Her husband’s identity is unknown. Some believe
he’s Maharaj Kumbh, while others believe he’s Bhojraj, the son of Rana Sang
They were likely married as part of an alliance between Jodhpur’s rulers and
Mewar’s ruling family. Kul and Bhaiyad (brotherhood) were intimately related
to the political power and sovereignty system of Rajasthan. Everyone who had a
similar ancestor through male bloodline was considered a member of the kul.
These kings’ sons and brothers were called Bhaiyad. According to Muktesh
(Mukta, 1994 According to legend, Mira refused to worship the goddess Shakti
when she arrived at her in-laws’ house and was urged to do so for the sake of
her husband and his family. It’s only natural that her spouse and in-laws Mira
declined to get married because she was already married to Krishna. As a result
of this act of blatant disobedience, her in-laws were Her life was often
threatened, and she eventually fled the palace to live freely in a temple inside
the palace grounds, but she was still unable to find peace due to the disapproval
of her Bhakti (faith). As a result, she began traveling about in the company of
other saints, visiting numerous temples and places connected to Krishna To
start, she traveled to Dakur. Then she went to Vrindavan and It’s been said that
Akbar and Tansen went to visit her in Dwarka, and Tansen sang one of her
bhajans.
During her sojourn at the Ranchhorji temple in Dwarka, her natal and marital
families sent priests as missionaries to convince her to return to her birthplace.
In response to her refusal, the Brahmin priests began a death-defying fast
outdoors “I don’t want to have Brahmin blood on my hands,” Mira said. This
was followed by the composition of the mantra “Harikrishna Tum Haro Jan Ke
Pir” as she entered the shrine and is supposed to have become Numerous
academics have taken this to mean that he emerged via the temple’s west
entrance, which faces the sea, and ( Kishwar, Manuhsi, 1989, 85). Miras Bhakti
becomes a way out of the Rajput marriage system’s hate and dominance. When
it came out, it was a testament to the strength of love in a world that was
plagued by wars, vendettas, and the growing might

A loving Rajput woman, Gangasati married Kahlubha, who shared her love of
bhajans and satsang. A dead cow was given to Kahlubha as a test of faith by his
fellow Rajputs. It was at this point that he began shouting and singing imploring
God to perform Because of his belief that practicing Bhakti for its own purpose
would not be permitted, he chose to do Maha Samadhi and give up his life,
believing that he would become a miracle man instead. They both wanted to
join him, but he stopped them since she hadn’t passed on her wisdom and
knowledge to their daughter-in-law Panbai. There has never been another
known instance in history of a woman who is revered for her knowledge
handing it on in a formal fashion.

Sant Toral is the better half of the famous Jesal Toral pair that was known as the
legendary lover as well as the saint pair. Toral was a Kanthi woman married to
Sansatia, who were were considered a lower caste than Rajputs but were also
martial. Jesal was a Rajput dacoit from Kutch who was dared to acquire Toral.
According to legend, he was dared to acquire Tati, Toli, and Toral, Tati was the
famous sword, toil the famous mare, and Toral the woman known for her
beauty and piety. Jesal reached Sansatia’s house and hid in the stable. When
Toral distributed Prasad one extra helping was left and the search revealed Jesal
who told Sansatia why he was there. Sansatia willingly gave his wife and mare.
According to legend Toral agreed to go because she was born with the mission
of changing the lives of three fallen men. But a wife was considered a chattle by
the patriarchal system and she could easily be given away.

On their way to Kutch by boat, a heavy storm arose and began to rock the boat.
While Jesal was terrified of death Toral remained calm and she addresses him in
bhajans which teach that the attachment to the material world is pointless and
one must find Bhakti. Jesal confesses to his sins which include robbing the
wedding processions, killing bridegrooms, stealing and dragging away grazing
cows, hunting deers, killing peacocks, and letting down his sisters and their
children. As he confesses the storm subsides and the boat stops rocking.
Anecdotes relate to how Jesal is transformed and gives up arms and violence.

Loyal was born in a community of blacksmiths in the latter half of the

eighteenth century and is said to have been very beautiful. Her lover Lakha was
an Ahir a cowherd of Saurashtra and they could not marry due to the difference
in their castes. It is believed that Lakha planned to overcome this hurdle by
pleasing his family and community by giving many gifts through his robberies.
Loyal became a devotee under the influence of guru Selansi who belonged to
the revered sect of Pir Ramdeo. Lakha could not stand the change in loyal and
he tried to attack her and grab her but he was struck with leprosy. Loyal is
supposed to have sung 144 bhajans to Lakha, talking about the emptiness of
life, the greatness of the guru, and the fruits of Bhakti. Her bhajans usually
begin with ” Ji re Lakha….” ( Shukla, 1989, 71)

Mukta Bai of Maharashtra lived during the thirteenth century and was the sister
of Nivritti, Jnandev, and Sopan who are considered the founders of the Varkari
tradition. Their father was a Brahmin and a disciple of Ramanand but he was
ostracised by the Brahmin community because after having taken Sanyasa he
reverted back to a householder’s life. He then committed suicide. Though
Mukata Bai according to tradition was a beautiful and intelligent girl she did not
marry but lived with her brothers. She is said to have composed over 100
Abhangs. She died at the young age of eighteen.

Janabai was a contemporary of Muktabai and was a maidservant in the house of

Janadev. Not much is known about her except her life as depicted in the
Abhangs. She talks about her day-to-day work and how she is helped in this by
her God.

The next important saint from Maharashtra was Bahina Bai. She lived during
the seventh century and is the only woman saint who has written an
autobiography. She was born in a poor Brahmin family of Deigoan. When she
was three years old she was married to Ratnakar Pathak who was thirty years
old and was a priest and an astrologer. For him, this was a second marriage. At
the age of seven, Bahina Bai came to Kolhapur to live with her husband and his
parents. Here too she had to suffer a lot due to her Bhakti and she is the only
woman saint who remains married throughout her life. Her life eases only when
her husband gets converted to her way of thinking. She also wrote
her Abhangas in the popular Marathi Ovi meter, which is used in songs when
women go about their daily work like doing the household chores, grinding the
corn, or husking the grain.
A common theme that runs throughout the lives of these women is the restricted
spaces in their married homes. Suddenly after marriage, they do not have any
freedom and come into conflict with their in-law’s family when they want to
lead a life according to their wishes. There are attempts at trying to imprison
them, lock them and even poison them.  Mahadevi Akka says,

” I have Maya for mother in law

 The World for father in law
Three brothers in law, like tigers.
And the husband’s thoughts
Are full of laughing women.
No God this man.
And I cannot cross this sister in law
But I will
Give this wench the slip
And go cuckold my husband with hard my lord
My mind is my maid.
By her kindness, I join my lord
My utterly beautiful lord
From the mountain peaks
My lord, .white as Jasmine
And / will make him my good husband ( Ramanujan, 1985, 141).
According to Hindu tradition, a husband is supposed to be God, and irrespective
of all his shortcomings a woman is expected to worship him. The sources for
the reconstruction of medieval India maybe be grouped into different genres and
literature and epigraphy are among the many sources. While epigraphy is
primarily concerned with land and the sale and gift of lands, we have different
genres of literature like heroic, court, etc. All of them have one dominant strand
and object of inquiry that can be comprehended through direct readings as they
are for legalistic purposes where the contractual nature of the objects like land,
war, court procedures, etc make them clear and represent facts. Here this genre
of bhakti literature makes elaborate use of established myths and represents
them in a counterfactual way so as to subvert the existing meanings which also
reflect the yearning for a new order. The above-mentioned poem of Akka
Mahadevi and the later poems following them also has a similar theme and
reflect this structure.

Even Lal Ded had a very difficult married life. Many legends talk about the
cruel treatment meted out to her by her mother-in-law. Here she was scolded on
the slighted pretext. She was not allowed to spin yarn on the spinning wheel,
though legend has it that she spun yarn as fine as the lotus stalk. – She was often
ridiculed for not doing anything right and often taunted as to what she had
learned at her father’s house. We have among her sayings,

 They may kill a big sheep or a tender lamb,

 Lalla will have her lump of stone all right ( Parimoo, 1978, 10)
She was harassed at her in-law’s place, and most probably this was due to her
not following the wishes of her in-law’s family blindly. Another- saying
attributed to her states,

I did not give birth to a child nor lay in confinement ( Kaul, 1973, 11).
Since she did not behave in an expected manner, she was tortured. She was
served          

stones in her food and also accused of infidelity to her husband. She however
accepts

this because,

One has to bear lightning, flashes, and thunderbolts

One has to put up with pitch darkness at midday( Kaul,1973,13)
Mira’s life is better known when compared to the other women Bhaktas. When
she got married and came to her in-law’s family she was accused of not
behaving properly like that of a royal woman.

I have lost the honor of the royal fami/y

People say I have gone astray with the sadhus
I  constantly rise up.
go to Gods temple and dance
Snapping my fingers
I don’t follow the norms
As the oldest daughter in law
J have thrown away the veil( Chaturvedi, 1983, 244)
Her family tries to restrict her movements and they even lock her in.

O, friend! cannot live ‘without the delight giver

Mother in law fights, my sister in law teases
The Rana remains angry
They have a watchman sitting at the door
 And a /ock fastened on it
Why should I give up my first love’
My only love
Mira’s  God is the lifter of mountains
O nothing else pleases me. ( Chaturvedi, 1983, 42)
When things get out of hand there is an attempt at her life, because she has
brought nothing but disgrace to the Rajput family in which she is wed.

Friends I am completely dyed in this Krishna color

I drank the cup of immortal bliss
My inebriation never goes away
However many millions of ways I try
Rana sent  me a basket with a snake in it
And Meera  put  it around her neck
Smiling, Mira hugged it, as  if it were a
The string of new pearls.
Rana took a cup of poison, “Find Mira(he said)
Give it to her
She drank it like Charnamrita
Singing the praise of Govinda
I drank the cup of his name nothing else pleases me now.( Chaturvedi,
1983, 40)
Further, she states,

Meera danced with ankle bells on her feet

People said Meera was mad
My mother in law said I had ruined
 the family reputation
Rana sent me a cup of poison and
Mira drank it laughing.  (Chaturvedi, 1983, 36).
Muktabai lived during the thirteenth century and was the sister of Nivritti,
Jnandev, and Sopan who are considered the founders of the Varkari tradition.
Their father was a Brahmin and a disciple of Ramanand but he was ostracised
by the Brahmin community because after having taken Sanyasa he reverted
back to a householder’s life. He then committed suicide. Though Mukata Bai
according to tradition was a beautiful and intelligent girl she did not marry but
lived with her brothers. She is said to have composed over 100 Abhangs.
Unlike many other women bhaktas, Muktabai does not emphasize her
womanhood or talk about the conditions of her life as a woman. Her many
songs are cast in the form of dialogues with other saints and she discourses with
them as an equal. In Nivritti Mukti Samvad,  she and Nivritti instruct one
another. In Tatiche Abhang ( Song of the Door) she tries to persuade
Jnaneshwar, who has got annoyed by people’s comments and locked himself in
his hut, to open the door. She adapts the tone, not of a younger sister pleading
with the younger brother but a saint addressing another.

She died at the young age of eighteen.   In a verse, Chokhamela says that if he
has a son the son should be a saint and if a daughter she should be like Mirabai
or Muktabai, otherwise he would rather not have children at all. She is one of
the most revered saints of Maharashtra.

Janabai was a contemporary of Muktabai and was a maidservant in the house of

Janadev. Janabai was the daughter of a sudra bhakta and was taken into the
house of Namdev’s father Damshetti when she was very young and she grew up
there as a maidservant. Not much is known about her except her life as depicted
in the Abhangs. Namdev had taken a vow to compose one crore verses in praise
of Vithoba and he divided the task amongst his household members. Janabai
also composed a number of Abhangs and these appear in Namdev Gatha. She is
very much aware of her position as a maidservant but she is happy that she is in
the house of a saint.

Bahina bai writes in her autobiography,

I was now eleven years of age but 1 had not had one moment of joy ( Abbot,
1929,)

Again she states,

I had no independence and my wishes had no effect. 1 was very depressed in

spirits. My daily life was full of troubles. (Abbot, 1929)
She recognizes her limitations as a woman.

Possessing a woman’s body and myself being subject to others, 1 was not able
to carry out my desire to discard all worldly things. (Abbot, 1929)
For Bahina’s husband, this was his second marriage. At the age of seven,
Bahina Bai left her birthplace and came to Kolhapur along with her husband
and parents.
When Bahina was ten years old her parents received a cow and calf as alms and
she became very attached to the calf.

If the calf was not at sight, 1 was troubled. 1 felt like a fish out of water.
Whether I was grinding or pounding grain, or carrying water, I was unhappy,
Though with others, without the calf. I was the only one to feed it with
grass and without me, it was unhappy ( Abbot, 1929, 16)
When Bahina bai and her parents went to attend a Kirtan of a well-known saint,
Jiyaram Swami, she took her calf along with her and when people objected to
the calf being in the crowded room, it was driven out. The calf stood outside
and cried and Bihna sobbed inside the room. Jiyaram Swami, then had the calf
brought inside and blessed both of them. Ratnakar Pathak was very angry when
he got to hear about this incident. “ He seized her by her hair and beat her to his
heart’s content. ( Abbot, 1929, 13). Her feet and hand were tied.  The calf
refused to eat food and died twelve days later. This shocked Bihna and she
became unconscious for three days and wished, I would also accompany the life
of my calf( Abbot, 1929, 8).

In this unconscious state in her dreams, she saw Vithoba and accepted Tukaram
as her Guru. Naturally, her husband did not like this, because Tukaram came
from the lower caste and they were Brahmins, and custom and scriptures
forbade any contact with the lower castes.

My husband began to say vile are Brahmins. We should spend our time in the
study of the Vedas. What is all this? The shudra Tuka, seeing him in dreams.
My wife is v ruined by all this. (Her husband also gave her bodily suffering on
account of this ( Abbot, 1929, 3)

Ratnakar Pathak now started contemplating leaving his wife,

Who cares for the feeling of bhakti. I will abandon her and go into the forest, for
people are going to bow down to her, while she regards me worthless as a straw.

Who will show respect to me in her presence? ( Abbot, 1929, 3,4, 5).

In some of her Abhangas, she comes across as a rebellious and bold person and
her refusal to abandon her Bhakti and her search for truth.

The Vedas cry aloud, the Puranas shout

No good comes to a woman
I was born with a woman’s body
How am I to attain the truth?
They are foolish, seductive, deceptive-
Any connections with a woman are disastrous
Bahina says,” If a woman’s body is so harmful,
How in this world will I reach the truth?
Hence the common thread that runs through the lives of all these women is the
treatment meted out to them in their inlaw’s house at the hands of husbands, in-
laws, or sisters-in-law. Now it is Bhakti that provides the space and to move out
of this house and in the process, they get their independence. For all these
women bhaktas the rejection of the power of the male figure whom they were
tied to insubordinate relationship became the terrain for struggle, self-assertion,
and alternative seeking( Manushi, 1989) The above can also be read as the
mainstream religions having an emotional vacuum since these challenge the
way that the emancipator nature of religion is absent in ritual, text, and practice,
therefore the emotional content is to be a compensation in the ecstatic raptures.
Therefore these poems address a  new sensorial or the senses

 But now Bhakt offers a choice and  Mahadevi has the courage to state that this
husband of hers is no God and she would make her Lord God as a good
husband. She also talks about the constant conflict between her duties at home
and her Bhakti.

Husband inside
Lover outside
I can’t manage them both
This world and the other
I can’t manage them both.
O lord white as Jasmine
I cannot hold in one hand
Both the round nut
And the longbow ( Ramanujan, 1985,127).
The first and the foremost thing which many of these women do is to cast off all
notions of decency and modesty which are the lynchpin of the patriarchal
society, which neatly divides the respectable family women from the other
women, who is not respectable. Akka Mahadevi sheds her clothes and walks
naked.

Brother, you have come

drawn  by the beauty
of these billowing breasts, this brimming youth
I am no woman brother no whore ( Susan Daniel, 1991, 80).
Janabai states,
Let me not be sad because I am born a woman
In this world, many saints suffer in this way She further states,
Cast off all shame
And sell yourself
In the marketplace
Then alone
You can hope to reach the Lord ( Vilas Sarang, 1991,83)
Mira also states,

O my companion there is nothing to be ashamed of now

Since I have been seen dancing openly
In the day I have no hunger
At night I am restless and cannot sleep
Leaving these troubles behind I go to the other side( Keay, 1991, 93)
Akka has a total disdain for the earthly husband, much in contrast to what she
has been taught by scriptures and told by tradition because the earthly husband
decays and dies.

I love this handsome one

He has no death
Decay or form
No place or side
No end nor birthmark
I love him O mother listen
So the lord white as jasmine is my husband
Take these husbands who die
And decay and feed them
To your kitchen fires( Ramanujan, 1985,134)
Mira comes out in open defiance.

If Sisodiya is angry, what will he do to me?

I will sing the virtues of Govind my friend
If Rana is angry, he will stay in his own country
If Hari is angry I will wither friend.
I don’t care for worldly positions ( Chaturvedi, 1983,35).
Mira has no faith in worldly marriage and prefers being wed to her Hari.

Friends marriage of this world are false

They are wiped out of existence
Wed my indestructible one
The serpent’s death cannot devour( Chaturvedi, 1983,194).
Soon Meera became free of her worldly burdens when her husband died. Now
she openly started associating with like-minded people who were involved with
bhakti. Her family did not like this, because Meera was breaking tradition and
moving out of purdah, and by talking and associating with other males, she was
bringing shame to the family.

I have found a guru in Raidas

He has given me the pill of knowledge
A woman is seen by nature( Sva Bhav) as not only a pollutant but also
potentially dangerous because of her sexuality.  Therefore in the family, her
sexuality should always be controlled and she should be subservient to the male
authority.  Her sexuality is seen as a source of prosperity when it is active but it
has to be controlled by her husband in any other situation and she must totally
repress it.
Akka Mahadevi rose above the body and has no need for any jewels and
clothes, which in her earlier life were a very important parameter of her status
Vis-a-vis her husband.

 You can confiscate

Money in hand
Can you confiscate it?
The body’s glory
To this shameless girl
Where is the need for cover and jewels? ( Ramanujan, 1985, 129)
She now has no other ambition except to join her lord.

0 Shiva
When shall!
Crush you on my pitcher’s breasts
0 lord white as jasmine
When do I join you
Stripped of body’s shame
And my heart’s modesty.
She looks upon all men except her lover Shiva as her brothers and dissuades
them from coming near proclaiming that she is neither a woman nor a whore.

You have come seeing the beauty

Of rounded breasts and the
The fullness of youth brother
Brother, I am not a woman
Brother, I am not a whore
Brothers seeing me again and again
For whom have you come?
Look brother any man
Other than the Lord who is white as Jasmine
Is a face I cannot stand( Zydenbos, 1989).
She shows a lot of firmness and courage in her wanderings all alone by herself.
There

is a hint of being harassed but she remains pure for her lover.

Do not worry
That I am completely alone
Whatever they do I will not be aji-aid
I will eat dried leaves
I will sleep on a sword
0 lord white as jasmine
If you want to examine me
I will offer my body and soul to you
And be pure. ( Zydenbos, 198, 42)
It is not that the path of Bhakti is easy. There are lots of dilemmas and struggles.
Akka Mahadevi states,

The stream behind the river inji-ont

Tell me which way to go
The pond behind the net in front
Tell me wheresafety is (Zydenbos, 198, 42)
However, these moments of dilemma and confusion are very few in comparison
to her pain and sufferings
My restless mind has been turned upside down
The whirling wind has become
Scorching
The moonlight has become the heat
For Meera too the pains of home become easy

Finally, she leaves her home and goes out in search of her real home. There is
nothing that can now make her turn back.

Rana to me your slander is sweet

Some praise me, some blame me, 1 go the other way
 On the narrow path, l found God’s people
What should I turn back for? ( Chaturvedi, 240)
In her wanderings, Meera had to face harassment and disapproval. She has a
number of songs that talk about people of the world laughing at her, thinking
her mac blaming her, even regarding her a destroyer of families. Meera however
just ignore these and she is said to have traveled to Dakaur, Vrindavan, and
Dwarka all place associated with Krishna. Her lover Krishna now becomes the
center of existence.

I go to Giridhar’s house
Giridhar is my real lover
I see his beauty and am allured
When nightfall’s, I go and when day breaks I come back
Night and day I play with him and
Please him in every way ( Tirpathi, 1979, 83).
There is a restlessness in her for her beloved.

Friend the dark ones glance is like love’s dagger

It struck me and
 I  grew restless
 I  lost all sense of my body
Pain spreads through my body
My mind is intoxicated
I have found few friends
All of them are mad……
The Chakor loves the moon, the moth by the lamp is burnt
The fish dies without ‘water- dear indeed is such love
How can I live without seeing him?  My heart is not at rest. 
( Manushi, 1989, 89)
Bahina’s husband also started thinking of leaving her due to her involvement in
Bhakti. But then it is discovered that Bihna was three months pregnant and so
her husband could not abandon her. Meanwhile, Bahina also decided that it was
her duty to serve her husband first rather than Vithal or Tukaram because if her
husband left her she would be ruined completely. However, soon her husband
became seriously ill and Bihna nursed him very devotedly. He regarded his
illness as a punishment for having insulted Vithal and Tukaram. So after he
recovered he realized his mistake and came around to Bihnabai’s path and they
moved to Dehu where Tukaram lived and accepted him as their guru. It was
only after her husband came around to her path of bhakti did Bahina’s life
become easy.

Hence, to conclude, even a cursory reading of the Bhakti literature shows us

that, it is Bhakti that gives these women the moral courage to stand against
patriarchal political authority and create an alternate space for
themselves( Pande, 1991). They defy patriarchal norms of marriage and walk
out(  except in the case of Bahina bai) which survives even to this day in folk
memory but is delegitimized in mainstream history highlighting the
fundamental disconnect between history writing and the type of sources used to
essay history. In Hinduism devotion of the wife to her husband and her
complete merger in him is the highest aim, even if the husband was a fiend. The
women in Bhakti found the courage to defy this and either walked out of their
houses and the restricted spaces of patriarchal control or changed their husbands
to their way of thinking. It is interesting to note that, while the majority of the
Bhakti saints especially, Nirgun are very critical of all institutions and revolted
against idolatry, the tyranny of castes and creeds along with temples and rituals,
in .the change which they sought, women were not included. At this time many
of the women saints were leading non-traditional, non-conformist lives and
talking of individual freedom. Many of the Bhakti saints, though clamoring for
a change and protesting vocally against the prevalent injustice in society,
conveniently left but the women, relegating her to the background. She had no
place in the change that was being sought. It was a change that was being
defined by male parameters. Since the change was being sought within a given
structure, it did not attempt at changing the power structure vis-a-vis the
family.  The Bhakti saints did not attempt to the reorganization of social
relationships within the family. There was every attempt at marginalizing the
women and pushing them back into the domestic sphere and only that women
became an ideal who was an obedient wife, a Pativrata or a Sati-Savitri. At this
time the women writing bhakti literature negotiated patriarchy and created an
alternative space for themselves.
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Women in Bhakti Movement

The liberal current, which to some extent widened the horizon of women, was the Bhakti
movements, the medieval saints’ movements. Female poetsaints also played a significant role in
the bhakti movement at large. Bhakti movements which flourished during the medieval age gave
rise to a new class of man and women who cared little for gender bias.
  In many cases, they rejected traditional women’s roles and societal
norms by leaving husbands and homes altogether, choosing to
become wandering bhaktas.
 In some instances they formed communities with other poet saints.
 Their new focus was utter devotion and worship of their Divine
Husbands.

Famous women during this period:

 Janabai: Janabai was born around the 13th century in Maharashtra in

a low caste sudra family. She was sent to work in the upper caste
family of Namdev, one of the most revered of the bhakti poet saints.
 Akkamahadevi: Akkamahadevi, also known as Akka or Mahadevi
was a bhakta from the southern region of Karnataka and a devotee of
Shiva in the 12th century CE.
 Mirabhay: Mirabai, or Mira is said to have been born into a ruling
Rajput Mirabai’s poetry tells about her vision of Lord Krishna when
she was a child; from that point on Mira vowed that she would forever
be his bride.
 Bahinabhai: Bahinabai was a poet saint from 17 th  century
Maharashtra. written in the form of abangas, women’s songs that
accompanied their labors, especially in the fields. Her writings are
particularly autobiographical, recounting her childhood, puberty and
married life.