Oriental Women Part 8

It is not to be supposed, however, that the choice was prompted by the impulse of the moment or by some sudden fascination. The girl usually knew the records of her suitors, and her selection was based upon previous acquaintance and deliberate preference.

Indeed, in marked contrast with the present customs of India, it seems clear that in early times brides, especially of the higher cla.s.ses, not uncommonly made choice of their own spouses. This may be seen in the Hindoo story of the faithful wife. An early ruler of Madra, Ashvapati, a pious and virtuous king, was much beloved by his people. He was childless. Many years did he spend in prayer for offspring. The G.o.ds gave him a daughter, who grew up to be a woman of surpa.s.sing beauty; but, strangely enough, no prince sought her hand in marriage. Her father, therefore, according to the ancient Hindoo law, sent her forth to choose her own husband. At length she returned with the man of her love, Savitri:

"Carried in a fair, soft litter mid the peoples' welcoming, Came the queen and good Savitri to the city of the King."

Among the choicest women of early Hindoo epics is Sita, heroine of the _Ramayana_. The famous poet Valmiki is supposed to have been the author; but the poem in its present form is supposed to contain additions made even as late as the Christian era, though its earliest portions probably go back to a period as early as the third century before Christ. The _Ramayana_ is accounted among the sacred books of India, and special spiritual considerations, such as forgiveness of sin and prosperity, are thought to be the reward of those who diligently study it. Sita, the heroine, is the wife of Rama, the son of Dasharatha, who had long mourned his childlessness. This Dasharatha, a descendant of the sun, lives in the city of Ayodhya, the modern Oudh, a place of beauty and splendor:

"In bygone ages built and planned By sainted Manu's princely hand."

But the line of the prince is threatened with extinction. He decides to lay his plea before the G.o.ds by the sacrifice known as the _Asva-Medha_, in which the victim is a horse. After the offering has been made with extraordinary magnificence, the high priest in charge makes known to the king that he shall have four sons to uphold his royal prerogatives and maintain Dasharatha's line. One of these is Rama, whose wife Sita was a woman of extraordinary beauty:

"Rama's darling wife, Loved was as he loved his life; Whom happy marks combined to bless, A miracle of loveliness."

And Sita was deeply devoted to her lord. But the demon Ravana desires ardently to possess the fair queen. He hits upon a plan to gain access to her quarters. a.s.suming the form of a humble priest, an ascetic, he gains possession of her by craft; and, taking her in his chariot, he carries her away to Lanka, a "fair city built upon an island of the sea." Thus Rama, like Menelaus of the cla.s.sic myth, has lost the woman of his love. Rama decides to make use of a large army of monkeys, with which he will march against the city of Lanka. But the wide waters stretch between him and the island where his fair Sita is in possession of the vile Ravana. Rama invokes the G.o.ddess of the sea, and she comes in radiant beauty, telling how a bridge may be built to cross the waters that lie between the royal lovers. The monkeys--as busy as the little imps that reared the temple of Solomon, according to the Mohammedan legend--build a bridge of stones and timbers. Lanka is reached, and Rama begins the fight for her possession. Indra looks down from heaven upon the holy contest and decides to send his own chariot down, that Rama may mount in it and ride to victory. In single combat, riding in Indra's chariot, Rama vanquishes Ravana, and Sita, his wife, is restored to his bosom.

As evidence of the exalted nature of the early ideals of womanhood and of man's faithfulness to the dictates of true love, we may turn to the words of Prince Nala, who even when about to ingloriously forsake his unprotected wife, sleeping in a dangerous wood, spoke thus:

"Ah, sweetheart, whom not sun nor wind before, Hath even rudely touched, thou to be couched In this poor hut, its floor thy bed, and I, Thy lord, deserting thee, stealing from thee Thy last robe, O my love with bright smile, My slender waisted queen. Will she not wake To madness? Yea, and when she wanders lone In the dark road, haunted with beasts and snakes, How will it fare with Bhima's tender child-- The bright and peerless? O my life, my wife, May the great sun, may the Eight Powers of air, Guard thee thou true and dear one on thy way."

Woman occupies an interesting place in many of the early fables of India. Sir Edwin Arnold has translated into English a number of the stories from the _Hitopadesha_, which has been called "the father of all fables," and may easily take rank with the ill.u.s.trious aesop. Stories which present womanly traits, the tricks and wiles of love, are there, and are graphically told. Such are the fables of _The Prince_ and the _Wife of the Merchant's Son_, which ill.u.s.trate how the darts of love, even in ancient India, struck their mark without waiting upon reason or social standing, as the handsome prince, son of Virasena, cries concerning the beautiful Lavanyavati: "The G.o.d of the five shafts has. .h.i.t me; only her presence can cure my wound."

An account of woman in Hindoo literature would be incomplete without some allusion to the drama. This was developed after the Alexandrian conquest and shows marks of Greek influence. In the drama we may discern woman of Brahmanic India from an interesting viewpoint. Of all the dramatic productions of the Hindoo poets, there is none so famous as that of Shakuntala, by Kalidasa, the great court poet of Vikramaditya.

As is true of many of the earlier Hindoo masterpieces the exact date of its composition is not known. Some students place this work as early as the first, some as late as the fifth century of the Christian era. The drama of Shakuntala is of interest as ill.u.s.trating the effect of caste.

It is a drama in seven acts, and, because of its importance, its story may be recounted.

As King Dushyanta, King of India, is driving in his chariot through a forest, armed with his bows and arrows, in hot pursuit of a black antelope, a word forbids him to slay the innocent creature. It is the word of a hermit and the antelope belongs to the hermitage. The king is obedient to the request, and is conducted to the dwelling of the great saint Kanva, who is absent upon a distant pilgrimage, and has left his foster-daughter Shakuntala in charge of his companions. The king finds himself in the midst of a secret grove. He stops his chariot and alights. As he goes reverently through these holy woods "he feels a sudden throb in his arm. This argues happy love and soon he sees the maidens of the hermitage approaching to sprinkle the young shrubs with watering pots suited to their strength." Among these beautiful maidens, rare in form and grace, the king observes one especially; it is Shakuntala, foster-daughter of the hermit, half concealed by the trees, but standing "like a blooming bud enclosed within a sheath of yellow leaves." A beautiful girl is she, but the king stands puzzled. For if she be of purely Brahmanic birth, she is prohibited from marrying one of the warrior cla.s.s, even though he be the king. As Shakuntala moves about watering the flowers of the wood, she starts a bee from one of the jasmine flowers. The bee pursues her, as if to do her harm with its sting, but Dushyanta comes to the rescue; and the fair girl of the hermitage feels some strange thrill as she sees the king, an unusual visitant in that hallowed neighborhood. Off she hurries with her two companions, but a series of happy accidents enables her to cast side glances at the king: a p.r.i.c.kly Kusa-gra.s.s has stung her foot, she must wait a moment, a bush has caught her robe, she must stop to disentangle it. And love is born. In the second act, while Dushyanta is thinking of his love, two hermits arrive who tell him that demons have taken advantage of Kanva's absence from the sacred grove and are disturbing the sacrifices, and requests that he come and defend the grove from their intrusion. He consents with keen delight and he will not leave the grove, even though his mother requests his presence at a sacrifice offered in his own behalf. He sends his representative, but cautions him to say nothing concerning his love for the fair Shakuntala. In the third act, the king is discovered walking in the hermitage calling upon the G.o.d of love "whose shafts are flowers, though the flowers' darts are hard as steel." He tracks the object of his love by the broken stems of the flowers she had plucked in her rambles, and at length finds her in an arbor with her attendants. She reclines upon a stone bench strewn with flowers, she looks pale and wasted. Her maidens seek to know the cause of her sickness, and she tells her love in a poem, written on a lotus leaf. Just here the king rushes in and avows his pa.s.sion. He tries to overcome her scruples against a marriage, so out of accord with the regulations of caste. He hears a voice of ill omen telling of the demons "swarming round the altar fires." He hastens to the rescue. In the fourth act, Shakuntala is seen wearing the signet ring of the king, which ring has the charm to restore the king's love, should it ever grow cold. Kanva returns from his pilgrimage in time to see the preparations being made for Shakuntala's departure. The old hermit submits resignedly to her going and gives his blessing to the departing one. The fifth act presents Dushyanta, like King Saul, overcome with a deep and stubborn melancholy. He is under a curse of Durvasas, and this induces complete forgetfulness of his wife Shakuntala. "Why has this strain," says the king, "thrown over me so deep a melancholy, as though I am separated from some loved one?" Here the hermit and Shakuntala, who is about to become a mother, are ushered into the presence of the king. He does not know her; denies he ever knew her. The Shakuntala is about to produce from her finger the ring which should be proof of the marriage. But, alas! she discovers it to be lost. "It must have slipped off, in the holy lake when thou wast offering sacrifices," said Gantami, who had accompanied her. The king laughs derisively. Despite her endeavors, the king fails to recollect the marriage. The sad Shakuntala buries her hands in her robes and sobs piteously. At length the ring is found by a fisherman, in the belly of a carp. It is brought to the king, who places it upon his finger, when he is overcome with a flood of recollections.

But his wife and little son have been carried away to a secret grove far away from earth in the upper air. The king, conducted in the celestial car Indra, at length joins them. There the royal pair are reconciled and reunited, and the drama comes to a close with a prayer to Siva.

Many of the Hindoo lyrics breathe of love and woman's graces, showing now a high respect for womanly charms, now indulging in humor at her frailties. "The G.o.d of Love," says the poet Bhartrihari, "sits fis.h.i.+ng on the ocean of the world, and on the end of his hook he has hung a woman. When the little human fishes come they are not on their guard, quickly he catches them and broils them in love's fire." Again, the poet sings: "She whom I love, loves another, while another is pleased with me." A song from the famous Kalidasa will ill.u.s.trate the poet's att.i.tude toward a woman of beauty.

"Thine eyes are blue like flowers; thy teeth White jessamine; thy face is very like a lotus flower, So thy body must be made of the leaves of Most delicate flowers; how comes it then That G.o.d hath given thee a heart of stone?"

It would be impracticable to trace the history of the chief women of the long line of kings in the several dynasties which successively ruled in India. In fact, it would not be possible to do so, even though there might be material important for our present purpose. It was probably in the days of the Mogul dynasty that emerged the most influential female characters in historic times. The brilliancy of the court of the Mogul kings and the prominence of some of the queens and princesses give to this period, the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries of our era, an especial fascination. Akbar, known as the Great, was a religious reformer, as well as a great sovereign. His favorite wife was a princess of a Rajput family, and to her was due no little of Akbar's success. It was through his influence that the earliest attempt was made to prohibit the _suttee_, or self-immolation of widows, a religious custom which had already begun to dot the hallowed places of the land with little white pillars that commemorated such sacrifices. One of Akbar's wives is said to have been a Christian woman. Akbar's son, Emperor Jahangir, was also wedded to a woman of great force, one who is said indeed to have been the power behind his throne. He called her Nur Mahal, or "Light of the Harem," for she was his favorite wife. It was during Jahangir's reign that the English first established themselves at Surat. Nur Mahal was a woman who knew how, like Jezebel and Lady Macbeth, to take into her own hands the reins of administration when a strong grasp became necessary.

Many of the intrigues that characterized the emperor's reign are attributed to her. Coins of the realm were stamped in her name, and at last she was buried by the side of her husband at Lah.o.r.e. During the period of the Mogul dynasty the queen lived in the midst of the greatest splendor, which, indeed, is generally more or less true of the wives of Indian kings. Jewels were theirs in extravagant abundance. Fountains played for their enjoyment. Marble baths were provided for their comfort, and numberless slaves waited on their bidding. The magnificence of the royal houses greatly impressed the Persians when they conquered the land, or they would not have said, as is ill.u.s.trated by their inscription upon one of the palaces they had taken: "If there be a paradise on earth, it is this, it is this!" Among the best specimens of architectural magnificence was that erected by Shah Jehan, son of Jahangir. It was he who built the famous Taj Mahal at Agra, his favorite residence. He also erected the costly peac.o.c.k throne at Delhi. The Taj Mahal was built as a mausoleum for the Empress Mumtazi Mahal, who died while giving birth to the Princess Jehanava. Isa Mohammed designed the building, and its erection was begun in the year 1630. After seventeen years, the employment of twenty thousand workmen, and the expenditure of millions of dollars, the Taj Mahal was finished. It is one of the most magnificent public buildings in India, and one of the most famous in the world. With its dome of two hundred and ten feet in height, its tropical garden, its mosaics and inscriptions, its marble of white, black, and yellow, its crystals, jaspers, garnets, amethysts, sapphires, and even diamonds, it is the richest and most notable tribute of marital love that has ever been erected.

Another monument built in honor of a woman is the famous tower Kootab Minar, the highest pillar in the world, being of red sandstone and two hundred and thirty-eight feet high. It is said to have been built that the king's daughter, from the vantage ground of its high turret, might look out upon the mosque which could be discerned in the distance.

Let us revert for a moment to the ancient Hindoo writings and their influence upon the history of Hindoo women. To the religious books of India woman has to-day no personal access. Her religious sacrifices and ceremonies before marriage are with reference to the procuring of a husband. After marriage she may approach the deity, but only in the name of her husband. Him she must revere almost as if he himself were a G.o.d.

She hopes that in time she herself may be born a man. Anciently there were in India virgins dedicated to the service of the temple and pledged to a life of purity, like the vestal virgins of ancient Rome. In the course of the centuries the custom was degraded; and young women in large numbers became the dancing girls at the temples, and others openly dedicated themselves to a life of shame at the shrines. They are euphemistically termed "G.o.d's slaves," but might more properly be spoken of as slaves to the b.e.s.t.i.a.l pa.s.sions of the profligate Brahmans of the temple to which they belong. Dedication of virginity to a popular deity, through his priest, became common. The young woman was said to have been married to the G.o.d, and was given over to a life of shame.

Brahmanism, which has been defined as "the religion which exalts the cow and degrades the woman," has been one of the most potent factors in shaping the life of woman in India. Among the Hindoos, woman has no independent spiritual life. Her hope is in being married to a man.

Through him must her fortune be secured, and only in obedience to him can she hope for any ultimate happiness. Woman has been regarded by the sages of India as a snare to man's rect.i.tude and an obstacle to his best interests. Buddha is said to have been seated one day in a grove near the banks of the Ganges, with many about him who had come to do him reverence. As he saw a woman, the lady Amra, circ.u.mspect and pious, approaching in the distance, Buddha said to those about him: "This woman is indeed exceedingly beautiful, able to fascinate the minds of the religious: now, then, keep your recollection straight. Let wisdom keep your mind in subjection. Better fall into the fierce tiger's mouth, or under the sharp knife of the executioner, than to dwell with a woman and excite in yourselves l.u.s.tful thoughts. A woman is anxious to exhibit her form and shape, whether walking, standing, sitting, or sleeping. Even when represented as a picture, she desires most of all to set off the blandishments of her beauty, and thus to rob men of their steadfast heart. How, then, ought you to guard yourselves? By regarding her tears and her smiles as enemies, her stooping form, her hanging arms, and all her disentangled hair, as toils designed to trap man's heart."

Caste, in India, dominates everything from the cradle to the grave, and has greatly affected the life of woman. The lines of demarcation are deep-drawn and inexorable. The social gulfs are impa.s.sable. As one has remarked, the only tie between the castes is the cow, which is revered by all. There are four castes. To quote Manu, "The Brahmana, the Kshatriya, and the Vaishya castes are the twice born ones, but the fourth, the Shudra, has one birth only; there is no fifth caste." But there are the outcasts who, because of some violation of caste rule, have lost their social status and are despised by all, even the lowest.

The highest caste, according to popular belief, descended from Brahma's mouth, this is the priestly cla.s.s. The second came from Brahma's arms, this is the warrior cla.s.s. The third from his thighs, this is the merchant cla.s.s; least of all are the Shudras people, born of Brahma's feet. The highest caste influences, in a measure, the customs of the lower castes. The women of the low caste are burdened with many outside duties, caring for their children in the intervals. They therefore enjoy no little freedom. The women of the high caste, however, are shut up in the zenanas, and so know little of the outside world.

[Ill.u.s.tration 3: _INTERIOR COURT OF A ZENANA From an Indo-Persian painting The zenanas are the apartments of the women, and are quite secluded, the windows invariably looking upon the inner quadrangle of the house. The wives are closely confined to the house. In order to enjoy a social visit, permission must be given by the husband, who is rarely willing to grant the coveted freedom. There is not much gayety about the zenanas, though sometimes there may be music, dancing, and mirth. Petty duties, trivial acts, and idleness make up "the life behind the curtain." The girls and boys are permitted to play together until the girl is about ten years old, then she must begin to keep purdah; that is, she must go behind the curtain._]

The zenanas are the apartments of the women, and are quite secluded, the windows invariably looking upon the inner quadrangle of the house.

The wives are closely confined to the house. In order to enjoy a social visit, permission must be given by the husband, who is rarely willing to grant the coveted freedom. There is not much gayety about the zenanas, though sometimes there may be music, dancing, and mirth. Petty duties, trivial acts, and idleness make up "the life behind the curtain." The girls and boys are permitted to play together until the girl is about ten years old, then she must begin to keep purdah; that is, she must go behind the curtain. She must dwell in the seclusion of the women, not allowing a man, not even her own brothers, to look upon her. The Hindoos cannot believe that a woman may be good and free at the same time; she may be good, she may be free, but both, never. The Mohammedan Hindoo women are of course influenced by the teachings of the Koran, which regards the best women as those who never see any man but their husbands and sons, the next best those that have laid eyes only upon their relatives. Very meagre is a girl's educational training. Besides the domestic duties, in which she is instructed that she may be fitted for her married life, the girl is taught a few prayers which may be of service to her in winning the favor of the deities concerned with marital relations, and some popular songs by means of which she may while away the hours. The deference which members of the female s.e.x are always expected to show to those of the male manifests itself somewhat differently in different sections of India. In the northern parts, where the women uniformly wear veils, they can more readily cover their faces at the unexpected appearance of a man, or they may run into another apartment. In southern India, where veils are not common, the women are not compelled to hide from the presence of men, but must always rise and remain standing out of deference to them. The Hindoo woman will not call her husband by name; she uses such terms as "Master, Chosen," and "Husband," and the husband, on the other hand, never alludes to his wife, nor does anyone inquire of him concerning her. The absorption of the wife's ident.i.ty into that of the husband is complete. After marriage they become one and he is the one. There is little wonder at this when Manu says: "By a girl, by a woman, or even by an aged one nothing must be done." "In childhood, a female must be subject to the father, in youth to her husband, and when her lord is dead to her sons; a woman must never be independent." And the Vedas declare that he only is a perfect man who consists of three persons united, his wife, himself, and his offspring.

The expense of a marriage ceremony is very heavy in India. It is the most expensive of all the festivities of the Hindoos. Among the higher caste the outlay is usually above two hundred dollars. This, for a country where the people are so poor, is a large outlay. Since religion makes it necessary for the girls to marry, two daughters may bankrupt a family. When it is remembered that the father must not only support his wives and children, but also his aged parents, his indigent or idle brothers and their families, the nearest widowed relations, and numerous other dependants, it may be seen that a breadwinner's life in this land of recurring famines is not always a happy one. It is not an uncommon thing in India for four generations of family life to be crowded into one house. The occasion of a marriage is, of course, one of prime interest. It is the only incident in which a woman may become the centre of an event of great religious significance. Then Vedic prayers are offered up and festivities run high. Men dancers or Nautch girls may be seen singing the amours, the quarrels and reconciliations of Krishna and his wives or his mistresses. These are not a whit elevating. The truth is India is not lacking in obscenity, not even in the frescoes of its temples. Though little be given to the Hindoo girl, much is expected of her when she becomes a wife. For, says the laws of Manu, "She must always be cheerful, clever in the management of household affairs, careful in cleaning her utensils and economical in expenditure."

The necessity of bringing forth sons and being a good loyal wife generally may be discerned in the law of Manu, which says: "A barren wife may be superseded in the eighth year; she whose children all die, in the tenth; she who brings only daughters into the world, in the eleventh; but she who is quarrelsome, without delay."

Faithfulness of a wife to her husband and her husband's interests must be unquestioned. Thus alone may a woman find her higher blessedness. "A faithful wife," says Manu, "who desires to dwell after death with her husband must never do anything that might displease him who took her hand whether he be alive or dead. By violating her duty to her husband a wife is disgraced in this world, after death she enters the womb of a jackal and is tormented by diseases, the punishment of her sin."

One of the most remarkable customs of a remarkable people is that of child marriage. Since a woman attains her blessedness, if not her spiritual ent.i.ty by union with a man, marriage should be early. It is regarded as a disgrace for a father to have an unmarried daughter upon his hands. In Oriental lands generally the marriageable age of girls is about twelve years, the period at which, in those countries, a young girl usually attains to physical womanhood. But in India even infant girls are married by their parents to other infants, or to older boys, or to men. A woman is not esteemed at all till she is married and becomes the mother of a son. Then she becomes at least worthy of a certain respect.

The history of the life of a Hindoo girl of high caste may be thus drawn. Word comes from the zenana that it is a girl. Instead of congratulations and joy at the little one's advent, the mother is reviled by an angry husband because she brings him a daughter instead of a son. In his reproaches all the household join. For has she not disgraced her husband? And is she not accursed rather than blessed of the G.o.ds? The little one is hid from the eyes of the father when he enters the zenana, lest his anger burst forth anew. Two years roll around, and the little girl hears sounds of rejoicing and of feasting in the house. A boy is born, and the father's att.i.tude is changed toward the mother, and somewhat toward the daughter; but even yet she is a negligible quant.i.ty. The mother loves and sometimes caresses the girl.

Occasionally the father, too, will notice her; and when the brother has become old enough, the two little ones may play together. In a short time, it may be between the ages of five and six, the little daughter is arrayed in silk and costly gems. The day of her wedding has come, though she herself knows little of what it all means, and timidly a.s.sents to what her father in his unquestioned authority has done. She is brought to the man whom the parent has chosen from his own caste. They look upon each other for the first time, and the little girl scarcely sees him now for her timidity. The ceremony is over, and the husband returns to his own home. For the child wife must be taught the duties of housewifery.

Her mother is diligent in imparting the required knowledge. It consists of proficiency in the arts of cooking, spinning, weaving, and waiting upon her husband, more particularly when he is eating. The fundamental duty of marital obedience is instilled with supreme care. At about eleven years the girl wife is deemed ready to a.s.sume the serious duties of wedded life. The husband comes and takes her to his own home. If his circ.u.mstances permit he is royally seated, it may be, upon a gaudily bedecked elephant, and she is conveyed in a closely covered palanquin.

The girl wife is now among strangers, she must make her way as best she can. Life is not always easy for her. The Hindoo mother-in-law at once becomes master of the new situation, and the daughter must be a willing slave. Her apartments are not over cheerful, and the other women of the zenana receive her with chilling indifference or with positive cruelty.

At twelve years of age the young wife is in all probability a mother. If the child be a son, she is emanc.i.p.ated from her thraldom to the husband's mother. She is now worthy in the sight of her husband, and if all goes well, her life is lifted to a higher plane.

Since a woman is bound to her husband as long as she lives,--even though the husband himself be dead,--remarriage for her is out of the question. Social ostracism would surely follow the woman who would dare marry again. The man, however, may marry as often as he pleases and as many wives as may be to his liking and convenience. The English government attempted the impossible by the pa.s.sage of a law--enacted in 1856--legalizing the remarriage of widows. Few, however, were able to face the social hards.h.i.+ps and loss of property which remarriage involved. The widow who refuses to marry may often hold her property, even though she live a life of shame.

Financial conditions have much to do with the number of wives which each husband acquires. The Brahmanic caste may marry almost without limit.

Indeed, it is permitted to them to make a business of marriage.

Sometimes an ill.u.s.trious Brahman may go up and down the land, marrying girls, always of course within his own caste, receiving presents from the parents of the bride,--who esteem it an honor for their daughter to be wed, especially to one so distinguished,--but pa.s.sing on and never returning to claim his wife. But the father is satisfied with the bargain, for his daughter is at last free from the disgrace and ridicule of being unmarried; and being the wife of a Brahman of a high caste, the girl will be happy in the world to come.

Since the members of the _kshatriyas_, or warrior cla.s.s, are not permitted to accept gifts as are the Brahmans, or priestly cla.s.s, the former cannot enjoy the privilege of enrichment by the process of multi-marriage. They therefore have fewer wives, the number being regulated by their power to support them. The same is also true of the number of the daughters whom they are willing should survive, infanticide being commonest among the people of this caste.

It must not be thought that every utterance of the sacred books is on the side of the woman's inferiority. A single pa.s.sage from Manu proclaims that "A daughter is the equal of a son," but the law proceeds to let it be known that it is only through the husband or the son that this equality is realized. This doctrine is true not of women only, for even a man is made perfect only through his possession of a son or sons.

"Through a son he conquers the world, through a son's son he obtains immortality, but through his son's grandson he gains the world of the sun." Indeed, "there is no place in Heaven for a man," says Vasishtha, "who is dest.i.tute of offspring."

With the exception of child marriage, there is probably no fact concerning the Hindoo woman's life that has received so much attention as the customs which bear so hard upon widowhood. Beginning with the a.s.sumption that the death of the husband was sent as a punishment for the wickedness of the wife, in some previous state of existence it may be, it is easy to conclude that the widow's life should be made as miserable as possible. She is therefore maltreated, neglected, and at times almost starved. When death takes away him in whom alone she had any reason for being respected, her head must be shaved, all jewels and wearing apparel are taken away, and instead the coa.r.s.e weeds of the widow are put on. One meal a day is permitted, and no more. Even the women themselves are most harsh in the treatment of their bereft sisters. For as soon as it is known that the husband is dead, the women rush immediately upon the bewildered, grief-stricken wife, tear her ornaments from her body, shave her hair from her head, and p.r.o.nounce the severest curses upon her whose sins in a bygone state had killed her husband. They advise her to appease the wrath of the deity by throwing herself with the husband upon the funeral pyre and thus as far as possible wipe out the awful disgrace. Formerly, many yielded to self-immolation, and immediately put an end to a life that otherwise would be a prolonged misery, or at length, driven to frenzy by their thousand deaths of torture, in some way cut short their terrible agony.

There are about one hundred and forty million women in India. At the age of fifteen, more often several years earlier, they are either wives or widows. Since child marriage is so common in India, there are many widows of very tender years. There are said to be twenty-three million widows in India; at least two million of these became widows in early childhood. Of these, eighty thousand are still under nine years of age, and six hundred thousand have not yet reached the age of twenty. The sorrows produced by religious belief concerning widowhood and by social customs cause many very young girls to end their lives by self-destruction. Pundita Ramabai, in her _High-Caste Hindu Woman_, says of the widow: "She must never take part in the family feasts; is known by the name of harlot; if she escapes from her home, no respectable person will take her in; suicide, or a life of infamy is inevitable."

Happily, the self-immolation of widows in India has now well-nigh pa.s.sed away. The English government has done much to break this awful custom, which was thought to be the only means of destroying the force of a widow's eternal misery and of bringing to her any future blessedness.

This horrible death, known as _suttee_, was made unlawful in 1830. But "cold _suttee_," as some have called the living death which widows suffer from social customs, is still maintained.

From all that has been said, it is not strange that fathers may sometimes be found who will be willing, for so many rupees, to sell their daughters to a course of infamy, or that men may sometimes lend their wives for a money consideration, or that the suicides of females have been so numerous in India.

There are above five million fewer women in India than men. This marked discrepancy may be accounted for by the infanticide which prevails in some parts and among some cla.s.ses of the Hindoos, notwithstanding all that the government can do to prevent it. Female infants are sometimes strangled, sometimes exposed to wild beasts, or generally neglected. The dark, unsanitary conditions of the women's quarters, and the extraordinarily harsh and unintelligent treatment of women at the time of childbirth, also play their part in the death rate of females.

All this is in marked contrast to the position of women in Siam. Here the seclusion of the Turkish harem and the Hindoo zenana does not exist, and the women are probably the freest, most independent of the women of the East. They openly attend to their duties, bringing their food to market, buying, selling, aiding in the management of the house and field. A man does not spend his money without consultation with the wife, should he prize the family peace: the woman usually carries the purse. Inheritance of house and lands is through the mother rather than through the father--a survival of the ancient mother-right. Women even in this comparatively favored land, however, are seldom educated, except it be in schools established by Christian foreigners. If a woman wishes to learn at all, it must be through her husband or brother at home.

Woman in Burmah also is comparatively free, neither the zenana nor the veil prevailing there. She too holds the purse strings; but in all other respects she is distinctly inferior to her husband and must constantly acknowledge it. A good wife will never say "I" in talking to her husband concerning herself, but must speak of herself as "Your servant." In the eyes of the man, the woman here is not only inferior, but vile, even to the touch. Her garments are polluting to the pa.s.ser-by; hence, she always draws them more closely about herself as she pa.s.ses a man upon the streets.

In a.s.sam also woman holds a far higher place than in other parts of India or in Burmah, even among the rude and warlike people. To the Nagas of the hill country of a.s.sam a girl is most welcome at birth and by many preferred to a boy, for she is more docile, helpful, and obedient; she is less expensive to rear and more filial in her att.i.tude to her aged parents. This last consideration is one that counts for very much in all Oriental lands. Instead of the early child marriages of India, here we find marriage at about thirteen, the bride not leaving the parental roof till three or four years after. The wife is respected and consulted, the husband often deferring to his wife. "I will come from the house and tell you," means "I will ask my wife."

At marriage an iron bracelet is placed on the wrist. This is sometimes worn with gold circlets to lessen the sense of subjection. But the iron bracelet does not thus lose its significance, for the woman has everything to remind her of her secondary place in society. Sir Monier Monier-Williams gives the following summary of woman's life in India: "In regard to women, the general feeling is that they are the necessary machines for producing children (Manu, lx: 96), and without children there could be no due performance of the funeral rites essential to the peace of a man's soul after death. This is secured by early marriage. If the law required the consent of boys and girls before the marriage ceremony they might decline to give it. Hence, girls are betrothed at three or four years of age and go through the marriage ceremony at seven to boys of whom they know nothing; and if these boy husbands die the girls remain widows all their lives."

Since the boys soon find out their superiority to their mothers, the latter have little part in shaping the characters of the children, and therefore comparatively small influence in moulding the destiny of the people. Wherever the cow is exalted and the woman degraded a nation can hope for little from its women. "We all believe," says a prominent Hindoo, "in the sanct.i.ty of the cow and in the depravity of woman."

Unwelcomed at her arrival and often hara.s.sed and kept in subjection till her death, she can contribute little to the welfare of her people. It may be said, however, that the Hindoo woman is in the main satisfied with her lot, and is the mainstay of Hindooism.