In ancient society, men and women had equal rights. Later, when some distinguished women such as Gargii, Maetreyii and others excelled their male counterparts in intellect, learning, humanity and power of contemplation, a group of male conspirators started curtailing their rights one after another in order to engender an inferiority complex in their minds. In the varńáshrama [caste] system, women and Shúdras as groups were segregated. That was a dark chapter in human history indeed. Human beings conspired against their fellow humans to deprive them of their legitimate human rights. It can be said that the seeds of exploitation, imperialism and colonialism were sown at that time.
Long before that, weaving was done mostly by women because the capacity to care for minute detail which is so essential for handiwork is found more in women than men. Even today weaving is done by women in many parts of the world. Obviously, when women became segregated, then weaving, too, as a hobby or profession came to be considered inferior. All this happened due to the conspiracies of a few men. Usually people indulge in such acts to revenge themselves on others.
This phrase, “revenge oneself”, reminds me of a story – the story of how King Ballal Sen revenged himself on the Suvarna Vanik [merchants] of Bengal.
The royal treasury of Bengal was controlled by a handful wealthy merchants. Their principal centre was Suvarnagram. King Ballal Sen was given to much pomp and luxury and was a man of lecherous nature. His son, Laksman Sen, was extremely unhappy with his father. King Ballal Sen often demanded more and more funds from the treasury. Since it was the king’s order, the merchants could not object. But later, when the economy was being terribly affected and still the king did not keep his promises to return the funds, they spoke to Prince Laksman Sen. Through him they conveyed to the king that if he continued to draw funds from the royal treasury, the country’s economy would meet with disaster. King Ballal Sen was enraged by the merchants’ wise advice. He vindictively retaliated and declared the whole community of Suvarna Vaniks – well-educated, intelligent and talented men – as outcastes. Thus he revenged himself against them.
In the same way, a section of selfish men curtailed women’s rights and hatched a conspiracy against women and Shúdras to keep them downtrodden and under their feet forever. [17 November 1985, Calcutta, Published in: The Awakening of Women (a compilation)]
Posted by proutist-universal on February 27, 2007 9:31 PM
|
"In economic life there is extreme inequality and exploitation. Although colonialism no longer exists openly in the political and economic sphere, still it persists indirectly, and this should not be tolerated... In this respect you should remember that in economic life, we will have to guarantee the minimum requirements of life to one and all... There cannot be any sort of adjustment as far as this point is concerned. The minimum purchasing requirement must be guaranteed to all. Today these fundamental essentialities are not being guaranteed. Rather, people are being guided by deceptive economic ideas like outdated Marxism, which has proven ineffective in practical life and has not been successfully implemented in any corner of the world. Why do people still believe in such a theory, which has never been proved successful? The time has come for people to make a proper assessment of whether they are being misguided or not." |
|
"Human beings have still not been able to form a human society, and have still not learned to move with the spirit of a pilgrim. Although many small groups, motivated by self-interest, work together in particular situations, not even a small fraction of their work is done with a broader social motive. By strict definition, shall we have to declare that each small family unit is a society in itself? If going ahead in mutual adjustment only out of narrow self-interest or momentary self-seeking is called society, then in such a society, no provision can be made for the disabled, the diseased or the helpless, because in most cases nobody can benefit from them in any way... in that case there always remains the possibility of some people getting isolated from the collective. All human beings must attach themselves to others by the common bond of love and march forward hand in hand; then only will I proclaim it a society." |