All posts tagged: Ramayana

Women And Politics In The Epics – A Conversation

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Were women empowered in ancient India? It is a big ‘Yes’! The phrase ‘women empowerment’ will transport you to a terrain of mixed views; the weight will shift more to what we perceive with our eyes and what the media infuses us with! And there is no dearth of literature in the digital world. Just a click or a touch with your fingertip and there you are, surrounded by an ocean of both positive and negative news and information. In this conversation blogger and author Manoshi Sinha interviews well known author of women centric books Kavita Kane on women and politics in Indic Epics. Women in ancient India enjoyed equal status with men. They were educated by choice. They were trained in the art of warfare by choice. The Rigveda finds mention about a warrior queen Vishpala, who was trained in the art of warfare. She lost a leg in battle; an iron leg revived her spirit and she resumed her battlefield exploits. Look at the world around you – that women is empowered is …

Sita: Nature in its Feminine Form

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I would try to understand the personality of Sita in this paper, as she lived and conducted herself in the remote past, on her own terms, by her own rules2. Sita appears in the Ramayana as the embodiment of nature: Sita is sprung from the earth and returns to the earth (most naturally, just like a plant) while a major part of her life is spent living the spontaneous life of the forest2. The symbolism of nature (prakriti) is unmistakable. I examine each of three major events in the life of Sita below and postulate how it related her to prakriti (resembling forest in symbolism). In fact, these events of Sita’s life form the central core of the Ramayana. It is notable that the central story of the Ramayana begins with Sit’s eventful appearance from earth (birth) and ends with her unusual disappearance as absorbed by the earth, although, not narrated in that order. Her life is out of the ordinary and unparalleled in comparison to a normal woman. The spontaneous nature of Sita, can …