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The Image of Women in Some Ancient Indian Literary Works Teaching in Vietnam at the Present

Le Thi Bich Thuy

Institute of Culture and Development, Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, Hanoi, Vietnam

Abstract: In ancient India society, the women had little to no importance in the family and in society but were a spiritual support and foundation for hero’s strength in particular and for the community strength in general. The women were able to inspire action and hero’s aspirations with her own nobility and deep human affection. The general characteristics of the women in ancient Indian literature were their compassion and generosity, their persistence and patience spirit, their love, faithful loyalty and the desire for happiness which are considered as “the golden rule”, the typical image for Indian culture and an endless source of inspiration for Indian art and literature. The portrayal of women with the outer and inner beauty in relation to social issues (religion, caste, marriage) according to the concept of Dharma praised and respected by the Indian people.

Keywords: The image of women, Indian ancient literature, the Ramayana epic poem, the Mahabharata epic poem, the play Shakuntala, teaching in Vietnam at the present

Received March 26, 2018; Revised May 12, 2018; Accepted May 15, 2018

Citation: Le Thi Bich Thuy, The Image of Women in Some Ancient Indian Literary Works Teaching in Vietnam at the Present. American Journal of Educational Research, 6 (6). 658-663. January 2018. doi:10.12691/education-6-6-12

1. Introduction

India is one of the earliest cradles of Indian civilization; India culture is mysterious, massive, and humane. This culture is made up of three intimate and related elements: religion - philosophy - art in which religion is the source of literature. Traditional Indian literature is the expression of all Indian doctrine in the art of language with its “distinctive feature is the humanity” showed in literary works through portrayal of character which is “special means of art to reflect objective reality” [[1]; 27].

In the process of constant movement and development of world literature, the Indian literature has a long tradition history of thousands of years with special achievements, becoming the common spiritual heritage of mankind. Early on, Indian culture and literature had a great influence on the literature of many countries in the world, of which Southeast Asia was deeply affected the most. In Vietnam, Indian literature has been introduced, researched and taught since the 1970s in universities, colleges, and in high schools such as myths, epics, fairytales, verse dramas, poems and short stories by Rabindranath Tagore, etc. In ancient Indian literature, some typical works were introduced such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata, the play Shakuntala, etc. Many Vietnamese researchers are interested in Ancient Indian literature and study them in various fields such as: history, society, religion, philosophy, aesthetics, literature, etc. Through research achievements, most of the researches have showed great appreciation of these works’ contribution on both content and art, especially its influence on cultural life, literature of India and other countries in the world.

In A Study on Southeast Asian Literature, Duc Ninh wrote that, from the ancient times, Southeast Asian peoples have creatively embraced the Indian core values of theme, art styles and mixing with existing national culture to create massive sculptures, architectural works and folk-themed literature with stories from the great literary works of India: “Indian literary works when entering Southeast Asia had encountered a very lively folk life in Southeast Asia, so they are popularized and “reborn” in the folk, enriching the folk literature of this region” [[2]; 33-34]. The study on Ramayana and Mahabharata, in addition to the heroes, also refers to the image of women which is considered as one of the typical figures to reflect the cultural and social life as well as the character and soul of the Indian people. Le Xuan Khoa in his An Introduction to Indian Philosophy had put Indian philosophical ideas into his work through two great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata with high level of generalization. When studying these two epics, the author had found in them transcendent and deep Indian philosophical thoughts. Ramayana and Mahabharata particularly praise an ideal morality based on duty and honor. The good actions of the main characters are done at absolute level. According to the author, the ideal nature of the characters and their lively inner struggle in the epics had created the artistic and ethical values that made Ramayana’s eternal vitality. In addition, the author commented on Sita as a demonstration of the practice of moral duty, which is the pattern of ancient Indian women [[3]; 155-157]; Author Cao Huy Dinh in Study on Indian Mythology commented on the hero’s moral qualities in relation to other characters in the epic and “this is in line with the ethical requirements of the ancient Indian people” [[4]; 143]; Nhat Chieu in Oriental Literature Story also paid special attention to the art of Ramayana. When commenting on the characters in the work, the author asserted “Ramayana is a work of genius, filled with the beauty of the woman” [[5]; 125] and the beauty of nature appears at every places has contributed to the artistic value of the work “like a ripe fruit under the Indian sky, always pervades the scent of mystery” [[5]; 125]; In the introduction to the Indian Folktales, Nguyen Tan Dac mentioned the characters in Ramayana and emphasized the ideal qualities of the characters. According to him, from a real person in history, Rama who was a prince of the ancient kingdom of Ayodhya has become a national hero, a deity and characters in the epic always act according to Dharma ethics [[6]; 13]; In the An Introduction to Ramayana, researcher Phan Ngoc made some specific remarks on the plot of Ramayana “extremely simple but each part of it can be opened to infinity. Although the plot speaks of ancient times, heroes, deities and monsters, its essence is the unchanged relationship between people, regardless of time and place” [[7]; 6]; In the textbook General Oriental Culture, the authors affirmed that Ramayana had built holy figures, completed and perfected that became the golden rule for ideal of life. Thus, the characters in the epic have noble educational value for all castes in ancient Indian society. The world of characters in Ramayana revolves around the trio of central characters who are the hero Rama, the beautiful Xita and the evil demon Ravana. Thus, the authors affirmed that the conflict between these characters and Rama’s victory over Ravana on the island of Lanka was “the war of human salvation”, the victory fairness and justice over violence and arbitrary and also a “typical for the heroic theme of destroying the evil to protect the good” [[8]; 167]; Do Thu Ha in The Problem of Localizing the Indian Epic Ramayana in Some Southeast Asian Nations commented when introducing Ramayana’s influence to Southeast Asian countries: “The structure of Ramayana also influences its popularity in the world... Ramayana revolves around the story’s plot of the three main characters who are the hero – the beauty – the demon. This structure is very popular in the folktales of all the nations in the world” [[9]; 76]; In India through the ages, researcher Nguyen Thua Hy mentioned in the typical features of Ramayana’s main characters and asserted that these are the classic patterns of ancient India. In which, the author considered the status of ancient Indian women and the character Xita with beauty, loyalty, virtue, submissiveness, patience is typical model of ancient Indian women [[10]; 31-32]; In An Indian Epic, Mahabharata, Phan Thu Hien asserted the role of mothers and wives with good advices that affect the war process for the heroes on battle in Mahabharata [11]; Nguyen Thi Mai Lien in The Art of Developing Characters in Ramayana found that the epic has placed the hero in double conflicts, in relation to other characters, in challenging situations to affirm the hero’s ideal qualities are the soul symbol of the Indian who are “gentle, compassionate, benevolent and merciful” [12]; In Indian Literature, Luu Duc Trung had systematically studied Indian literature throughout its formation and development. When introducing the characteristics of the Indian epics, Luu Duc Trung emphasized the diversity of characters system in the epics by analyzing in detail the three main characters in the epic and asserting that these characters “expressing the aspirations of the contemporary people” [[13]; 111]. At the same time, the author analyzes the typical character traits of the main characters in the work, such as Prince Rama, Princess Xita, and stated: “If Rama was the ideal hero, the wise prince playing a significant role in Ramayana, Xita was a typical ancient Indian woman, a faithful and virtuous wife, a modest, gentle girl. The greatness of this portrayal is expressed in her selfless love, giving Rama a faithful love, in spite of all the dangers, even sacrificing her life” [[13]; 113].

In Indian literature, the poet Kalidasa is considered to be the bright star in the sky, the “first masterpiece” and his verse drama Shakuntala is the pinnacle of the classical stage art, the deep echo between his noble humanistic ideals with the aspirations of the Indian peoples. Kalidasa and his writings have had a great influence on Indian and world literature, and have been studied in various perspectives. In Vietnam, there are many papers about Kalidasa’s biography, life and his Shakuntala. In Shakuntala by Kalidasa, Cao Huy Dinh introduced the legend of Kalidasa’s life, and works who is considered as “the king of poetry, the great poet of love” and confirmed Shakuntala “is considered the first masterpiece of Indian literature. Influences of Shakuntala on Indian and world literature are enormous” [[14]; 17]. Researcher Nguyen Duc Dan in his study on Indian culture in general [15] and Kalidasa’s influence on classical Indian literature in particular also asserted Kalidasa’s artistic ideas and his works “representing the perfection of the Sanskrit style” [[16]; 26]. In A Study on Indian Culture, Nguyen Thua Hy also gave some pages introducing Kalidasa [17]. In the textbook Indian Literature, Luu Duc Trung devoted a chapter to introduce Kalidasa, his verse drama Shakuntala, and affirmed the important role of Kalidasa and Shakuntala in the classical literature of India. “Kalidasa deserves to be the beautiful flower of mankind, the great pride of Indian and Asian peoples. His work Shakuntala is also considered the “first masterpiece” of Indian literature” [[13]; 101].

In ancient Indian literary works, in addition to describing fierce wars, praising the might of the hero, the author also simultaneously constructed the hero’s relationship with the women. Women could become the cause of wars in epics but also could become symbols of peace and happiness. But the commonality in most of the female characters in the works is the benevolence and mercifulness, the persistence and patience, the desire for happy love. Although women in this age do not play an important role, are not respected in the family and in society, they also a spiritual support and foundation for hero’s strength in particular and community strength in general. The women were able to inspire action and hero’s aspirations with her own nobility and deep human affection. In this article, we shall focus on the portrayal of a woman in ancient Indian literary works with a beauty that became the “golden rule” reflected in some of the works selected for teaching at schools at various educational levels in Vietnam at the present. They are Ramayana epic poem, Mahabharata epic poem, and the play Shakuntala.

2. Content

In traditional Indian literature, after the Myths period is the Epic period. “It is rare to see such a place in the world with rich and diverse epics as in India” [[11]; 3]. Like a vivid picture, the Indian epics reflected in a clear and profound way the life and thought of people through the armed conflicts between kingdoms, between races of India. At the same time, it is also the songs that celebrate the glorious victories, praise the moral ideals of the heroes that the people of India aspire and worship. The Dharma teachings of Hinduism have become the moral norm and standard of society for the vast majority of Indians, represented by two great epics of India: Mahabharata and Ramayana. Both these epics are holy to the people of India. Mahabharata consists of 220,000 verses, and Ramayana has about 50,000 verses. Mahabharata is called the actual history (Itihasa) and the Ramayana is called the court epic (Kavya). Researcher Phan Thu Hien in the An Indian Epic, Mahabharata, specifically divides the formation and completion of some typical India’s epics “so that we can have a better view of the rich and diverse treasure of India epics” [[11]; 11]. These two epics are considered divine pride, permeated with Dharma teachings, reflecting the thoughts, wills, feelings and characteristics of the Indian people. In which, the ancient Indian conception of an ideal woman is exemplary person in form, appearance, quality, personality, virtue and it is a woman of all good.

The epic Ramayana told the love between Prince Rama and Princess Xita as well as Rama’s glorious feat of arms. With its content devoted to human love and the love for nature, Ramayana became a poem praising the Dharma teachings, which are the commandments on moral duties of the ideal woman in ancient Indian society. In Ramayana, although the woman is in support role, they help highlight the good qualities, and talents of the hero. In the meeting with Queen Koxalya, Rama informed his mother Koxalya that he had been exiled and then he had come to bid farewell before going into exile in the forest. It was too much for Queen Koxalya to handle the news and she “fell on the floor all at once like the branch of a tree, cut down by an axe” [[18]; 130]. The queen wept bitterly for Koxalya lies and his negligence to her. The queen fiercely tried to stop Rama from living a hard life of exile in the forest by asking to go with him, but even that could not stop Rama. She once again rather gave up her life to hold Rama’s footsteps. The more intense the love of the Queen Koxalya was, the more she tried to stop her beloved son from going into a remote and dangerous place and suffering. Unable to stop him, she decided to accompany Rama into the forest. She choked back tears and said “I shall follow you wherever you go, my son, like a cow following her calf” [[18]; 138]. Although she tried every things, even gave up her own life but could not hold her son’s footsteps. He calmly consoled his mother and reminded her of the responsibility, duties of a woman, of a wife: “Your duty is to care for the aged king. A woman, however much she may resort to strict religious observances and fasting, will only attain only sin, if she does not get along with her husband and does not serve him. A woman, though not worshipping gods, attains Heaven, by serving her husband alone” [[18]; 139]. Motherhood and all personal feelings could not tie Rama’s footsteps. The more personal affection held down Rama’s footsteps, the more determined he was to obey his father’s command and the more Rama’s loyalty to his duty and honor was highlighted.

Xita appeared next to the hero Rama, sharing with him all the misfortunes of life with a selfless and loyal spirit, Xita complement and perfect the theme of the work. Princess Xita is developed next to Rama’s character on the principles of parallelism. The shortcoming, imperfection of the character is the base, the condition for other character to express his qualities and ideal. Xita is worshiped as a heroine in the heart of the Indian people. Like Rama, Xita had a divine origin but acted just as a mortal. She is the embodiment of the ancient Indian woman model “for her Rama destroys not only the world but also the universe so nothing is impossible” [[19]; 160]. In the view of the ancient Indians, the ideal woman must be an exemplary person in form, appearance, quality, personality, virtue. The beauty of Xita in Ramayana is meticulously described, especially through the words of other characters in the epic. First of all, xita has a holy beauty: “Her face resembled the full moon, her lips were red like Bimba fruit, her teeth were clean and shining, her eyes like lotus petals”. And even the devil Ravana was spellbound, captivated and speechless for a long time before being able to utter the words of praising Xita’s delicate beauty: “It seems as if the Creator of Beauty stops once creating you” [[19]; 166].

The woman with perfect and flawless beauty is not only beautiful in appearance, but also beautiful inside with virtuous personalities, a thing that the ancient Indians valued in women. The ideal nature of Xita in Ramayana is also crystallized in a pure, loyal love, courage, selfless spirit. These beauties of Sita are revealed through a series of challenging situations. Xita was flying in the joy of seeing Rama as crown prince, but when she received the news of Rama’s exile, she also acted calmly like her husband. Xita is well aware of a wife’s obligations and she tried to persuade Rama to let her go with him to the forest. Although Rama stated all kinds of reasons, showed Sita all the difficulties, deprivation and dangers always lie in wait so that she would stay. But it seems that all those difficulties and dangers did not scare Xita away from going to the forest with Rama. Sita denied all of it with good reason and adduced the teachings of a wife’s obligations to her husband by her gentle but determined words: “I will not leave you and you also can not stop me in any way” [[18]; 145]. She was willing to give up her own life to convince Rama to let her be with him. With intense love and determination, Xita made Rama unable to refuse. Although descent from divine origin, having used with a comfortable life, Xita happily lived an exile life with her husband without a word of resentment. Her actions highlighted even more her determination to accept all the hardships ahead to fulfill her duty and obligations, keep her promise to Rama’s parents. When living with Rama in the majestic Dandaka forest, besides sharing the shortcomings, hardships, Xita always listens and advises Rama to act in accordance with the ideal of Brahmin caste.

In addition, Xita was also a brave and smart woman who has the courage to fight for her love and happiness. The Indians find the great beauty and ideal model of an Indian woman through Xita. It is the great mercifulness and compassion. In the challenging situation at the end of the work, when being doubted and accused by Rama, Xita’s patience is highly expressed. Xita used reasons, evidences to prove her innocent love, to refute Rama’s accusation. In order to prove her chastity, Xita could even give up her life. She casually walked into the fire without fear as she prayed to Agni, the God of Fire: “If I am faithful to Rama, please the God protect me. Rama accuses an innocent woman as a deceiver; But if I am of pure heart and body, please bless me, God Agni” [[20]; 239-240]. The Dharma teachings of ancient Indians believe that the fire can cleanse the impure, corruption, proving the purity of women. For a married woman, except her husband, the touch of the opposite sex is a taboo and humiliated. Agni, the god of fire understood her innocent and loyal heart, so he did not burn her, but also made her even more beautiful. Xita’s loyalty and virtue are also reflected in the words of other characters. It is no coincidence that even in the cries for her husband – the devil Ravana – of Queen Mandodari also praised Xita. And Hanuman also gave Xita respectful words and affirmed Sita’s good qualities was the support for Rama’s victories: “My lady, I would like to send you the good news that Rama wins the battle again. And it is simply because of you” [[20]; 232].

Mahabharata is a rich and vivid picture of the ancient Indian social life, considered to be the “encyclopedia” and imbued with the great humanities. Mahabharata narrates the hostility that led to the bloody internecine war between two brothers of the great Bharata lineage. Mahabharata is a story of battles, which is evocative of tribal wars, period of fallen bloodline and the formation of the Indian small kingdoms. Mahabharata praises the omnipotence of the Dharma teachings and contributes to highlight the image of the woman with the “golden rule” of Dharma moral teachings.

In Mahabharata, the women, though not directly went into the battlefield, they had a great importance, and even in many cases, were more dominant than male heroes, helped to control the course of war. The women in Mahabharata always gave advices to the heroes and in turn, the heroes always listened, understood the deepest, most basic aspirations of life. The character of Draupadi was a beautiful woman who made heroes everywhere come to attend the archery test to have her hand in marriage. Although her beauty was not described in detail, the beauty of the Princess of Panchala was reflected in people’s words of admiration: “She looked so radiant and beautiful, … she bring the gentleness and grace everywhere she goes...” and they “looked at her admiringly and speechlessly” [[21]; 107-108]. As the wife of the five Pandava brothers, she was reassured with her duty by the oath “share the alms equally” of the five Pandava brothers to Mother Kunti. Despite being a princess, Draupadi voluntarily followed her five husbands to live 12 years in exile in the forest. Overcoming all difficulties and challenges, the virtue of Draupadi remained intact and she carried out the teachings of Dharma on the moral obligation of women.

The image of the two great mothers who are mother Kunti – the mother of five Pandava brothers and mother Gandhari - mother of 100 Kaurava brothers, all of Bharata lineage, are beautiful women with “well-known beauty and virtue” [[22]; 72]. Even with their slim body, they are capable of provoking the heroes’ action and aspirations by their own nobility and deep human affection. They are the consolation, the strong spiritual support for their children and always fulfill their duty of motherhood. They gave advices and admonish their children to fulfil the duty of the Kshatriya – warrior caste, of the hero according to Dharma teachings. Mothers Kunti and Gandhari are seen as the perfect example of women devoted whole-heartedly to their children; always fulfill their duty and obligations of motherhood according to Dharma teachings.

In Shakuntala, the poet Kalidasa had used his pen to sing the praises of the pure, truthful love, the innocent soul and the legitimate aspirations of human in the life that is love and criticized the teachings that stifle the fluttering heart of human. In his work, Kalidasa let his characters act and express their personalities in these relationships to talk about the issues of love and caste. This has made the success of the play Shakuntala, and has raised the thought of Kalidasa over his contemporaries and authors of later centuries.

Shakuntala, is the main character in Kalidasa’s play of the same name. In the romantic scenery of nature with many colors, sounds, she appeared as a symbol of beauty “like a beautiful bud among withered leaves” and the pure, faithful love with a holy soul. She was the daughter of the sage Vishwamitra and the apsara Menaka. Her birth was the proof for love shall triumph over asceticism. But the heavenly law and code of ethical behavior had taken her mother away to the heaven and left her on earth and later the sage Kanva took her under his wing and raised her in the hermitage. Shakuntala, grew up in the hermitage surrounding with old hermits practicing asceticism, but her soul was always full of life and desire for love. Because of her ravishing beauty, the sage’s dress of bark could not confine her breezy beauty as “beautiful flower buds lied secretly in the flower calix, not wanting to bloom with full beauty”. Kalidasa used the beauty of nature to compare with the beauty of human, to be the background for the girl’s beauty. Her beauty also made her friend Priyamvada exclaim: “When I see you there, it looks as if a vine were clinging to the mango-tree” [[14]; 143]. Shakuntala’s pure, luxurious beauty made the king Dushyanta who just passing by her father’s ashram and taking a glimpse of her fall in love at the first sight. Her beauty was as a perfect picture that God put a lot of effort into creating and Dusanta considered her as “the loveliest treasure in the world”, a fragrant flower with its “scent never fades”, like drops of water “transparent like sparkling river” [14].

Shakuntala not only looked beautiful but also had a pure soul, good hearted and great love for people and nature. She always cared for people like her loved ones, dedicated to taking care of birds and plants around her. When meeting the king Dushyanta in the hermitage, she was touched and fluttered from the start because he was a devout king but also a beautiful young man having a love for life. Her gentle gestures, sulky words showed that she passionately fell in love and ignored the rigorous rules of ethical behaviors and caste to follow the call of love. Devoting all love to her lover, she forgot all the vows before the gods and the ascetic days. The nature and human was sympathized with the feelings, supported for love wining over asceticism. “This innocent love is cherished by the nature, protected by the heart of human, warms the chilly, murky air in the hermitage” [14].

Because Shakuntala lost in the love with, Dusanta she forgot the obligation of the sage’s daughter to greet Durvasa properly when he visited the ashram, which caused him to be angry when Shakuntala did not welcome him. The warm, sincere love and longing for Dusanta filled her heart, which made her forget about her obligations, thus, she was cursed to be forsaken by her lover in her resentment and bitterness if not having the token. Therefore, when the couple bided farewell to each other, the king returned to the palace and she returned to her ashram with his promise of taking her into the palace somedays. However, after a while not seeing the king returned to take Shakuntala into the palace, Kanva also feared of the social prejudice that did not allow a married woman live in her parents’ home, so he sent Shakuntala to the imperial city to meet the king. Although he did love her and take care of her as a daughter, he still believed in and acted according to the code of behavior, the dogma existing for a thousand years that a married woman was a member of the husband’s family and had to live in the husband’s house, followed the husband and husband’s family. But on the way across the Ganges River, she accidentally dropped the token which was the king’s ring giving on the date of parting, which made the curse come true and the king completely forgot Shakuntala. The fact of losing the ring – the token is mainly to challenge and heighten the woman’s innocent, truthful love.

When Shakuntala was forsaken and not accepted by the king, she did not accept that fate but expressed her displeasure even though it was just only for a moment. She bravely stood up to expose the falsehood to protect her virtues when the king insisted on not accepting her and said that her words are lies: "Wretch! You judge all this by your own false heart. Would any other man do what you have done? To hide behind virtue, like a yawning well covered over with grass!” [[14]; 115-116]. These words had increased the accusation of the teachings of the caste system that bound the life of women in suffering and misery. And no matter how fierce it was, she still returned to be a woman submitting to the teachings and she believed that it was an unchangeable fate that had to accept the karma because of her bad deeds in the past [14]. Even if the monks struggled fiercely to help her reclaim justice, they still eventually left, and caused her to be in despair because of their deeply-rooted divine and religious believes. It is clear that the teachings of Brahmin lured people to sleep and bound human in the lofty and sacred moral obligations that they have to inherit and accept whether willing or not.

The rule of marriage, like the evil rope bounding the Indian women from many generations, Shakuntala is the typical portrayal of woman in Indian literature when she dared to stand up and fought fiercely to protect her love and her honor. But just when the new fire flared wildly, it was soon extinguished by the power of ethical behavior, which scared her and made her afraid to run back to her family. Overcoming many difficulties and challenges, Shakuntala had contributed to highlight the image of the woman in ancient society with inner and outer beauty, the loyalty, tolerance and endurance to fulfill the obligations of a wife, of a mother without complaining. Caste rules with the Dharma teachings on a woman’s moral obligations of obeying and following her husband, and even if the husband is treachery or abandons the wife, they are not allow to return to their parents’ home, these forced Shakuntala submissive to religion no matter how strong she was.

The ring Dusanta gave to Shakuntala was not only the token but also the challenges to heighten the loyalty of the woman. When the ring fell on the Ganges River, the curse came true and made the king forget about Shakuntala and next was a series of events that challenged her loyalty and her practice of Dharma obligations on the virtue of the woman. Shakuntala, despite her anger, and protest, they were only a weak and resigned resistance, and basically she were just like many other women in ancient India. It is the acceptance when asking for the gods to take her to the eternity. And when the king found the ring through a fisherman, the curse was lifted, but he could not see his lover, which made the king feel longing, languishing and suffering. Admiring and giving reward for the king’s merit of putting down revolts, the gods helped Dusanta meet Shakuntala in heaven. In the middle of beautiful paradise garden, Shakuntala still “dressed carelessly as a widow” and “kept the vow”. She did not utter a single harsh word but was still in love, selfless as seven years away with those suffering did not happen and it was just like yesterday “now is the lotus blooming season, my dearest, please take me” [14].

3. Conclusion

In ancient India literature, the portrayal of a woman with beauties in form and respectfully inner qualities such as virtue, great love for man and the nature, loyalty, endurance had become the “golden rule” of moral duty of ancient Indian women. The characters named Koxalya, Xita, Kunti, Gandhari, Draupadi, Shakuntala are vividly and prominently portrayed with all the typical personalities and mindset in relation to social issues such as on religion, caste, marriage and particularly, the Dharma teachings. With all that good qualities, these women deserve to be regarded as the model of ancient Indian women, deserve to be the typical image for Indian culture, “through the ages, despite self-consciously or not, the women always contribute to preserving, reconciling and revitalizing the traditions and culture of the country” [[22]; 205].

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