AN INSECURE SOCIETY ALWAYS TURNS PATRIARCHAL

In this society, women become objects that need to be guarded. Their sexuality becomes a commodity. The male ego is tied to the female honour, as defined by men

- Anand Neelakantan

ANCIENT Indian thought has a unique concept of Ardhanarishwara — imagining the divinity as half-man and half-woman. The legend behind this androgynous deity is enchanting.

Though there are many stories of how this divinity came into being, the folk Shakteya versions of the same make it pertinent to our ages. Sati, an avatar of Adiparashakti, marries Shiva, against the wishes of her father, Daksha. The fathers of that era did not differ from our times who think their daughters have no right to choose their partners.

Daksha starts a sacrifice in which he invited everyone except his son-in-law. Sati wants to attend the ritual. She runs into the ego of her husband, who does not want her to go where he is not required. Sati asserts herself and leaves to her father’s home. Daksha refuses to let her in.

Sati returns to Shiva, but he declines to let her back in his life, as she had defied his wishes. He claims the wife must obey the wishes of her husband, and Sati says there is no question of one playing a subordinate role. Marriage is about the reciprocal respect.

Shiva is indignant at this assertion of his wife. Sati immolates herself. Shiva blames Daksha for the death of his wife and attacks Daksha’s palace. He beheads Daksha, picks up the charred body of Sati and dances in a fury. The death dance brings destruction to the universe. Without Shakti, Shiva is nothing but a destructive force. Life disappears. Darkness sets in the world, and the eternal winter begins. Sati’s sacrifice shatters the arrogance of the man that woman is not his equal.