4 November 2001, 12:46am IST
C D VERMA.
Woman in the role of wife occupies a position of pre-eminence in ancient hindu tradition. the hindus from the vedic times believed in dual worship, radha with lord krishna and sita with lord rama. in this dual worship, the names of radha and sita get precedence over the names of their companions krishna and rama. this happens to be true of goddess saraswati and her husband lord brahma. lord shiva appears united in a single body with shakti, his spouse; he at the right side and she at the left, in a manifestation known as ardhnarishwar , the half-man, half-woman incarnation of god. each of the three principal gods — brahma the creator, vishnu the protector and shiva the destroyer — in the hindu pantheon, is accompanied by a shakti, which is both his female double and his power of manifestation. the rig veda too places woman on a high pedestal of sublimity: yatr nariyastu poojayante ramante tatr devah , where woman is worshipped, gods preside there. year after year, on the day of karva chauth , women reveal their power of sacrifice. this day has been a celebration of a woman’s shakti , or her inner power and strength. even in the new millennium, when the relationship between the modern man and woman has undergone a sea change, her traditional loyalty to her husband has not waned. this is amply manifested by married women on the day of karva chauth, which falls every year on the fourth day of the auspicious kartik month. on that day she keeps a fast and observes other rituals and austerities for the long life and prosperity of her spouse. the observation of this custom is widely popular in the north of india. several interesting myths connected with karva chauth have travelled down the ages. according to one of them, suhagins or married women confront yama, the lord of the dead, for the long life of their suhags or husbands. this reveals the power of women as they are able to make even the powerful yama listen to them. the miraculous story of veeravati is well-known. she kept a fast on karva chauth but broke it unknowingly. next moment she received the news of her husband’s death. as per the advice of an elderly woman she preserved the body of her dead husband and removed a nail from his body every day. on the next karva chauth her husband came back to life and they lived happily ever after, according to the myth. according to another legend, a woman named karva was deeply devoted to her husband. one day while bathing, he was caught by a crocodile. karva came running and bound the crocodile with a cotton yarn. she then went to yama, the lord of the dead, and requested him to send the offending crocodile to hell. when yama refused, she threatened to curse him. afraid of the power of a pativrata or a faithful wife’s curse, yama readily acquiesced, and sent the crocodile to yamalok or hell, and blessed karva’s husband with long life. the myths connected with the festival of karva chauth , are a clear manifestation of woman’s shakti or her power to sacrifice to achieve a higher goal. on the occasion of karva chauth , married women adorn their hands and feet with henna, their forearms with new bangles, their hair with vermilion, the essential symbols of suhag or marriage. she becomes a bride again. for the indian women, irrespective of their region or religion, caste or social standing, henna is symbolic of marriage and happiness. it has a great sentimental and social import, signifying a happy married life and accompanying boons and benedictions. for the sake of her husband, a married woman observes all austerities, including remaining without food and water, on karva chauth to accost yama or any other adversary if he harbours any ill-will against her husband. she does her duty notwithstanding the fact that she has been dubbed the second sex, even though as shakti-incarnate, we know she is the stronger sex. often we see that the husband does not perform his duty by her. yet, unperturbed by the dowry deaths, bride burnings, rapes, eve-teasing, molestation, gender inequality and bias, she continues to follow the path of dharma and karma on the day of karva chauth. therein lies her greatness.
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