Women Bhaktas | Rebels or Conformists

The period from the seventh century onwards witnessed the growth of numerous devotional
movements, which, beginning in South India, began to spread into Maharashtra in the west and
Bengal and Orissa in the east, acquiring a regional character. These movements are subsumed
into the larger rubric of Bhakti for they all deviated from Puranic and Brahmanical religion to
some extent and acquired a popular, regional following. The Bhakti movements may be seen, as
A.K. Ramanujan argues, as constituting a counter system, opposed to traditional norms and
subverting them. In particular, they helped to create a certain space for women in spirituality,
loosening the shackles of patriarchy.

Given a patriarchal social set-up which denied freedom to women, spirituality provided the only
means of self-expression. Women saints ranged from the conformists who were either the
wives, daughters, or sisters of male saints and the rebels who broke every social norm including
the discarding of clothes. Also important to note were the saints who looked upon themselves
as brides of the Lord. The compositions of rebel saints use mystic imagery and reflect their
social alienation. It is interesting that not only the conformists but also the rebels have found
acceptance in the modern Hindu pant. In this answer, we will seek to examine the tenets of
bhakti among women and especially, in relation to the conformists’ vis-à-vis the rebels.

Female Spirituality in the midst of patriarchy

Among the marginalised social categories women suffered a dual deprivation: first, the
Brahmanical injunctions regarding the unsuitability of the spiritual path for women and second,
the social ostracism of deviant spiritual women in a gender oppressive patriarchal situation. In
the quest for salvation, the overall deviant behaviour on the part of a low-caste male can still be
acceptable within the patriarchal framework; and at least his wife and the women of his
household will accept his claims to spiritual apprenticeship. In a similar situation a woman who,
like a low-caste male, defies the Brahmanical taboo on female spirituality will find herself
confronted with the solid wall of male antagonism, whether in the form of her husband, father
or brother. The contestation of female spirituality was bound to be even sharper in the case of
the husband whose superiority vis-a-vis his wife is assured within the patriarchal society. Hence,
spiritually-inclined women would have to opt out of a society dominated by Brahmanical norms
as well as out of marriage, since marriage again would be conditioned by patriarchy.

Spirituality provided Indian women with that freedom which orthodox Hindu society denied to
them. The emergence of women saints took place in the context of the bhakti or devotional
movements which characterized the medieval age in India.

Women saints of north & south India

The life and works of the women saints is shrouded in mystery unlike that of the men saints.
This was partly due to the fact that none of them established a guruparamparã or monastic
tradition with disciples who might have preserved the sayings or compositions of the saints.
Very few of the north Indian women saints really gained any recognition of their spiritual
greatness during their life time. They were usually scorned by their contemporaries as "mad"
and "shameless." Lalla was called "mats" or mad and Meera referred to herself as diwãni, one
who is not in her senses. The one exception seems to have been Venãbãi, the disciple of
Samartha Rãmadãsa (17th century) who became the head of the math at Miraj.

This is, however, not true of southern India where the women saints including Akka Mahãdêvi
or the naked saint, and Kãraikkãl Ammaiyãr, called pëyar or demoness, were greatly revered by
their followers as well as peers. Akka Mahãdêvi was in fact a leading member of the Vïrasaivite
council of saints.

Social Background

An analysis of the social background of these saints indicated that since quite a few of them
came from the priestly class they seem to have had access to religious or spiritual knowledge.
This is true of Lalla and Rüpa Bhavãni of Kashmir; Muktãbãi, Bahinãbãi, and Mahadamba (the
earliest poetess in Marathi literature who lived in the 13th century) of Maharashtra; and among
the South Indian saints Ãndãl, the only woman Alwar. Even though these women were excluded
from the gurukula system, their family background enabled them to gain access to a certain
amount of sästraic or scriptural knowledge. At the other end were the low caste women saints.
These women, though excluded from scriptural knowledge, could and did have access to
knowledge which was based on folk tradition.

In a family though, both brother and sister may have taken to spirituality, but there is a distinct
difference in the paths taken by men and women. This is because Hindu scriptures themselves
provide the path of renunciation for men in the final ãsrama or stage prescribed – sanyasa. It
was, however, only the upper castes who were qualified to adopt this course. This spiritual path
was closed to men of lower castes as well as women. Therefore, while Jnãneswar or Appar
would have social sanction for their renunciation, female asceticism was, prima facie, a flouting
of existing social conventions.

Negotiating Marriage

The relatively large number of unmarried Virasaiva women saints indicates a fundamental
conflict between the spiritual path and the household with its constraints of patriarchy. Uma
Chakravarty observes that this is not a conflict which existed for male bhaktas, best exemplified
by the life of Tiruvalluvar. For a woman bhakta or bhaktin however, an escape from marriage
was often imperative.

The first basic difference between men and women bhaktas is that it was possible for a man to
pursue his chosen path while still being a householder. Bhaktins wrote of the obstacles of home,
family tensions, the absent husband, meaningless household chores, and restrictions of married
life, including their status as married women. In many cases, they rejected traditional women’s
roles and societal norms by leaving husbands and homes altogether, choosing to become
wandering bhaktas; in some instances they formed communities with other poet-saints. The
sacrifices made by women bhaktas included not only the giving up of marriage, but also wealth
and status. For example, Mira wore the tabooed ghunghroos and danced in public, Mahadevi
Akka and Lal Ded discarded clothing altogether.

Another example is that of Avvaiyar who escapes the conflict between devotion towards god
and devotion towards the husband by transforming herself into an old woman. In the case of
Karaikkal Ammaiyar, she is able to pursue a spiritual path only after her husband leaves her. Lal
Ded, Mira and Mahadevi Akka all have to contend with marriage and a mortal husband. All
three refuse to consummate their marriage, holding themselves to be the betrothed of the Lord
and spurning their mortal husbands. They walk out of their marriages and their homes and take
to wandering and preaching. The escape from and rejection of marriage and the patriarchal
relations of the household is a recurrent theme in the lives of these saints.

Forms of Expression

The form of worship adopted by these women saints varies from one individual to another. The
manner in which this worship is conceptualized is also different from one case to another. In
analyzing the space afforded to women in the Bhakti traditions, Uma Chakravarty advocates a
focus on three aspects of the lives of these saints: their relationship with God, with their body
and with other men and women. Certain trends may be observed in the forms of worship
adopted by the bhaktins.

Bridal Mysticism
Bridal mysticism or the conceptualization of the bhakta as the bride of the Lord is a recurrent
trend in the devotion of many female bhaktas. The god is addressed by the bhaktin as her lover
or husband. While the earliest instance of this is Andal, the most celebrated of the mystic brides
is of course Mirabai. Mira, in the face of considerable patriarchal opposition given her Rajput
background, refuses to acknowledge her husband and describes herself as a woman already
married to Krishna. She refuses to consummate her marriage, leaves her home and ultimately
achieves union with her ‘true husband’ and Lord by being absorbed by an image of Krishna at
Dwarka. This is similar to the case of Andal who fuses with the idol Sri Ranganatha. Other than
these two instances, there exist other women bhaktas such as Ayidakki Lakhamma and Satyakka
who visualize Siva as their groom and address him as their husband.

Sexuality
The bhakti of most of the women bhaktas and particularly that of the mystic brides contains a
powerful sexual element---sexual union is frequently used as a metaphor for achieving unity
with the Absolute. For Andal and Mahadevi Akka, the body becomes the instrument through
which their devotion is expressed. While Andal adopts the metaphor of bridal mysticism, for
Mahadevi Akka the body is the focus of her adulterous relationship with Siva.

However, other saints such as Karaikkal Ammaiyar and Avvaiyar reject their sexuality by
transforming their bodies into that of a demoness and that of an old woman respectively. In
doing this they become inviolate and transcend the body.

Nudity
In the case of Mahadevi Akka and Lal Ded, the rejection of the natural world is expressed in the
discarding of clothes. This may be interpreted as being symbolic of a new ‘openness’ to God. It
is also, however, the expression of the ultimate conquest of gender differences. According to
Vijaya Ramaswamy, at this stage the saint transcends all paradigms of love, gender and sex,
resulting in religious and social catharsis. According to Uma Chakravarty however, nudity is
defiance of the vulnerability of the female body and a statement of femininity channelled
towards God, rather than a mortal husband. The body ceases to be an impediment to spiritual
development and the fear of violation is cast away along with her clothes. For Ramaswamy on
the other hand, it is the casting away of attractiveness and modesty which, paradoxically,
enhances sexual curiosity and the adoption of an indifference to gender which is a liberation.
Lal Ded who does not fear violation because all men seem to her to be sheep evokes another
idea; the exclusive maleness of the deity.

Rebels or Conformists

Within the very fabric of Bhakti, were several different expressions and while bhakti created
space for the self-expression of women, the extent to which gender boundaries were dissolved
needs a closer look. What also needs a closer look are the rebels vis-à-vis the conformists. If at
one end of the spectrum one has the rebel - Akka Mahãdêvi, one can locate the pious and
chaste housewives, the ideal stereotype of womanhood like Vãsukiyãr, the wife of Tiruvalluvar;
the wives of the Vïrasaivite saints like Basava's wives - Nïlamma and Nãgalõchane; Bahinãbhãi
at the other.

Interesting to note, while it has often been argued that the lives of the women saints represent
the rejection of patriarchal society and the subversion of gender roles, Vijaya Ramaswamy
argues for the existence of patriarchy at the spiritual level. She argues that the expression of the
devotion of the bhaktins retains a familial paradigm. The deity worshipped is always male and
even though both men and women worship the deity in its masculinity, there is no case of the
deity being worshipped in a feminine form. There is therefore, according to Vijaya Ramaswamy,
the acceptance of patriarchy at the spiritual level. The fact that most of these women bhaktas
seem to have had a male mentor (e.g. Ravidas in the case of Mira and Basava in the case of
Mahadevi Akka) is also an indication that it was not entirely a rebellion against patriarchy.

This is disputed by Uma Chakravarty who asserts that there exists a relationship of equality
between the bhakta and the deity and that subordination is purely voluntary. Ruth Vanita and
Madhu Kishwar assert that the conceptualization of the deity as the bridegroom and the bhakta
as the bride is a religious idiom and not indicative of a patriarchal relation at the spiritual level.
Further the acceptance of a feminine attitude and the bridal metaphor by even male bhaktas
indicates, they argue, that this idiom dissolves gender roles at the spiritual level rather than
reinforcing patriarchy.

Clearly, the experience of bhakti was not the same for all women. The Alvar saint Andal refused
to marry anyone but Vishnu. Her poetry is filled with yearning for him and in the Nachchiyar
Tirumozhi she describes a vision of her marriage with him. Legend says that she disappeared
into the idol of Vishnu at Srirangam after having been married to him. In contrast, the Nayanar
saint Karaikkal Ammaiyar was originally the beautiful Punitavati whose spiritual power so
overwhelmed her husband that he left her to seek another wife. Punitavati then called upon
Shiva to take away her beauty so that she could spend the rest of her life in his service; this wish
is granted. From then on, she dances like a pey, a demoness in the cremation grounds of
Tiruvalangadu.

Thus, the bhaktins shaped their lives by adopting two different approaches to sexuality.
Karaikkal Ammaiyar negates her sexuality and is able to transcend it, while Andal expresses her
devotion in the form of ‘bridal mysticism’, disappearing into her chosen Lord. But while
Karaikkal Ammaiyar can continue religious life in the ordinary world, Andal cannot return.

By denying the bonds of earthly marriage, the bhaktins tried to escape the confines of
patriarchy and Brahmanical religion.  In seeking the love of God, they could spend their lives
absorbed in meditation, in a personal relationship that could not even be considered within the
domain of a ‘good wife’.

Yet the difference between women and men could not be completely resolved. The bhaktins
may have freed themselves from the social norms of behaviour, but they still lived within the
confines of their female body. The acceptance of women saints within orthodox religion was
also not an immediate process.  Iconographic representations of Karaikkal Ammaiyar do not
appear until the 12th century. While the Tiruppavaiof Andal is sung on festive occasions,
especially marriages, her more erotic Nachchiyar Tirumozhi is never sung within the temple
context.

The case for the lives of the women saints as a rebellion is further weakened by the fact that
there existed several women saints who achieved union with God without leaving the
household. Saints such as Isainaniyar in the Nayanar tradition conform to the patriarchal role
model of dutiful wives. The saintly wife who achieves a spontaneous connection with God
without leaving the home is a prominent figure in the Bhakti tradition. It cannot be argued
therefore that all women saints functioned outside patriarchal norms. The saint Avvaiyar, for
instance, adheres to patriarchal norms in her hymns, despite her own rejection of marriage.

The canonization of women saints such as Mirabai and their acceptance and integration into the
mainstream prevented the rise of an alternative approach to religion for women. The
absorption of these saints by the mainstream tradition was conditioned by a reassertion of the
patriarchal forces, preventing any of these saints from acquiring a dedicated following or sect.

Conclusion

As is brought out quite clearly in this essay, while these women saints did not openly transgress
patriarchy in terms of worship, they did succeed in partially overturning patriarchy within the
secular sphere even through the use of idioms in the patriarchal mode. Although patriarchy
soon reasserted itself, the lives of these women saints created a space for women in religion,
subverting gender roles and extending boundaries.