Status of women in the age of Buddha: A review

The ancient law giver Manu was considered the founder of social and moral order. From the outset, Manu deprived women of their religious rights and access to the spiritual life. As per social order a women could not attain heaven through any merit of her own, but only through obedience to her husband. Despite this humiliating subordination of women in the religious domain, there was always in India a parallel line of thought that glorified motherhood and idealized the concept of the feminine. In actual practice, however, Manu's Code of Laws adversely influenced social attitudes towards women. It is against this background that we must view the emergence of Buddhism in the Northern India in the sixth century B.C. He condemned the caste structure dominated by a particular caste and denounced excessive ritual and sacrifices. He emphasized emancipation through individual effort. This assertion of women's spiritual equality, explicitly enunciated in the texts has had a significant impact on social structures. Examining the position of women in pre-Buddhist India on the basis of evidence in the literature of the Indo-Aryans, the Rig-Veda, it is clear that women held an honorable place in early Indian society. There were also a few hymns composed by women. Later, when the priestly cast began to dominant society, it is apparent that religion lost its spontaneity and became a complex system of rituals. At this point, downward trends in the position of women began. In the present work I will examine the fundamental tenets of Buddhism to see whether there is a fundamental difference in attitudes towards men and women. Then I discuss how Buddhist ideology influenced the position and status of women in India.