Prof. Dr. Klaus Bruhn
Nobody can underestimate the importance of the Vedic institution of sacrifice. JAMISON speaks of "a culture with sufficient resources to allow a not inconsiderable portion of its population to devote a good deal of its time to behaviour that was not (at least directly) economically productive... " (29).
A few words are necessary on the difference between great sacrifices (solemn public rituals) and domestic rituals. "These ritual manuals [huge body of texts] describe not only the solemn... rites, requiring a number of priests... but also... the domestic... rituals to be performed within the household as a part of daily life and at prescribed stages of life" (JAMISON 9). We refer to the two types as 'great sacrifices' and 'domestic rituals.' See also MICHAELS 247-248 and the Glossary.
The sacrificer is as a rule a man, and yet the role of women (wives) in sacrifice is greater than is generally assumed (JAMISON).
The presence of the wife in sacrifices and other religious observances requires a comment. The situation must be described from case to case (the different sacrifices) and from text to text. For a rough general assessment (women in ritual accepted or not accepted) the reader can consult WINTERNITZ 13-15. See also § 3 supra: strictly speaking women are Shudras (!).
Besides being a twice-born male, the sacrificer must be accompanied by his wife. MALAMOUD puts the matter in the following words: "Dans la plupart des sacrifices brahmaniques, le yajamana [the institutor of a sacrifice, the 'sacrificer'] ne peut etre qu'un homme, puisque seuls les hommes recoivent l'upanayana proprement dit; mais la présence de sa femme, patni [his wife], est, le plus souvent indispensable" (MALAMOUD Sa 157; JAMISON 30). In the case of the great sacrifices, the continuous presence of the wife of the sacrificer is a sine qua non. "A ritual without a wife is not a ritual at all..." (JAMISON 30). And "... a whole ritual machinery has been developed to deal with any temporary inability to take part because she [the wife of the sacrificer] is menstruating or in childbirth. It probably comes as no surprise that menstrual blood is too polluting to be allowed in the ideal world of the ritual ground,..." (JAMISON 32). The 'machinery' included cases of substitution. See JAMISON 30-36 on the problem of the wife's absence from ritual. When Rama lost Sita after her final repudiation, he used a golden statue of her as a substitute at sacrifices (as we know he did not take another wife). Steps to be taken in the case of the wife's absence must be described from case to case.
The activities of the sacrificer in the great sacrifices are limited: "What he does not do is sacrifice, in the narrow sense. Most of the action, both physical and verbal, is the province of the various priests he has assembled" (JAMISON 30). One has thus to distinguish between the sacrificer ("a person who employs a priest or priests to sacrifice for him") and the priest(s). The activities of the wife are restricted (JAMISON 10). But "She acts independently of her husband; she is not merely his double or shadow in ritual performance." (JAMISON 38) Generally speaking, the wife was very important. Only the role of the sacrificer as the number one was denied to her.
There is a far-reaching (but not complete) parallelism of husband and wife. "The two [sacrificer and wife] undergo [in the great sacrifices] identical purificatory procedures, don similar garments, are vested with similar accoutrements, and endure the same privations with regard to food, speech, freedom of movement, and sleeping arrangements." (JAMISON 48) Again "The wife [of the sacrificer] does not just tag along with her husband, sharing his lot, but has her own dwelling [a separate hut on the sacrificial ground], priest, and cow. The major difference between their experiences is that the actions undertaken for the husband are accompanied by mantras [hymns, verses, formulas], while hers are done silently... ", i.e. mantras. JAMISON 48.
For wife of the sacrificer a special word-for-wife is used, viz. patni, linguistically related to pati or 'husband'. Three huts have to be constructed on the sacrificial ground, one for the priest, one for the husband and one for the wife (WINTERNITZ 10, JAMISON 40). Unless the wife has to perform specific rites, she has to sit at her place throughout the ritual. JAMISON describes the role of the wife in detail but points out "... that for large portions of any particular ritual, she is silent and immobile...." (38). Her personal presence is nevertheless important.
In the famous horse-sacrifice (a sacrifice consolidating the power of an already powerful king) we notice a special rite uniting the wife of the sacrificer (king) with the dead horse: Under a blanket the queen puts the penis of the killed horse in her lap. The whole scenario is highly erotic: "showcasing of extreme public sexuality" (JAMISON 65, 65-72). In the Vajapeya sacrifice (a sacrifice ensuring also strength for the sacrificer) we hear that the sacrificer and his wife climb a ladder to the top of the sacrificial post: "let us two mount to the sun". WINTERNITZ 12-13; JAMISON 270. Refer to § 8.4 (Vajapeya sacrifice).
The importance of the wife is not restricted to individual sacrifices. She also plays a more general part: "The three major areas in which the wife operates are the domestic, the realm of sexuality and fertility, and that of hospitality and exchange, but as we will see, these areas cannot really be separated." (JAMISON 39). One example (two quotations from old Sanskrit-texts): The place of the wife on the sacrificial ground is in the west, and in terms of the sacrificial ground she is "the hind half of the ritual" (41), the major actions being performed in the east of the sacrificial ground (41). And again "from the hind half of a woman offspring are born." (42). "So the wife is seated in a place associated by nature with sex and generation [place in the west], as well as with the household and domestic sphere [householder's fire, also west]." (42).
Different from the question of mere participation of the wife is the issue of an independent role of the wife in the great sacrifices (wives as officiating priests, wives as sacrificers). In a few cases such participation takes place (WINTERNITZ 13-14, JAMISON 38). But the sacrificial art is so complex that we cannot go into any details. There were also historical changes (position of the wife in earlier times better than in later days). Gradually, the great sacrifices lost their importance, and the sacrificial activities of the wife became automatically restricted to the domestic scene.
Refer for the role of women in ritual (in religion) to WINTERNITZ 9-15; See ALTEKAR 194-207 (women as 'custodians' [207]); JAMISON 1-17 ("Introduction") and 29-149 ("The wife in ritual": sexuality, hospitality etc.).
In the domestic scene the wife is omnipresent as far as ritual is concerned. The domestic rites are, naturally, not public, they are (basically or in their specific form) confined to private houses and individual families. The husband is responsible for the maintenance of the domestic fire, but the wife can act for him. If the fire goes out by mistake, husband or wife or both must fast before a new fire is lit. Similarly husband and wife fast together during the fortnightly (new moon and full moon) sacrifice. Here too, the wife acts for the husband if he is not at home. A list of the sacrificial duties of the wife (mainly domestic) has been prepared by WINTERNITZ (10-11).
Tryambaka describes deportment and ritual of women in his words. We follow in this connection LESLIE's summary (273-276) with its two sections: "General rulings on behaviour" and "Things to be avoided."
Items of the first category: "A woman should not expose her navel, ankles or breasts" -- "She should eat her husband's left-overs, saying 'This is a great prasada'." (§ 8.1). -- "She should never be alone, nor bathe naked." -- "She should never answer back even when scolded, nor show her anger or resentment even when beaten." -- "If she wants to bathe in a sacred place, she should [instead] drink the water used to bathe her husband's feet, for her own husband is superior to even Sankara or Visnu;" -- "The good wife never loves another man --... if he looks at her, she does not meet his eyes; if he smiles at her, she does not smile back..." -- Refer to LESLIE 137 for bathing in a sacred place: it is not permitted for women.
In the second category we find a verse with the following list of six sins [!] of women: "recitation of sacred texts, austerities, going on pilgrimages, renunciation, chanting of mantras, worship of deities." (275, text abbreviated). Also, another hexad, "Women have to serve their husbands, women who are devoted to their husbands should never engage in japa recitation [muttering prayers], austerities, offerings into fire, religious donations, or any other religious observance or ritual, as long as their husband is alive." (275, text again abbreviated). Such rules can only be understood in connection with the 'husband = god' equation (husband alone to be worshipped etc.). Are they idiosyncrasies of the author?
Restrictions for women present ritual dialectics.
(a) Women cannot take a ritual bath with mantras "their ritual bath is 'silent': the recitation of mantras is forbidden." (LESLIE 83). -- (b) According to a general rule one should meditate before dawn on one's favourite god or on the meaning of the Veda. This applies to men and women. The question arises, how this can be performed by women, worship of gods [i], and knowledge of the Veda [ii] being not permitted in their case (LESLIE supra). Tryambaka rules that wife and husband should together meditate on Vishnu "and then reflect on the requirements of dharma and artha for the coming day.” (other authors have suggested other stratagems). LESLIE 52-53. -- (c) If the wife has become a widow, she may worship Vishnu, but only if she thinks all the time of her deceased husband (LESLIE 53). -- (d) The Mahabharata has a veritable hymn on the sacred cows. The sacred cows grant all wishes (sons, riches) to those who worship them. The epic even gives a mantra for the daily worship of the cows (gomati-mantra, a ritual for the time before dawn), a mantra for man and women. Tryambaka gives passages on the cows derived from verse material in the Mahabharata and includes them among the pre-dawn activities. He clearly accepts them because they are not a true Vedic mantra (i.e. not prohibited for women) but Mahabharata passages (conglomerates), and hence admitted for women (mantra problem): LESLIE 65-69. -- (e) When the husband is not at home, the oblations into the domestic fire must be offered by the wife. If that is not possible, further substitute officiants take his place: the son, an unmarried daughter, a priest, pupil, teacher, brother, sister's son, daughter's husband. But "the wife and the unmarried daughter should perform the sacrifice without the act of sprinkling (water round the hearth)." Sprinkling water implies the recitation of Vedic mantras (LESLIE 148). However, "if the wife is virtuous, she becomes identified with the sacred fires for the rest of her married life. So great is the identification that her presence at the sacrifice is more important than her husband's" (remarkable in the Indian ambiance). "The fires and the ritual die with her, albeit temporarily." The widower "should rekindle the fires with a new wife." The widow in her turn is excluded from all contact with the old or new domestic fire which is not hers. (141) -- (f) There is no initiation for women, initiation (upanayana) being replaced by the marriage ceremony. (35)
The problem of the absent husband (absence and its consequences) is summarized in the following sentence: "But if a brahmin has business to take care of, he may assign (the responsibility of) the fire to his wife, appoint a priest (to conduct the ritual), and then leave home. But he should not stay away for long unnecessarily." LESLIE 132, also 149.
We do not know the contemporary ritual of Shudras, Chandalas, and non-Aryan natives. But women possibly had in these societies more rights than in the world of contemporary Hinduism (no varnas, no “castes”?).
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