Describe the emergence of women saint in Medieval Indian society.

Were the women saints revolutionary or conformists? Analyse by giving suitable

examples.
To what extent did the medieval women bhakti saints challenge the convention of the
patriarchal society.
Medieval women saints were not revolutionary. Elucidate this statement with suitable
examples.
Analyse the emergence of women saints in the context of medieval Indian social milieu. To
what extent can they be called 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 Bhakti for they all deviated from Puranic and
Brahmanical religion to some extent and acquired a popular, regional following. A.K.
Ramanujan argues that Bhakti movement 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.
These movements gave rise to a number of women saints including Andal, Karaikkal
Ammaiyar from the Azhwar and Nayanar traditions of the Tamil country, Mahadevi and Akka
Nagamma of the Virasaivite tradition of Karnataka, Mira of Rajasthan, Lal Ded of Kashmir,
etc. Vijaya Ramaswamy observes that the form of bhakti manifest in the hymns of these
women saints is ‘bhava’ or ‘madhuri’ bhakti which is of an intensely emotional character. As
Ramanujan remarks, the very fact that the Bhakti tradition used the regional languages
opened up a sacred space for women, for these languages lent themselves more easily to an
emotional expression of spirituality. In this form of bhakti, the god is worshipped as a lover, a
husband or a child.
Role of devotional movement.
The numerous regional devotional movements in the Bhakti tradition played a vital role in
facilitating the participation of women in the religious sphere. In the patriarchal setting in
which Bhakti arose, women were seen as impure creatures and as obstacles in the path of a
man’s spiritual progress.
It must be admitted that the early Nayanar and Azhwar traditions were dominated by men---
only three of the 63 Nayanar saints were women while there was only one woman saint in
the Azhwar tradition---Andal. Moreover, in the Bhagavata movement, the presence of
women is only marginally felt. Frequently the devotional fervour of the male Nayanars is at
the expense of their women. However, the adoption of the bridal metaphor and the
examples of Andal and Karaikkal Ammaiyar helped to open the movement to women. The
gender imbalance of Bhagavatism was corrected to some extent by Ramanuja in the
eleventh century.
However it was in the Virasaivite tradition of the 12th century that women began to play an
active role in religion. Ramaswamy points out, Siva was seen as the male principle and the
bhaktas, irrespective of gender, as the female principle. The idea of pollution in the case of
the female was completely repudiated as women were initiated into the rituals of worship.
The kinds of pollution associated with women in Vedic Brahmanism were absent in
Virasaivism. The existence of a community of bhaktas, established by these movements also
provided an environment of security to bhaktins and a level of social acceptance that was
denied to them in patriarchal society. However the role of these communities was not
always positive---often enough, radical women saints were harassed or openly rejected as in
the case of Mahadevi Akka.
Vijaya Ramaswamy draws attention to the ‘dual deprivation’ of women in patriarchal
society---on the one hand, there existed injunctions to prevent women from taking the
spiritual path and on the other, deviant spiritual women were ostracized by the Brahmanical
value system. Further, as women, asceticism and non-conformist spiritualism was not a
viable option, unlike in the case of men, even low-caste men.
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 due to the
breakdown of the grhastha-renunciant divide in Bhakti. For a bhaktin however, an escape
from marriage was often imperative.
Andal refuses to marry a mortal man and insists upon marriage to the Lord himself. She
achieves a mystical union with Sri Ranganatha. 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. 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 the case of Karaikkal Ammaiyar, the worship of Siva is conceptualized as the
attitude of a slave to her master. 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 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’ by being absorbed by an image of Krishna. 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 address Siva 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. 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. 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.
A rebellion against patriarchy
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.
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. As is brought out quite clearly in this paper, 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.